Aloft Again

Hello folks, I think it's time for another post, wouldn't you say? Looks like it’s been a grand total of 3+ years since I’ve touched this space—woops! As you might imagine, quite a bit has happened. So let me summarize:

Spring 2015: I taught my first ground school class at Weimar Academy, my high school alma mater. Class size: 3. But what’s really great is that one of them went on to earn his wings and is a private pilot now!

A field trip to the local airfield to look at some real planes

Summer 2015: I got hired for my first ever job as a pilot! It was a summer contract flying a Cessna 172 over the Sierra Nevada mountains to spot fires and report them. It was a one-of-a-kind summer and in fact I’m going to write a book about it—stay tuned!

Using my Commercial ticket for the first time

Fall 2015: I joined the ranks of flight instructors. I learned a lot through the tough certification process and my first checkride failure; I learned even more when I started teaching people for real! I began instructing right where my own aviation journey started, at the great flight school in Auburn, California.

Another very expensive piece of paper. But, oh, the possibilities...

Winter 2015: Gary Roberts, a missionary pilot, extended the opportunity for me to join him in Papua, Indonesia. For the first time, it looked like I was going to reach that long-sought-after goal of becoming a real mission pilot. 20 months later, we’re still waiting for all the right elements to come together, one of them being a visa. I’ve been learning a lot about patience and God’s timing.

Papua, Indonesia (left half of the island): future home one day?

Summer 2016: A friend called me to ask if I could help ferry his plane from my local airport to his home in Montana. Long story short, I ended up not only helping fly the plane up, but staying the summer to train his brother-in-law for his instrument rating. To complicate things, I had yet to become a CFII (instrument instructor) myself. Want to hear about the adventure and the lessons God taught me that summer? Well that’s right…that’s going to be my second book!

On the way up to Montana; before the girls in the back started getting green

Fall 2016: Transition time. The prospect of going to Indonesia was stalled indefinitely. With business as an instructor being hit-and-miss at best, I was unsure what to do in the short-term. I nearly ended up in Tchad, Africa, then Midland, Texas (looking back, I'm glad I didn't end up doing that). Finally I stumbled into a salaried instructor job just one hour from home and signed on with EVA Flight Training Academy.

Pipepline patrol pilot interview in Midland, TX

Summer 2017: After 8 months of teaching at EVA, I still can’t believe how much God has blessed me. Though teaching wasn’t my first love, this job has fit my personality like a glove. While I wait to see how God writes the next chapter of the story, I continue to learn more about faith and flying each day. I can only hope and pray my students will eventually want to learn more about faith themselves one day—and that perhaps we could spend eternity together.

The journey continues...