Milestones

Aviation milestones come in various forms. There are certificates, ratings, aircraft/people/hours flown, owning a plane, flying to new locations, or just learning to do something a different way. Some milestones are small and seem insignificant while others (like passing a check ride) are absolutely HUGE. Whatever the milestone, I've always enjoyed them at the time as well as when I crack open the logbook for a peek backwards in time.

A few days ago, I did just that with my logbook. Part of this was prompted by knowing that I'd recently added another digit to the "hundreds" column of my total flying time. After realizing that I'd added another 100 hours, I started thinking about where I'd been and what I'd done in that time.

I remember my first 100 hours (nearly 80 of which involved getting my private pilot's license). When I hit that first 100, it was a nice little milestone in the same year that I earned my PPL. Sure, not a big deal but, it was fun to reflect on the fact that I'd spent 100 hours untethered from the planet and doing something that I enjoy beyond measure.

Taking a look through my logbook, this last 100 hours in the air has taken me to quite a few wonderful places and let me do several great aviation related activities. I've had a chance to:

• Fly my youngest passenger ever, a 3-year old. He now talks about airplanes all the time and calls me "Captain Jack". I've already apologized to his folks for their future expenses getting Anthony's pilot's license :-)

• Flown another Angel flight, this time to Santa Monica enabling a cancer patient to get some regularly scheduled experimental treatment.
  

• While on the Santa Monica trip, I just had to stop by Van Nuys. Didn't get a chance to land on 16R but that's ok, it was very cool just being at such a great GA airport.

• 2006 and 2007 Oshkosh trips. There's just something about traveling a long distance via spam can. Along the way, I've stopped in some out of the way places, found some great spots to eat, and met several great folks.

• Flew into the 2007 Salinas Air Show and hung out right in front of where the Snowbirds parked.
  

• Participated in two young Eagles events where I've had the privilege of flying 17 kids, a couple of whom had never flown before.

• Stayed mostly IFR and night current. At the moment, these are two areas I need to work on :-) I guess that's what happen when a few months go by with little flying activities.

• Continued to hone my aircraft ownership skills via performing oil changes and whatever else I'm legally allowed to do on an airplane. I doubt I'll ever become an A&P but it sure is fun learning more about what I fly.

Looking ahead a bit, I'm hoping to celebrate a couple more milestones in the near future. I hope to start working on my commercial pilot certificate perhaps early next year. I also plan to complete the next phase of the FAA's WINGS program in lieu of a BFR. I figure it's money well spent getting some recurrent training.

So, yeah, it's fun looking back a bit and remembering things along the aviation journey. If you haven't done so lately, crack that logbook open and remember where you've been and what you've accomplished.