Flying east to west over Illinois at night, over your right shoulder you see the lights of Chicago, to your left you see St. Louis, and all the little towns in between.

That first greaser landing in an aircraft you just started flying.

Getting cleared direct to the FAF of your destination airport five minutes into the last leg of a four day.

The moment you pass a checkride.

The moment your student passes a checkride.

 

Following a predawn departure from EYE in Indy on a cold dry fall day. Halfway to Brandywine PA, 11K, Center freq is quiet, watching a perfect half moon directly overhead, sun coming up toward the horizon a little faster than you ever see sitting on the ground, spreading gold fire across the horizon on the nose...looking around, realizing you're sitting right on the terminator, night behind you, day ahead. The towns below are still in the dark, sleeping, and you look up through the canopy to see a jet passing you a couple miles above, same heading and track, lit up like a diamond 'cause he's up in the sunlight. Perfectly balanced moments like that are "what it's like to be a pilot" for me.

Shopping for a sloppy day and destination to practice making/missing approaches.

Flying a J-3 in hot weather with shorts, flip flops, and open doors.

The moment you admit to yourself this is addictive.

 

soloing my first student

flyin a cub down low over the west texas caprock with the door off at sunrise

hunting coyotes out of a robinson helicopter for texas fish and game dept

first approach to mins in a light plane...and not breaking out

taking a light plane solo into another country for the first time

the hours of silence over the gulf hundreds of miles from shore in a light twin and finally hearing the radio crackle as the mexican coast appears in the haze

flying in rain so hard that the inside of the plane is soaking wet

checking density altitude before taking off from leadville colorado

having passengers thank you after taking them to safety following an engine failure in a light twin

salt water fly fishing in Roatan Honduras and Belize knowing I'm being paid to be there

teaching aerobatics

all that was while I was still in college in west texas...

then...

first takeoff in a jet

catching the jumpseat on a flight my dad was the captain of