In pursuit of private pilot certificate
Hey everybody! I'm new to the forum so I thought I'd start with a little intro thread.
I'm currently in pursuit of my private pilot certificate. I started flying back in July to start pursuing my goal of becoming a professional pilot. After starting at a local FBO I decided to enroll full time at a local community college with a professional pilot training course. I also hold a BA in Music. It's been a great, but expensive, journey so far.
Shortly after enrolling at the college I enlisted in the Navy and got promised an air traffic control job with the Navy. Pretty excited! Although I don't have huge hopes, or intentions, of becoming a civilian air traffic controller I still want to pursue my IFR rating, commercial pilot certificate, multi-engine rating, etc. (and maybe even something interesting like a lighter-than-air rating). My goal before going to RTC is to have my private pilot certificate.
I've started soloing, left the airport for the first time yesterday (very exciting and nerve racking). Made some dumb mistakes...for one...I forgot to enrichen the fuel mixture and (try as I might) I couldn't figure out why the heck my engine kept dieing everytime I tried to start the engine (I felt like an idiot)...then as I became more nervous because of my dumb mistake I used the wrong tail number when calling out my intentions over the radio. I guess it could've been worse but I felt pretty dumb. Have any of you made any rookie mistakes, that you're willing to admit to :P, like that before?
Anyway, I hope I have the time to keep working towards my goal of being a professional pilot while I'm in the navy. Even though it seems a long way out I know I can eventually do it. If I learned one thing from getting a fine arts degree in music it is that hard work and perseverance always pay off in the end. I still have a lot to learn but I am having a blast learning!