Zzz wrote:

AEROPOD wrote:I fly for the chicks

How's that working out?

Pretty good. I met my wife when we were both flying at a shitty regional airline. She quit flying professionally but stayed in the biz for another 5 years working at Jepp. She quit when we had our second ankle biter.

When we go places together in the 185, we get to work as a crew. She's usually worried about weather, I worry about W&B. She cleans the windshield while I fuel. She's running the radio and checking weather while I fly and eyeball for traffic. It's AWESOME!

My daughter says she wants to learn to fly so she can sit up front with mom and her brother and I have to ride in the back.

Aviation has provided me with everything in my life. I have no idea what I would have done with flying.

propeller26 wrote:I on the hand love the feeling every time the wheels break ground. If I have to explain the feeling, you are probably in the latter group.

+1
I love that feeling when the control come alive...

I go places because I like to fly, and a reason just makes it better.

Except I haven't figured out what to do when I get there
So I don't really have a reason to go anywhere, therefore I end up just flying around.
I'm trying to fix this.

I whole-heartedly agree with any and all of the reasons already mentioned about the airplane part of this whole deal: the art and the science and skill and gear and gadgets and out of the way places...all of it.

The BEST part of aviation hands down is the people. And honestly, not just the good ones. How many lessons have you learned from people in aviation who are a complete waste of time? Exactly. "Well, I'm not gonna do things THAT way..."

The good people make this whole endeavor even better than it is. Yes, I love flying by myself and don't know any better therapy. But how great is it to roll up on a ramp somewhere or walk by an open hangar and suddenly have an instant buddy? I think Zane's videos capture this pretty well - lots of airplane geekery, but the people round it all out.

Going airplane camping in the San Juans this weekend, I can almost guarantee I'll meet some people that will be new members of the Airplane Buddy Circle.

Have a great weekend, Happy Fathers Day to all you Dads out there!