Passed my checkride on Tuesday this week, so I now officially have my PPL!

It wasn't my best flight ever...the weather was poor and I was in a 152 without a working VOR so I had to rely heavily on dead reckoning and my knowledge of the northwest. After a particularly ugly approach into KSPB I told my checkride examiner that I was going to climb and circle back around before entering the pattern just to give me a chance to calm my nerves. But, when it was all over he said that I did just fine and I left with a "pass."

I'm excited to get out there and see more of the PNW from the air!

Congratulations! Good job man!

Congrats!

Congrats!

I know the feeling, I tried real hard to leave my gear down on my commercial ASEL checkride. Super embarrassing. Good work on getting that ticket!

Congrats! License to learn!

Such a great feeling!

Way to go! Now just go fly every chance you get! Your journey has just begun!

Congrats... are you buying an airplane now?

Congratulations. Welcome to the club.

Way to go! Good job.

Say, not sure how much time you've spent on here with all the test prep, but do you see yourself buying a Maule or will you go for a Cessna 180.....?

Well there goes another one!!
GoodONYA, Enjoy!!

Congratulations! If you can, I highly recommend becoming an owner. That's where the real learning begins - and the fun!

sewerzuk,

Congrats.

Cam,

I borrowed a friends nice Comanche for my CFII ride. I was so afraid of not putting the gear down I almost decided to leave it down from GUP to ABQ. Mr. Valentine, examiner at ABQ GADO, took the controls from startup to shutdown so I could "teach him." Easiest ride I ever took.

Contact

Congrats! Welcome to the club. Its the best club there is.

Congratulations.

Well done. That's a big day.

That ticket opens the door to a whole new world. Enjoy exploring it! Be mindful to not use up you bag of luck too quickly while you expand your bag of skills/experience. The sky is a wonderful, but unforgiving place.

Congrats! Now use that license to learn. And learn you will, over and over. We are all students, just at different levels of knowledge and skills.

Cary

Great achievement and so much fun.

Alex wrote:Congratulations! If you can, I highly recommend becoming an owner. That's where the real learning begins - and the fun!

richpiney wrote:Say, not sure how much time you've spent on here with all the test prep, but do you see yourself buying a Maule or will you go for a Cessna 180.....?

Zzz wrote:Congrats... are you buying an airplane now?

I'm shopping, researching, learning, planning, etc. Yes, I'd love to own an airplane, but it probably won't happen until sometime next year. There are several things holding me back from pulling the proverbial "trigger":

1. Cost! I've put together a few spreadsheets with several "cost of ownership" scenarios; I think I have a pretty decent feel for what it actually will cost to own an airplane, but I haven't felt like putting any money toward this endeavor just yet. I'm a big believer in being debt-free so I don't want to buy into anything that would require me to get a loan. I have a few of my "toys" for sale and need to move them out of my shop first so I have an adequate buffer for unexpected costs.

2. What I actually want to "do" in the air. Right now I'm excited about just being in an airplane, but I suspect that excitement will wane after I have some more hours in my logbook. I have thoroughly enjoyed seeing some of the photos and video of backcounty exploration/landing but my experience/skill level isn't up to where it needs to be for me to do those flights yet. I think I need to build some hours doing some more basic flights...really nail down those takeoffs and landings on the big paved runways before attempting something more exciting. With that being said, I'm thinking that my first airplane should be something type certified, inexpensive, easy to fly, etc. The longer I think about this the more I lean toward a 172.

3. I don't want to buy an airplane until I have secured a hangar. I have an aversion to renting anything...so I'd like to find one for sale. There is a hangar currently for sale in Seaside (about 10 miles from my home) but I don't think I want to keep an airplane there; the salt air wreaks havoc on anything mechanical, and frequent fog and low clouds would keep me out of the air when other locations east of the coast range are clear and sunny. A hangar at KHIO would be ideal; it is a little over an hour from my house and the weather is much better than on the coast.

4. I want to get the chance to fly in a few more airplanes before I decide to buy anything; to date I have only flown 152's and one 172. I have a friend with a piper cherokee who has offered to let me take a turn at the controls, and I have an 2nd cousin in central CA with a 172 and 180 who will likely let me fly with him whenever I make the trip down there. It would seem premature for me to decide "I want to buy a XXX" until I've had the chance to fly in a few different makes/models.