Not a newbie anymore...

I started this blog right after I got my glider rating.  At the time, I was a soaring newbie but now several years later, I've finally decided I'm not a noob anymore.

I have very few, if any, readers.  I don't keep it for that reason, although I do admit to wanting to record certain things for people who stumble across a post while doing a Google search.  How I prepared for my commercial checkride, how things work at Harris Hill, etc.  But I don't keep it for any regular readers.  As far as I can tell, I don't have any.

No, I keep it more as a diary to record my thoughts on soaring.  I'm keenly aware that as I get older, it may get harder to, ahem, remember what I did and when I did it.  Writing it in my blog means I can always find it.  

I also use it to organize my thoughts about soaring.  I think about soaring more than anything else.  Probably a lot more than people who know me well would think I do.  There's an inner pull to fly and in particular to soar, that is always at the core.  If I'm not soaring, I wish I was.  Soaring just plain makes you feel good.

So, I use the blog to organize my thoughts on certain aspects of soaring.  If I have an experience that is unusual, good or bad, I usually end up writing about it.  I use it to make an explicit record of my soaring goals so I can push myself forward in the sport.  I record my inner voice and put it in an order that makes sense.  Having to write it down usually makes me articulate it -or discard it.

So I started with the intent of sharing the experiences of a new glider pilot.  But, let's face it.  I'm not new anymore.  I'm also not a seasoned pro, either.  I'm just...a glider pilot.  So I've change the name of my blog from The Soaring Newbie blog to a Soaring Pilot's Journey.  It's a better description of my progression in the sport.

And I am on a journey.  I know that I'll never get to the end of it, but that it will take various twists and turns on the way.  I've had such a blast so far and I don't see an end to the fun in sight.  With that, I'll write down just a couple of things I've learned since I got my rating a few years back.

Things I've Learned Since I Became a Glider Pilot

1.  I can always do better.  Better thermalling, better decision making, better flight skills.  Always better.

2.  I'm not improving as fast I as would like.  It seems to take forever for me to improve this area or feel confident in that area.  Always too long.

3.  Soaring is real flying.  Of course, all flying is real flying, but having been a power pilot and converting to soaring, I can tell that I've learned a number of things I never would have learned as a power pilot that have made me better than I was.

4.  Experience isn't everything but it sure does count for an awful lot.  There was a slow realization that I will never, ever, ever have the same amount of experience as many of our ace pilots.  Combined with number 2, above, I'll never have the level of skill I would like to have when it comes to soaring.  Accepting this is difficult but it also makes me even more determined to make the most of the experience that I CAN get.

5.  Sometimes, I'm a little scared.  I don't mention it much, but sometimes I'm a little scared to go flying.  It doesn't happen when I'm actually flying.  I've heard other pilots mention it as those pre-flight butterflies and that's exactly what it is.  I think I'm more worried about what might happen to others rather than myself.  My family counts on me for a lot and I would hate to get killed soaring.  Of course, I don't think that is what will happen and the odds are decidedly in my favor.  But it COULD.  I think I get jitters every now and then from that.  Once I'm airborne, they're gone because I've committed to the acts and everything goes fine -even if there's an issue, it's always gone just fine.  And probably always will.  But you can't ever say "nothing will happen."

There's other stuff I've learned, but those are the things that stick out to me the most right now.  Can't wait until flying weather rolls around again.