I hardly seems that long ago that we were sleeping under the midnight sun but a full year has passed. And it seems like both Cousin Chris and I are still passionate about flying and doing lots of it.
Chris is currently on a flying safari with his family in the Aussie outback and has this great blog with lots of cool pics. Good one, Chris! Hope you and family have an awesome trip and enjoy every minute. He's flying a great looking Cessna 182RG too. That should be fun.
Me - well after some inspiration from several family members, including cousin Chris last year while on our trip, and my son Josh last fall, I decided to go for my CFII rating. (Certified Flight Instructor, Instrument Airplane). I started training in Florida in March, more training back here in Massachusetts, and then after several canceled check ride appointments with the FAA (they seemed to have a lot of illness this spring), I finally passed my practical test on June 27th. The long wait and extra training was probably well worth it as at one point on the check ride, when the examiner had me under the hood recovering from unusual attitudes flying partial panel while in a holding pattern, I felt pretty damn good about being able to handle it all systematically while teaching about what I was doing all at the same time. I now think I'll probably make a pretty good instructor even if I am 64 years old.
Good to reflect on our Alaska adventure too. It was indeed the trip of a lifetime and a great flying adventure. Hope there is more to come for both of us.
