'A Momentary Lapse of Reason'

The title, a song by Pink Floyd, refers to learning how to fly. In the case of this post, it has to do about flying in general. And in my case, it wasn't a momentary lapse of anything, more like a four year long sabatical from flying.

I learned out to walk on an airplane between Richmond, VA and LA by holding on to the seats and walking up and down the aisle. I've always been fascinated by flight. I made a wing out of Styrofoam that I tied behind my bike by a 20 foot rope and dragged it along into the air. Recently I've gotten into RC Airplanes and have gone nuts with trying to create my own planes and the like. I wanted to take lessons to learn how to fly and attended a few meetings at Frostburg regarding that, even going to far to check out the airport.

Sometime in the late 90's I took my first flying lesson. It was a windy day and the pilot said 'We usually don't take first-timers out on such a windy day but since you are here we might as well do it'. I should have known it was a bad sign when he looked to make sure there were barf bags and none were there. Needless to say, the flight could have gone better.

I developed a fear of flying after that adventure. In fact, I was right on the edge of a full-fledged panic attack on a packed flight out to LAX. If none of you have ever experienced a panic attack before, count your blessings. It took me a year or so to start to get over it and start flying again. In 2000 and the first part of 2001 Leslie and I did a lot of travel that included flying. I started to get back into it and began to feel more comfortable. However, then 9/11 happened and I decided I was going to not fly until certain Administrations were retired. Well, we all know how that went in 2004.

So, I didn't fly for four years. It went from an unjustified fear to just a badge of pride. Kinda like never watching the movie 'Titantic'. When I thought about flying I didn't go through the mental games that would scare the crap out of me anymore. I decided it was time to start flying again, with something easy. Leslie and I flew to Florida a few weeks ago for her sisters wedding on Independence Air. Great airline, similiar to Southwest just with assigned seating and lots of blue. Plus its an Airbus and not a Boeing. In any case, I had very little trouble with the flight and it looks like I'm back!

What really really helped me though was watching 'The Aviator'. Great movie, but it helped me because it helped me get back in touch with my fascination of flight that I had lost years ago, before 9/11. Its amazing how when you loose touch with those fascinations how much your life can change.