By Ed Becerra, EAA 1244786
I can still remember the day I took my Young Eagles flight. It was so long ago, but I’m sure I still have my certificate somewhere at my mom’s house. It was my first flight in a plane ever, as my parents never had a lot of cash for us to take vacations by air. It was always a trip to “the cottage” my grandparents owned in Poygan, Wisconsin, not too far from the EAA Aviation Museum in Oshkosh. My dad and I would go to the museum every once in a while. We rode the Ford Tri-Motor together in which the pilot actually let me sit right seat. It had to have been around 2001 or 2002, because I was a student pilot at the time. We took a ride in EAA’s Travel Air as well. Such a neat feeling to be able to fly — and in some very historic planes.
I was taking lessons at Illinois Aviation Academy at Du Page Airport. All was going well, and I was supposed to take my checkride. However, it never happened as my dad suddenly passed away. He was one of my biggest supporters in my dream to be a pilot. We used to watch Top Gun all the time with the speakers shaking the whole house, build model airplanes, and go to O’Hare Airport to watch the planes take off and land. I was thankful he got to come on a few flights with me, including a flight to Miegs Field before it was destroyed.
Fast forward years later, I met an amazing woman who had battled congenital heart defects all her life. However, she was full of life despite all that she had been through. We got married, and it was her dream that I finish up my private pilot certificate. I was honored she would want me to do that, however, I thought owning a home and becoming a bit more settled would be best before doing so. During that time, we randomly stopped at a flight school in Wheeling, Illinois, and took a short flight up and down the Lake Michigan shore to see the skyline.
Tragically, after receiving her second heart transplant in 2 years, my wife passed away in October 2016. I had been a 34-year-old guy, thinking I had my life settled and figured out, and now I was in a place where I felt all alone. I’m thankful for all my family and friends who were there for me during this most difficult time.
A few months after her passing, I thought that I should not only make my dreams come true, but also my dad’s and my wife’s, so I picked up where I left off. After flying with a few flight instructors, I became a student of Joe Standley at Pilot Flight Training Courses at Lake in the Hills Airport. Over the course of a year, I’ve been flying with Joe and becoming proficient again. Joe stresses me to fly like a true professional and expects the best out of his students.
During this time, I met another great woman who has also been instrumental in helping me realize my dreams. On April 26, I took my checkride with Gail Lapook, EAA 1094319, our local DPE. It was windy and turbulent, but somehow I managed to keep up. After landing, I shut down the airplane and was told I am officially a private pilot. It was truly one of the best days of my life.
Since then, I’ve been able to take my very proud mother and my girlfriend for a flight to a local fly-in diner, Charlie’s, at Bolingbrook’s Clow Airport. I know how hard it can be for the regular Joe to pick up flying, or to come back to flying after a hardship, whether it’s financial or just something happening in life. But, it can be done with the right mindset. If I hadn’t taken that first flight so long ago, I don’t know if I’d ever been as interested in aviation as I am now. I’m grateful for EAA, their volunteers, and all the aviation ambassadors for keeping The Spirit of Aviation alive in me!