By Christopher Gauger, EAA 746128
On December 17, 2021, I officially became a pilot. That afternoon, I passed my private pilot checkride and received my certificate. The weather was cold and cloudy, with a density altitude around -1,700 feet. Fortunately, the winds were light. A far cry from the previous couple days of high winds and unseasonably high temperatures that melted almost all of the recent snowfall.
Fittingly, it was also the 118th anniversary of the Wright brothers’ first successful flight of a powered airplane. I had rescheduled my checkride from earlier in the month. As I waited for a new date, I wondered if my checkride would coincide with that great anniversary. It seems the stars aligned. I have a personal reason to celebrate December 17 from now on.
I’ll be honest: I was nervous going into the checkride. Although I was fully confident in my abilities as a pilot, I couldn’t help but feel a sense of trepidation beforehand. A misplaced worry that I might not succeed. But I focused on the positive side: the potential for success, and how happy the people in my life would be. Ultimately, my worries were unnecessary. The checkride went smoothly. My designated pilot examiner was friendly and thorough. Both the oral test and practical test went by without too much difficulty. I wasn’t perfect, but I felt that my knowledge and flying skills were more than adequate.
Although a part of me was unsure if I had passed or failed the checkride when the flying portion was over, my DPE told me during our debriefing that, overall, my knowledge and flight performance were well within the certification standards. When he told me that I had earned my pilot certificate, a big smile erupted across my face.
By earning my pilot certificate, I finally achieved my near-lifelong dream of learning to fly. That dream was ignited when I attended my first AirVenture at age four and fell in love with aviation. It was further fueled when I had an “unofficial” Young Eagles flight in a Cessna 172 at age 11. Like many would-be pilots, my dream was sidetracked for a while in the face of work, education, family, and other commitments. However, an opportunity to learn to fly emerged for me just over two years ago. Now, with more than 64 hours of flight time, and despite the challenges along the way, I have achieved my dream.
The most important factor that helped me succeed at becoming a pilot was the generous and enthusiastic support I received from the people in my life. There were many individuals who helped me transform my dream into reality. The flight instructors who taught me in the air and on the ground, and who took the time to help me learn. My friends and coworkers at EAA, and my fellow chapter members at EAA Chapter 252 and Warbirds Squadron 32, who all provided advice and encouragement. And, of course, my family and the rest of my friends outside of EAA, who had watched me grow up with a love for aviation and were excited to see me finally pursue my passion. To everyone who helped me along the way, I say: Thank you!
To all current or future student pilots, I encourage you to surround yourself with people who will support your efforts to learn to fly. There may be a local flying club or EAA chapter in your area whose members can help you succeed. It’s a thrill to meet fellow pilots and aviation enthusiasts, to learn from their experiences and become a part of their community.
I’m excited to see where my aviation journey will take me. I’m already thinking of future ratings and endorsements to pursue, and additional types of aircraft to fly. I’m looking forward to cross-country flying; one of my goals is to fly to every public airport in the state of Wisconsin — all 125 of them! But most importantly, I want to share the gift of flight with more people. Aviation provides fun and unique experiences that cannot be replicated anywhere else, and more people should have the opportunity to take flight and view the world from a new perspective. Perhaps I will inspire someone to learn to fly, just like the pilots who inspired me to learn to fly. Then the torch will be carried forward, the torch that Orville and Wilbur Wright ignited on a cold and windy day back in 1903.
Have you reached a milestone recently? Passed a checkride, given your first or hundredth Young Eagles flight, flown your homebuilt for the first time? Tell us about it at EAA.org/Submissions.