By Natalie Miles, EAA 1478672
The past month I have been working on building hours and gaining proficiency for my commercial pilot certificate. I was so excited to get back in the airplane and be able to LOOK OUTSIDE! The previous months were spent working on my instrument rating where I would wear a view-limiting device to simulate instrument meteorological conditions. Going back to being able to look outside and fly by the horizon has brought so much joy.
Commercial training starts out relearning the maneuvers: stalls, steep turns, short/soft-field landings. Then learning the new maneuvers: steep spirals, chandelles, eights on pylons, power-off 180. Being able to control and understand energy management of the airplane feels great, but my favorite thing of commercial training has been the cross-countries. There is a lot of time required to become a commercial pilot. The easiest and fastest way to gain this time is to fly cross-countries.
I spent most of my cross-country time flying to the coast of California. I flew so many places by myself and learned so much about my abilities as a pilot. I flew to Class Cs, where before I landed, a Southwest 737 departed and on my tail coming in to land was a JSX jet. I slowly started building some “actual” time (in the clouds). I flew myself to Utah, a state where I had never been before. I flew over the Grand Canyon, the Pacific Ocean, through clouds, and around thunderstorms (greater than 20NM of course). I am so privileged to be able to do what I do. I cannot wait for the day to be able to share my story and help others. But as for now, there is still work to be done.
Natalie Miles, EAA 1478672, is currently pursuing her aviation dreams at the United Aviate Academy, and will be updating her progress on a regular basis as a scholarship student in the flight training program. Natalie received a joint scholarship at The Gathering 2022 from the EAA Aviation Foundation and United Aviate Academy. United Aviate is a major supporter and sponsor of the AeroEducate program.