What Would You Rather Spend $100 On?
by ANN Managing Editor Rob Finfrock
It was a gift that would
change my life. Fresh off my introduction to the joys of riding in
a small plane in August 2002, I had excitedly mentioned my desire
to get some more seat time to my friend, Jennifer... who rewarded
me that Christmas with a Discovery Flight at Bode Aviation in
Albuquerque.
Jen begged off accompanying me on that flight the following
April -- she'd later enjoy a trip around the pattern with me in
Dallas -- and looking back, it's still easy to recall how foreign
everything seemed to me then. I do remember fighting the instinct
to turn the yoke to steer on the ground as we taxied to Runway 8...
and gulping as I pulled ever-so-cautiously back on that wheel to
release the little Cessna 172 from the bonds of gravity.
Truthfully, I remember few details about that flight -- even the
plane's N-number escapes me as I write this, and I'm a stickler for
things like that -- but the sensations I experienced remain as
vivid in my memory today as ever.
As we poked along the sky at 7,000 feet over the Rio
Communities, I knew it would be hard for me to learn how to
fly.
I knew it would challenge me, and would force me to knuckle down
and actually learn something after years of skating
by in life.
And I knew I wanted to do it all... more than I could recall
ever wanting something before. It took six years of stop-and-start
training, and a little bit of deus ex machina to boot...
but I did do it. Today I'm the proud bearer of a sport pilot
license, and I'm eager to progress further.
Looking back, I was lucky to be introduced to flying in
2002, at the age of 27. But I sometimes wonder how life would
be different, had I taken that first Discovery Flight maybe 10
years before, or even 15. I'm certainly not complaining how my life
has turned out... but it's an interesting intellectual exercise to
ponder the "what-ifs?" every now and then.
Who knows how many people would find their calling in
aviation, at a time when our industry so badly needs fresh faces
and new energy... if only they were introduced to it?
Perhaps you know a child, teen, or young adult, who's asked you
for a video game or two this Christmas. Two game cartridges can run
upwards of $100... for an activity that encourages them to spend
hours on end indoors, before a television or the computer. I should
know... I used to play a lot of video games when I was that
age.
For the same amount of
money -- probably less actually, at around $99-$119 for a Discovery
Flight through such programs as the Aircraft Owners and Pilots
Association's recently-launched
"Let's Go Flying!" effort -- you can
instead give your son or daughter, niece or nephew, or grandchild
their first taste of what it means to be one with the sky, to ride
the waves of air over the land they may have spent all their lives
upon... but have never seen quite like this before.
Of course, aviation shouldn't be limited to the young -- all it
takes is to be young at heart. Want to surprise your next door
neighbor? Your father who recently retired, and who's looking for
something to do? A coworker? Boyfriend or girlfriend? The list goes
on...
This holiday season, I strongly encourage you to consider
buying a Discovery Flight for someone -- young or old -- instead of
the usual "stocking stuffer," or latest technological fad. Perhaps
the new iPhone can wait... for it's not often that a gift can be so
inspirational, even transcendent.
Though I was unquestionably enamored with the idea of flying in
that last month of 2002, the idea of actually learning to
pilot a small aircraft was as foreign to me as the idea of growing
gills, and living underwater. Jen's gift showed me otherwise.
For aviation to survive these troubled times, in the throes of a
faltering economy... more people need to feel like that.
This is where it starts.
Give a Discovery Flight.