Flying's The Easy Part; Telling The Family, Well...
by ANN Correspondent Annette Kurman
I have made the decision that I want to learn how to fly; I just
have to share the news with my husband.
How did I come to this decision? I had the wonderful opportunity
of attending the EAA's 2006 AirVenture as a stringer for Aero-News,
and I can't say the bug bit me there... but it sure was the icing
on the cake, the straw that broke the camel's back, and every other
overused metaphor.
I work as the director of public relations at Daniel Webster
College (DWC) in Nashua, NH. DWC started out 40 years ago as the
New England Aeronautical institute (NEAI), training pilots through
its flight program at Nashua Municipal Airport (KASH). It didn't
take very long before NEAI merged with Daniel Webster Junior
College and then received granting authority to offer four-year
baccalaureate programs for professional pilots, as well as air
traffic controllers and then aviation management professionals.
Currently, Daniel Webster College's flight training program is
approved under the guidelines of federal Aviation Regulation Parts
141 and 61, and all instructors are Certified Flight Instructors.
DWC's air traffic management major is one of only 13 academic
programs recognized by the FAA as part of its Collegiate Training
Initiative.
The College's nationally ranked degree programs in aviation are
well complemented by its innovative programs in business and
management, computer science and information technology,
engineering (including have one of only three aeronautical
engineering programs in the area -- BU and MIT are the others),
sport management, and social and behavioral sciences.
Daniel Webster also recently introduced an all online MBA
specifically for aviation professionals. (Yes, you aviation folks,
you can get your MBA wearing your bunny slippers -- see http://aviation.dwc.edu
for more information. Sorry, that's the PR person in me)
Finally, Daniel Webster has held an Aviation Heritage Festival
of some notoriety for some time. From the WWII bombers to the
latest military F-16s, the line up of planes and speakers was quite
impressive, and people came from far and wide to attend the weekend
event.
Which brings me back to
me. As an experienced public relations professional armed with a
degree in journalism, and a recently-obtained MBA in applied
management, I knew absolutely nothing about aviation when hired for
the public relations director job here at DWC three years ago.
Let's face it. It's a niche market in the public relations
industry.
However, after soaking up all the aviation-ese that I could
during our Aviation Heritage Festivals and various aviation
programs held throughout the year, I wanted to learn more. So I
audited the first aviation course that DWC freshmen take, AF-128,
Fundamentals of Flight (I had always wondered how those planes
stayed up in the air). So there I was, the "mother" among all the
18-year old flight students in the class, reading the book, turning
in homework, failing tests.
Because I worked full-time and had a family and was starting my
MBA (excuses, excuses), I was auditing the course and did not take
the flight practicum. Unfortunately, because of work activities and
commitments, I did not stay with the class for the entire semester,
but I certainly got a good feel for it. And that feeling was that
learning to fly — even in the most basic of courses —
was HARD! I, along with many of my classmates (young enough to be
my children, sigh), worked hard and long to learn and integrate the
basics of aviation. I was sad not to be able to complete the
course, but really enjoyed learning about the basics of flying,
even with my two feet planted firmly on the ground. Looking back,
it certainly makes sense that learning about aviation —- for
individuals wanting to fly corporate, for the majors, the
regionals, or for anyone else —should be challenging! You
don't any old Tom, Dick or Harry as PIC, for goodness sake!
My first in-the-sky experience I had (in addition been a
passenger in the WWII planes at our Aviation Heritage Festivals),
was when the Cirrus salesman was at our aviation center taking a
couple of our folks out for a test drive of the new Cirrus SR22. I
got to ride in the back. Then after we had flown to Fitchburg, MA,
the rep asked me if I wanted to fly. Who, me? Well, okay. I took
off from Fitchburg, flew around the airport and then landed, twice
(the first landing didn't work out so well, so it ended up being an
unplanned touch-and-go) It was, to say the least, fun and
exhilarating!
It was the 2006 Oshkosh AirVenture that tipped me over the edge.
Sport piloting really caught my interest because of the fewer hours
of flight training involved and the driver's license option. I've
done some initial investigation as to who is trained to instruct
sport pilots (very few, I've found) and the programs they offer.
Now I just have to break the news to my husband.. stay tuned!
P.S. Since I first wrote this story, I did tell
my husband, who was very nonchalant about it. "Do what you have to
do," he said. And my college-age children? "Hey, that's cool!" And
my 10-year-old Rat Terrier? "When can I go up with you?"
So we're all on board, ground school just started and I take my
first flight on Saturday. Could life get any better than this?!
(Annette will be bringing us regular updates on her progress
towards attaining her sport pilot license.)