There is a famous poem that says “take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth.”
I earned my private ticket when I was 51 and now have 19 years and 1700 hours under my belt. A few years ago I bought a well appointed Arrow and toyed with the idea of getting an instrument ticket. But then I thought of the line above and resigned myself to just be content and dream about what could have been.
But a year ago I said, no dammit, I still feel good and I’m gonna give it a try. The written, the oral and the practical test was as hard as anything I’d ever attempted. And I graduated from three colleges and built a couple of companies along the way.
So, I’m happy to report that I passed the Instrument check ride this morning and now hold an instrument ticket for the first time at age 70.
I’ll remember today as vividly as I remember the day I soloed and the day I got my ticket back in 2001.
PS: A huge shout out to my CFII who is also my age and kept pushing and prodding and cajoling every time I threw up my arms and wanted to quit. Now it’s time to go bust some clouds!
I earned my private ticket when I was 51 and now have 19 years and 1700 hours under my belt. A few years ago I bought a well appointed Arrow and toyed with the idea of getting an instrument ticket. But then I thought of the line above and resigned myself to just be content and dream about what could have been.
But a year ago I said, no dammit, I still feel good and I’m gonna give it a try. The written, the oral and the practical test was as hard as anything I’d ever attempted. And I graduated from three colleges and built a couple of companies along the way.
So, I’m happy to report that I passed the Instrument check ride this morning and now hold an instrument ticket for the first time at age 70.
I’ll remember today as vividly as I remember the day I soloed and the day I got my ticket back in 2001.
PS: A huge shout out to my CFII who is also my age and kept pushing and prodding and cajoling every time I threw up my arms and wanted to quit. Now it’s time to go bust some clouds!
