MTPE Day 8 & 9

Today was the best yet! We got to fly airplanes this morning. It was so awesome. I have not flown in about 18 years (I mean actually piloted a plane). The last time I did I was in the Navy and I soloed for the first time. Our instructor asked if anyone had any experience and I told him that I did, but it had been a very long time. He let me take off and actually navigate to Lindsey. I told him that I would prefer not to fly in the pattern and wanted him to do and he was cool with that. We had passengers and so I thought it would be best for them if I didn't actually land the plane, but it was better left to Chase's capable hands. This guy just commissioned with the Army and is waiting on a billet for flight school. He was a great, patient instructor. He encouraged me to get back into flying. I have given it a lot of thought and will probably try to figure a way to do that as soon as it is fiscally possible. That may be a very long time from now. That was all we did on Friday, but it was great to spend some time in the air again. If we had waited another 30 minutes, we probably would have had to wait out some weather, as it was quickly deteriorating to IFR conditions towards the end of our flight.
Saturday was just an award time and evaluation time. It was basically an hour of signing thank you cards, and almost not worth the drive to Norman. Oh well, it's over and I am a different person for having attended the workshop. It was great to get some ideas for my classroom and the opportunity to fly. Thanks NASA Space Grant Consortium for the opportunity! Pictures of me as Pilot in Command are coming soon!