The Heart of a Pilot

When a bunch of pilots decide to fly in a plane together the ensuing argument on who is going to be pilot-in-command can get somewhat aggressive. This evening’s decision was simple though, we were at a meeting in Grand Junction, Colorado in which there were multiple beverages of alcoholic creation. I decided that partaking in the consumption of said beverages would be a good idea to finish my long week, thus making me ineligible of taking the controls to any flying machine.

So there I was sitting comfortably in the back of a Beechcraft Duke with my feet propped on the seat in front of me, watching my friends control an airplane, which cruises at over 200 knots (230 miles an hour for the laymen) and looking out at the moonlit terrain passing below my window. On one of the multi-function displays on the instrument panel is a gps layout of the surrounding mountains and I see that our current flight path is in the green. Therefore, I sit relaxed in the furthest seat from the cockpit gently swaying as the tail of the plane continually tries to catch up with the nose. It is similar to a dog chasing its tail hopefully it will never succeed. This gentle swaying is usually the motion that makes people feel sick when they fly, but after being a pilot now for almost three years I hardly even notice it.

It is at this point, as sit there gently rocking with a mild alcoholic buzz on my brain, that I get sentimental. The problem is that I don’t really know what I am feeling sentimental about. It might be the fact that I just sold one of the nicest planes ever to exist on this planet; it might be the fact that I have not seen my airport friends since that event, or it might be the fact that I have not flown in over two weeks. As I sit there I try to deduce the answer to my question in my own mind. I decide that the answer is all of the above but not really.

The truth of the matter is, that I am feeling sentimental about flying in general. You see flying is a legal drug for most pilots; it combines fear, adrenalin, happiness, anger, uniqueness, and many other emotions and factors. All of these emotions and factors combine and they build in a pilot’s heart, and when all of them are not present that can give you a tinge of sadness, the same sadness that I was feeling right now, activated by legal distilled spirits. So as I see the runway lights approaching out of the cockpit window and realize that this flight is just about over, I come to another realization-to partake in more flying addiction all I have to do is what I did tonight-pick up the phone, call some pilots, and make my way to the airport. Addiction taken care of for now until another day.

And to sum it up for you, here is a quote from Leonardo Da Vinci that puts all my sentiment into perspective, “When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return.”

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This entry was posted on Sunday, March 11th, 2007 at 1:01 pm. It is filed under articles, short stories. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.