# OMG I Did It!!!!!



## Hairball (Jan 22, 2016)

I passed my FAA exam with my new glasses! I'm a pilot again!!

I was given a conditional two-year license because of my early-onset Parkinson's. I have to fax a doctor's note about my progress every 30 days....but I passed!

The FAA instructor at the Asheville airport signed me off up to four-engine jet again.....I scored 100% on flying, and made a whopping 99% on the written test!

Damned center of gravity crap nails me every time. I hate math. But I got close!

The flying test was set up with an ATC instructor...and when he didn't respond to my request for approach, I immediately went to one of the holding patterns and continued to call for approach. They will do that to you. Some new pilots will go ahead to approach, and that's a bad move. 

I have been soooooo anxious about this! At my age, with my health issues, I think this will be my last license.

I'm bouncing off the walls right now...I honestly thought I'd never fly again.

There's nothing like the freedom of flying. When you rotate to flight and those wheels leave the ground and you're just soaring into the sky....OMG that feeling is just incredible. At that point, you're one with God...there's nothing holding you down. I probably need to turn this into a story...

It's so incredible. I did it! I made it!


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## belthagor (Jan 22, 2016)

Congratulations!!


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## Hairball (Jan 22, 2016)

belthagor said:


> Congratulations!!



Thank you so much! I'm so relieved!


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## JP-Clyde (Jan 22, 2016)

Congratulations. Jolly good on you. Glad for you, even if we just met recently


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## Hairball (Jan 22, 2016)

JP-Clyde said:


> Congratulations. Jolly good on you. Glad for you, even if we just met recently



Thank you! I appreciate you, by the way.


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## Plasticweld (Jan 22, 2016)

Congratulations Joyce, there is a lot to be said for having a goal and achieving it.  I also relate to the being able to make mechanical things do what you want them to do, verses what they want to do.  No small feat to get your four engine license or to be in the position to be trusted with someone's aircraft.


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## belthagor (Jan 22, 2016)

Airline profits are up according to some stats I saw on the news, hope you make more money flying =)


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## Gumby (Jan 22, 2016)

Congratulations, you!


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## Hairball (Jan 22, 2016)

12





Plasticweld said:


> Congratulations Joyce, there is a lot to be said for having a goal and achieving it.  I also relate to the being able to make mechanical things do what you want them to do, verses what they want to do.  No small feat to get your four engine license or to be in the position to be trusted with someone's aircraft.



Thank you! I usually do Angel flights, flying organs like kidneys and livers to hospitals for transplants. I also do Honor Air, though I don't fly, I am there to bring our deceased men and women home from war. We meet them, and carry their coffins out and as the coffin is loaded into the hearse, we stand strong, at attention, and we salute. We do the same when a veteran dies and comes home to rest.



belthagor said:


> Airline profits are up according to some stats I saw on the news, hope you make more money flying =)



I don't make money doing Angel flights. It's all volunteer. We give our time and the owner of the plane gives us this.



Gumby said:


> Congratulations, you!



Thank you! I'm soooo grateful for this.

Life is so good when one has an ability to help fellow people along the way of life.


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## MzSnowleopard (Jan 23, 2016)

Awesome, :: fist pump:: so cool!


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## Hairball (Jan 23, 2016)

MzSnowleopard said:


> Awesome, :: fist pump:: so cool!



Thank you so much!


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## MzSnowleopard (Jan 23, 2016)

oops, that was supposed to be :: fist bump:: LOL


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## Hairball (Jan 23, 2016)

I think of this song when my wheels leave life behind....and off I go....

[video=youtube;qdoSy4ROZpg]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdoSy4ROZpg[/video]


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## Winston (Jan 23, 2016)

I'm happy for you.  You sound like an excellent pilot. And a great citizen.


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## Riis Marshall (Jan 23, 2016)

Hello Hairball

Stick forward: the houses get bigger; stick back: the houses get smaller; stick too far back: the houses get really big really fast.

And remember: no smoking within twenty-four hours of a flight and no drinking within fifty feet of the aircraft.

Congratulations. Now you're flying again, when are you going to have time to write?

All the best with your flying and _your_ writing.

Warmest regards
Riis


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## H.Brown (Jan 23, 2016)

Congratulations Hairball


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## Ariel (Jan 23, 2016)

Congratulations!


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## Aquarius (Jan 23, 2016)

Well done! Congratulations and celebrations!


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## Olly Buckle (Jan 23, 2016)

Good stuff, I gave up driving for five years when I had cataracts, probably didn't need to legally, but it felt right. It was great getting back on the road, getting airborne must be even better. Love the idea of 'Angel flights', people always tell you how good you are doing stuff like that, my experience is that the real kick comes from actually doing it, but good on you anyway


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## escorial (Jan 23, 2016)




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## Hairball (Jan 23, 2016)

Thanks y'all!

And of course, there are six inches of snow out there, winds gusting to 50mph...and I want to go fly.

Oh well...life isn't always fair.

Let's enjoy some plane humor.


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## Deleted member 56686 (Jan 23, 2016)

Six inches? That's all? I have eighteen inches of snow and I can still fly my kite (okay, so it crashed, but I can't fly kites anyway). Anyway, congrats on the license and good luck


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## Hairball (Jan 23, 2016)

mrmustard615 said:


> Six inches? That's all? I have eighteen inches of snow and I can still fly my kite (okay, so it crashed, but I can't fly kites anyway). Anyway, congrats on the license and good luck



I can't even fly my remote-control helicopter! Winds are too high.

Thanks!

I did crash a plane once. Looking back now, it was hilarious. I was flying a single-engine Cessna when the engine konked out over a cornfield. I tried to turn that thing into a glider and plowed right into the field...and came to a stop six feet from the farmer's back porch.

I climbed out, thinking, "Sh!tsh!tsh!tsh!t!!" and the man's wife came out and said, "So nice of you to drop in! You're just in time for lunch."

I love people who think fast!

I made some calls...and sat down to a bowl of homemade bread and vegetable soup, and made two friends for life. They were so sweet to me; I nearly cried at their hospitality. Now when I go see them, I drive a car and don't park planes in their cornfield any more.

I need to write about that...the story has morphed over the years, of course. We still laugh about how rude I was, how I'd do anything for a free lunch, how I have a very strange way of making friends, etc. LOL!!


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## Joe_Bassett (Jan 23, 2016)

Congrats on getting your licence!!


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## Hairball (Jan 23, 2016)

GuitarHiro97 said:


> Congrats on getting your licence!!
> 
> View attachment 11438
> View attachment 11439
> ...



Too funny!


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## MzSnowleopard (Jan 23, 2016)

I got this from pilot Jerry Doyle and it's true to life as in flight. "Your attitude controls your altitude."


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## Hairball (Jan 23, 2016)

MzSnowleopard said:


> I got this from pilot Jerry Doyle and it's true to life as in flight. "Your attitude controls your altitude."



Oh you are so right about that.

One time I was flying a doctor's mother to Miami. She came equipped with a nasty attitude and the most ill-behaved Pomeranian you ever saw.

It was a tiny four-seater Beechcraft with one pilot and she wasn't happy. She wanted drinks. That wasn't happening, then that dang dog decided to poo in my lap.

No one thought about keeping paper towels in the cockpit. Yuuuuuuuuuuccckkkkkk!!!!

She complained about my flying skills the whole way from Asheville to Miami. No drinks! Oh dear!

When we landed at Miami, I said, "It's a damned good thing I'm not suicidal, or I'd have taken your smart-ass mouth and your dog with me."

Two weeks later, that doctor called me to go pick her up. 

I feel sorry for whoever had to go get her.


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## Aquarius (Jan 24, 2016)

MzSnowleopard said:


> "Your attitude controls your altitude."



How true!


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## Monaque (Jan 25, 2016)

Well done, that`s some achievement :applouse:
Bet it must be awesome to be in the air.


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## bazz cargo (Jan 26, 2016)

Rule 1/ In case of emergency, flap hard.

Congratulations. At least you are safely on another continent.


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## Hairball (Jan 26, 2016)

bazz cargo said:


> Rule 1/ In case of emergency, flap hard.
> 
> Congratulations. At least you are safely on another continent.



LOL! I won't be landing in your cornfield!


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## Bishop (Jan 26, 2016)

WOW. Congrats! I know who to hire when my private jet comes in.

So... you know, like two months. I'll be #HellaRich by then.

But really! Great work, I have no doubt you put a lot of effort into this, and clearly it's something not everyone can do! I actually do want to someday get my gryocopter license, and get one of those little puppies. I think they're so cool!


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## bowmore (Apr 23, 2016)

Hi I am new to the site, and am really impressed with your accomplishments. I would like to get my pilot's license, and am looking into it. I would like to know what kind of planes you usually fly.


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## Courtjester (May 6, 2016)

Another nice little piece from you. I really do like the way you tell 'em. Cj


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