I Miss Flying
28 September 2006, 1700ZIt's been nearly eight weeks since I last flew an airplane. I'm beginning to lose the sense that I'm a pilot, that flying is something I do in the present tense. It seems more appropriate to say that I used to fly. It was a lot of fun. I've become a flightless bird: the dreaded aviation enthusiast. Fortunately, I only have one more week before I can start begging for my medical certificate. I don't foresee any problems, except that I'll have to wait for the FAA to find the time to review my case—and who knows how long that will take?
The purpose of a medical certificate is to ensure that the pilot is mechanically sound in the same way that an airframe or an engine is regularly inspected. The pilot is the most important piece of equipment in the airplane. So the necessity of medical certification is indisputable, and I have no quarrel with it. Still, I can't help but be reminded of the scene in Apollo 13 where Lovell (Tom Hanks) loudly proclaims that "this is flight surgeon horseshit!"
I suppose that a little more waiting isn't going to kill me. It'll give me time to rip off NASA's "Return To Flight" graphics for my own use. And when I do get back up in the air, it'll be worth every second I've been forced to stay on the ground.