I'll bet that's beautiful.
Yeah, it's gorgeous. It's just a short flight. Usually one of my favorite things to do is to take off from Fulton County Charlie Brown [airport], which is right by Six Flags, and then you can fly over Midtown, loop around Stone Mountain and come back. It's only about a 25-minute flight, but it's a really pretty one and that sunrise is totally worth it.
Have you ever had a close call while flying?
I was wondering if you'd ask me that. The answer is nothing too scary, and I'm quite comfortable with that.
Is there more you want to do after you get your private pilot certificate?
Yes, instrument training. That really opens up your flying to go anywhere at anytime. The instrument rating is pretty hard to get and hard to keep. You've really got to keep using it. So that's the real plan … to do that and hold on to it because that lets me fly friends and family for the weekend … and not worry about traffic or anything like that.
Do you find there is a community of people like you who like to fly and stay in touch?
The general aviation community is something I didn't really have a window into at all before flying, and it's great. Every little town has an airport, and sometimes it's just a little field with a hut, and sometimes it's manned and sometimes not. Sometimes there are these great flying clubs with old-time pilots sitting around talking about flying stories and different planes. It's really neat to go in and experience that community.
I think it's a real testament to the Wild West culture in the U.S. because it's complete freedom. Where else can you go and just drive up to an airport, jump out of your car, jump on a plane and take off and go anywhere? So yes, there are a bunch of folks I've met who fly planes.
Are they from all walks of life?
