Recently I had lunch with a good friend of mine Joseph Turbin of  http://Joseph-Turbin.com .  Joseph and I are both pilots and in addition to talking about our blogs and MLSP we covered personal interests including flying. It was a very enjoyable lunch. On my way home I realized one of my flying stories had a wonderful lesson hidden inside.

So, here it is for you to enjoy.

When I was first learning to fly, part of the licensing process included a “check ride” similar to a driving test. You have an oral exam with the FAA examiner. You then go fly the plane and demonstrate your proficiency in several maneuvers and emergency situations as directed by the examiner.  This is a very difficult test and many would be pilots have to study and practice for many months or even years to get their license. In fact you need a minimum of forty hours of  flight instruction just to qualify to take the test.

The exam was scheduled for the day before I was leaving for a summer in Alaska.

I took the oral exam and we took off for the check ride. I was put through the paces including the situational awareness test which in this case had me blindfolded and then spun around until we were in a dive pointing straight at the ground! I was able to react appropriately and save the plane, whew :-)

So now for the landings, there are two.

First you do a short field landing and then a regular landing.  As I was doing the last landing I came up a little short. We hit the ground just before the pavement, the main gear catching the lip of the runway and slamming the nose to the ground. Now this is not a terrible crash, but it was technically a crash and the plane had to be examined afterward.

As you can imagine, I didn’t pass!

My examiner was quite kind. He told me everything was great until that last landing and since I was scheduled to leave the next day for Alaska, he was willing to let me retest later that day after his afternoon examination of another student.

During our debrief the examiner explained what I did wrong and what should have been done differently. Turns out my instructor had not fully taught me all the things I needed to know about landing. So instead of retaking the test that day, I chose to go to Alaska, take a few more lessons with a different instructor and then retest. I told him I didn’t want to be a pilot, I wanted to be a GOOD pilot. He was delighted with my choice and told me so.

I subsequently went to Alaska, finished my lessons and obtained my license without further issues.

Now for the lessons I learned.

First, each failure, when taken to heart, is another step toward success. So never stop trying. Learn from your mistakes. Keep focused on your goal.

Second, do not settle for mediocrity. Always strive to do your best and never tell yourself  “that’s good enough” when you fall short of your goal. Stay true to yourself and make it happen the right way.

DREAM BIG! Never settle for less. Keep focused on your goals and don’t except NO for an answer to those dreams.

I hope you found this helpful. Please share if you did. All comments of any type are certainly welcome. Oh, and have a SUPER day!