August
30
Channeling Amelia
I had my third flight lesson yesterday. Mind boggling that I actually communicated with the tower, taxied and as my instructor said “that take off was 90% you.” The taxi leaves much to be desired however. I find I cause the little Cessna to swerve back and forth like a drunken sailor attempting to navigate the yellow line. I imagine those looking out the tower windows, or waiting to takeoff/land, are chuckling madly at the new girl trying to learn. But none the less, it is just about the coolest experience I have ever had. ME, flying a plane.
The hurdle. There always is one you know. I am actually color blind. I have a red/green deficiency. It is rare and even rarer in women only .5% of the population having this genetic condition. This precludes me from many career choices such as law enforcement as well as, you guessed it, being a pilot. All I have to do is pass the color test, with more than half right and I will be fit for a class 3 medical able to fly with no restrictions- private pilot that is. My instructor did some research and found out some information about it all. It was a good refresh of what I already knew and also some new details on the testing process for pilots. I was armed with information.
I arrive for my FAA medical oddly nervous about something that I cannot change. No amount of studying or preparation could get me an “A” on this test. Yet how I wished it could be different. I thought, “maybe all this time my eyes aren’t as bad as I thought!” “Maybe those green cars that look black actually were black! Maybe I failed that stupid biology lab- where we had to correctly identify colors of the fly eye’s- for a different reason!”
Not so fast. I missed 12 out of 14. Yep. The doctor was very nice as he dashed my hopes into the ground. However all was not lost! I was restricted to daytime flying only, and if I could demonstrate in the field that I could see the colors of different landing lights appropriately then I could be cleared from any restriction.
So flight number four September 6th. Im not looking forward to practicing stalls…
Intrepid Women 
Go Kate! One of the sour moments of life are those words ‘ I wish I would have……..’
Doesn’t look like that gonna be a problem for you.
Matt
I am so proud of you!!! Good job and I can’t wait to find out what happens next and be first in line to buy your book!!!!! Miss u bunches.
I say good for you, I get the lost …. not sure or when I stopped having a plan or even a dream of what to be… So I say do anything and everything you can.
Scuba Diving as I was told by my instructors for open water, people who think technical have difficulty with the mechanics that help you breath while essentially drowning yourself. and for some reason I had a hard time getting to the bouyant state… They were always adding weight to my belt… as if the tank wasn’t heavy enough.
Hope Italy is great – take lots of photos.
I will have to live through you….
You go girl
love carolyn
Way to go on challenging the color vision issue!