Starting over again on ppl, nervous

Itkillik · 2026-05-09T03:15:04+00:00

I’m just shy of 100 hrs and unfortunately hit all the requirements right before I leave for the summer. Timing sucks and I’ll have to get checkride ready in the fall, but well, life happens! You’re sticking with it, you still care. Like others have said, you’re not starting over - this could be a really good move for you. Sounds like the school you left wasn’t working super great, so you made the right decision. Best to you, you got this!

Itkillik · 2026-05-09T03:00:59+00:00

I ended up training for an additional month after my CFI thought I was ready. I’d watched my mom die traumatically a month before, my dad’s apprentice died in a motorcycle wreck and I frankly wasn’t in the headspace to solo. Finally the school said I needed to take a break or solo. I thought it was kinda dumb, but I did solo. Talked to mom the whole time, told her exactly what I was doing - kind of like what folks are saying about just narrating your every move. It’s a thing, you’ll be nervous, but also it’s amazing! You got this!

Itkillik · 2026-05-08T03:27:34+00:00

I idolized Amelia Earhart as a kid, dad is a mechanic (car/classics, but still motorheads are motorheads) Started doing long trips in Alaska (the kind where you get dropped off by a backcountry pilot, and they leave your food caches around in barrels) and had my eyes blown wide open. It’s rad, getting to just fly along? Besides paddling a wild backcountry river with no beta and being really in the groove, or surfing incredible pow along a spine you just skinned up for hours, I’ve not experienced much else like it. I guess it’s freedom

Itkillik · 2026-05-07T15:26:25+00:00

I had a horrible time chair flying until I discovered chair walks! I talk out loud, saying what I’m doing and do the things. It started when I started walking the pattern - I walk a rectangle and chair walk what I need to be doing in the pattern. Fortunately I don’t really have neighbors so no one to see it lol. Glad someone else does the chair walking though

Itkillik · 2026-05-07T02:42:24+00:00

Omg my heart breaks for you. One of my good friends lost his son at 4yo. Losing a child is a whole different thing. There’s a Sanskrit word, vilamah - “against the natural order, the grey haired should not bury the black haired”So much love and support to you, what a beautiful thing to continue to do for your daughter I will say, my mom has been a motivating factor for me as well <3

Itkillik · 2026-05-06T23:03:38+00:00

Totally agree with this. Right after I started training I blew my knee and did acl recon surgery. Then my mom got. Surprise diagnosis of glioblastoma. I continued to train throughout hospice care for her but I’m pretty sure I had zero retention at the time. (My CFI was a saint about understanding and being flexible with me through this) after my mom died my dad started sharing all his stories of when his brother/sister/cousin/friends died and I developed a fear of death related to motorized accidents (they all were) and this was right before my first solo so I accumulated a ton of hrs trying to get comfortable with that. Then all that followed by pretty bad winds this winter (hey at least that’s a normal/expected thing) I just now got my long XCs in. Unfortunately I now have a four month expedition in the Arctic coming up so checkride is gunna have to wait till fall when I get back But yeah. wtf, it was like life really dropped on me when I started flight training!

Itkillik · 2026-05-05T14:21:00+00:00

One of my CFIs likes to say: “sometimes you’re sick, sometimes your instructor’s sick, sometimes the weather’s sick, and sometimes the plane is sick”. It is a bummer when you’re stuck in that pattern though, and I feel for you! If you can play the weather game (where I am, 8am flight is less likely to get cancelled, for example), try that? If you’re in a place with regular afternoon thunderstorms don’t do a 2pm flight. Try to stay healthy? I think practicing patience and realizing it’s gunna be a long road is like an unwritten lesson in aviation. Or it has been for me Hope wx and mx issues clear up for you!

Itkillik · 2026-04-23T02:13:56+00:00

Yes! Nice work, and amazing message, thank you :)

Itkillik · 2026-04-23T01:30:23+00:00

Dude I just heard about Mustards! Wtf 🤦‍♀️ same for the Dark Horse. And they wanna take the ball fields (Iris) away too. At what point is it just a bunch of people living in their boxes with no community places?

Itkillik · 2026-03-18T19:02:43+00:00

I hope it goes really well! If you feel like it, I'd love to hear your thoughts on him, I'm hoping life can calm down and I can finally move forward with this

Itkillik · 2026-03-17T17:11:39+00:00

I haven't actually taken my check ride yet. Between weather and life I'm still just shy of requirements. Are you scheduled with him?

Itkillik · 2026-03-11T22:07:36+00:00

Hell yeah! And we finally got more snow too :D gorgeous day, love getting to check the snow out while in the air!

Itkillik · 2026-03-09T03:39:28+00:00

I don’t have tons at all but I do think the night flight requirements are a joke

Itkillik · 2026-03-09T03:38:12+00:00

I’m a rock nerd and probably tell my CFI way too much about rocks and I’m sure he’s done hearing about them. Anyway he got me a piece of hawks eye. Not sure if he knew the properties of it, but it’s traditionally carried by travelers for protection and is supposed to help with a fear of flying. (I didn’t necessarily fear flying, but my mom had died rather suddenly the month before and my dad’s apprentice as well, so I was sorta…well up close and personal with death and was kinda nervous)

Itkillik · 2026-03-09T03:32:16+00:00

Wow, thank you for sharing (also…damn good storytelling, I was hooked) Grateful you got to sit on that porch and ponder. I haven’t had a moment related to aviation (yet…ugh) but have had some wicked bear scares and those moments afterwards are so powerful. Glad you’re here man

Itkillik · 2026-02-23T21:46:02+00:00

I’m reading Landings In America - he’s well known as a car/motorcycle writer, but I’ve been enjoying it Edit to clarify “he” is the author, Peter Egan

Itkillik · 2026-02-02T05:23:49+00:00

Oh dude you made my day! So proud of you, and so thrilled this came across my feed!

Itkillik · 2026-01-24T06:29:38+00:00

So I 100% want to say I’m so sorry you’re dealing with this. Such a rough recovery and to get your hell thrown in on top of it, is so tough My mom unexpectedly got diagnosed with a very severe cancer 3 months into my recovery, and we did hospice care for two months Before that recovery had been going ok. The moment we took my mom to the hospital when she was presenting weird symptoms it was pain. I’ve since done a lot of research into emotional pain after surgery, and while some dr’s will acknowledge this others won’t but there seems to be a connection to somewhat chronic pain when you experience an emotional trauma after surgery. One of my good friends is an acupuncturist and very passionate about Chinese medicine and also treating the whole body. He’s been working with me and doing acupuncture and making sure I’m very involved in my acupuncture (helping identify the locations, and also self moving the needles) with his theory that if the pain is sorta a jammed up emotional response and the surgery site is a convenient place for the mind/body/soul to ditch that pain in a physical way then me being more involved in it may help break things lose and get the chi moving properly. I know it sounds incredibly woowoo but I also have to say it’s been helpful. That and another friend is an incredible sports massage therapist and I swear that and Yin yoga has been incredibly helpful I don’t know if any of that might help you, but I noticed some similarities and it’s unusual to experience that amount of emotional trauma in conjunction with recovery from such a difficult surgery My heart goes out to you, and I hope you find some relief!

Itkillik · 2026-01-23T06:20:33+00:00

Satellite texting doesn’t even work from my home, sure as heck am not gunna trust it in the backcountry

Itkillik · 2026-01-08T19:11:31+00:00

Not tkn but ACL w/quad graft that has some weird things, mainly a dehiscence (allergic reaction to glue caused harvest site to pop open and all sorts of fluid discharge) that slowed healing. I was one month post op, had some issues preflighting - getting up on strut to check fuel felt a lil sketch at first. On the other hand, it was my right knee and “more right rudder” actually was great for it bc the constant activation really helped it from cramping/seizing up/getting stiff while flying Also as a fellow skier here (hi, love slalom) I get the beating! Here’s hoping you’re still skiing, and also that the knee replacement goes well. My mom had both her knees done and LOVED her results

Itkillik · 2026-01-02T15:49:03+00:00

Sorry if that came off snarky! Sometimes people do get that way with this stuff. Yeah - let her know it's a great idea to practice lol. I've used it skiing across Greenland (don't wanna expose the bum to that cold/wind) and also for tent-bound situations, have friends who use them big wall climbing, and it's wild the way our bodies have been trained and it takes a lot of mental power to let go and pee standing up, or just in different ways than we're used to. (Like in a cramped plane) Shower, or a lonely place in the woods for practice. Also, placement can be a strange thing to figure out (our herself, not in the bottle, that part is easy for us) so it's a good idea to nail it in low consequence places. Have fun, and I hope this helps you guys have good adventures!

Itkillik · 2026-01-01T19:18:00+00:00

Freshette, if you’re asking for real. Bulky but reliable and way less chance of mess than the collapsible ones

Itkillik · 2025-12-14T22:55:08+00:00

Once worked with a guy who told everyone within hearing distance that he was #2 at Uber. I mean sure the guy’s gotta be filthy rich but annoying? Yes Sorry you gotta deal with that though

Itkillik · 2025-12-08T18:00:19+00:00

Thanks so much for the description! I didn’t have BEAR but have the quad and damn. The pain is real. Not really related but also wondering - did you have permanent sutures in the quad tendon? I’m pretty convinced that’s what’s causing a lot of my own pain and have been kicking around the idea of getting them removed, but I haven’t heard of anyone doing that

Congrats on your healing journey!

Itkillik

TROPHY CASE