The other F word

Today’s flight was liberally punctuated with the F word. No not that one, although I can understand why your mind would go there. The F word of the day was “Flight Test.”

Bob’s been dropping it into the conversation recently, possibly to gauge my reaction. Especially considering that when I was gearing up to my solo flight, I banned all usage of the “S” word anywhere near me.

The truth is though, I’m OK with it. I let myself think about it now, in contrast to my first solo where I was in strict denial for a long time. I told Bob today that I regularly review the flight test standards for the work that we plan on doing. Something which he was happy to hear.

I’m OK allowing myself to think about what it is I actually need to achieve in order to have a hope in hell of passing. I’m OK with the fact that I’m not there yet.

I have goals, I have things I’m looking forward to. I suspect I have bumps along the road yet to encounter. I’m probably going to get lost, bewildered, confused and probably scared. And yet I know I’m going to be excited beyond belief as well, just like I currently am.