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The Cub was the first plane that I soloed in and it was a grand experience. I'll always recall the image of losing sight of the runway over the nose of the plane and having to watch the right wheel descend the last few inches onto the ground while trying to keep an eye on everything else. The requirements of controlling that stick just right to produce the proper flare and touch down were an elusive quantity. Often, my instructor would often sit in front of me and just shake his head when I bounced the plane a mile high. He would never say anthing, he really didn't talk much. I couldn't see his face from my position in the back, but I know he constantly glared and shook his head back and forth.

Eventually, I graduated to the 172 and now got to see the glare and head shaking out of the corner of my eye. At least I had a better perspective.

After 26 hours of flight time, I had to head off to college. I never quite finished my training. It would be several years until I came back to it, but it would be for the same reasons.

Despite my departure from aviation and learning to fly, I kept it relevant in my life. Watching airports close down as a result of developers, adverse township boards and city council's, I wrote a white paper on the preemption of the FAA over municipal regulation. (Click here to read) This position paper has been adopted and used successfully by advocates for airport rights.

In 2001, my office moved across the street from Renton Municipal Airport (KRNT). Each day I would listen to the Boeing 737's take off as they came off the Boeing assembly line. I could hear the small general aviation aircraft searching to find some altitude as they drifted over the lake. In the summer time I would stand on the office balcony overlooking the airport and describe the planes that were taking off to my daughter. "That's a 182", "Look at that Lanceair!", "There goes a Piper Lance, they have a T-tail that causes a longer take-off run, or so I hear."

My daughter didn't care, she just like watching the planes take off and land. As did I.

After several months of watching, my wife suggested I go and finish my training. I walked down to the local FBO and signed up. Six months later, I had my private ticket. Unforuntately, I had lost my log book from when I was a kid, so I had to start over again from scratch. It had been sixteen years since I had been up in the air.

I don't think my family or I realized the impact that my ticket would have. We fly everywhere and aviation has worked its way into all aspects of my life, including the practice of law. Now as I complete the training for my instrument ticket and my commercial ticket, aviation is at the center of my life. I have a passion for flying and passion for advocating for our airports and priveleges as pilots.

Every pilot has a story that brought them to reach for the sky. You know part of mine, I would like to know yours. You can connect to my blog and tell your story. I want to hear about it. The blog is my attempt to journal some of my flight experiences, my legal experiences, and create a community for pilots to join and help explain why they fly.

This is an important requirement for all of us and I'll tell you why. We tend to sit around outside the hangar having a great conversation about how wonderful flying is, but, we're talking to ourselves. General Aviation is challenged with struggling to remain on the map. Everyday I read about the expansion of the airlines and the emergence of VLJ's, but if we don't spread the word to the non-pilot, our position is irrelevant. It is our duty to reach out beyond our community and invite others to join us. Whether it be for a free airplane ride or an explanation of how an airport is a benefit to the community, it is incumbent upon all of us as members of the aviation community to preach the gospel. I encourage you to take your story and tell it to whoever will listen. You might be surprised at the welcome reception you receive.