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            Every once in a while we may wonder how far we have ventured but unless we dare look behind or have within us something to remind ourselves we might just be kind of lost and any approach at celebrations isn’t even worth it. Six years ago today 5th of April, was one of the unforgettable moments in my life. I was strapped on the command seat of a Cessna 150G with my flight instructor on my right and we were flying somewhere in Bulacan (Philippines) after taking off at Plaridel Airport. Visibility was excellent and the weather was good. There were some cloud coatings by the horizon blanketing a thin veil of white against the blue sky but aside from it, everything was perfect except me. I was fumbling with the aircraft controls as my instructor was so embarrassed thinking what approach should he undertake for me to get the lesson right. Scanning the instruments is essential in flying. You must nail your heading and altitude at a fixed position on the instruments to maintain straight and level flight and assure that you’re just whipping the horses right on the back to maintain a steady gallop. The Cessna 150G was powered with a hundred horses (100 horsepower), just enough to keep the whole aircraft aloft with her pilots. Unfortunately that wasn’t just my time I suppose. When I have maintained my heading I have overlooked the altimeter and I would later realize I’m descending and if I have to recover by maintaining straight and level, I will be out of course. My flight instructor was so disgusted so he told me to keep my hands off the controls. Amazingly the aircraft has a positive static stability so it has the tendency to fly by itself (considering you have the average altitude to recover) when hands were off the yoke.

          Fourteen days later, the aircraft crashed and two of my colleagues perished on it. Afterwards it took another three more years before I would actually be able to attain my PPL (Private Pilot License) on another replacement aircraft provided by the insurance. My flight instructor on the above flight resigned from flying years later after going to US for a supposed Flight Training with Flight Safety International in Florida and never showed up after that. As for me I was compelled by the times to resign four years later.

          In life we were given options to take which path to tread and sometimes we just lost ourselves on the way and never come back. Oftentimes we just choose a different company and a new working environment and we disappear from our former workmates. By circumstances, some will met their fate within the usual company and will forever be missed. I was just in time to disappear and not be missed forever (no bloody mistakes or dramatic exits, thanks God). As everything happens so quick in flight, I have just found contentment reminiscing about the experience on the ground on a slower pace and in a different light. The quest for flight will forever linger in the human heart and as I’m writing this another batch of my former colleagues were learning their lessons to earn their wings on a secluded airport back in the Philippines. I could just wish them the best of blessings for their safety in flight and may the hundred horses powering each aerial maneuver wouldn’t miss a beat.

To Capt. Larry Alfonso, wherever you are I wish you have found contentment in your life’s plight and flights. You are a pilot and I suppose you always stick to the flight plan no matter what happens . . .

Other Posts on Flight:

Solo Flight

First of May

The Flight to Promise Land

The Black Scarf: The South Flight Chronicles