When that clearance is issued it is normally followed by,
“Expect further clearance in xx minutes.” In this case, expect further
clearance in about a year.
Let me explain.
This blog is going to enter a hold for about a year for several reasons. The first and most obvious is that it has been in slow flight for a couple of years anyway, and there are two reasons for that. The first is that I have kind of run out of war stories and important flying concepts to write about. The second is directly related: I’m not flying anymore. I don’t experience new situations and even when something comes up, in the news for instance, I’m not sure my now 10 years lack of direct experience with aviation makes me a relevant commentator anymore. Everything in aviation is now flat screen and computer generated, even at the general aviation level, and my experience with that stopped with the Boeing 757/767, an early hybrid of both round dial and flat screen displays. ADS-B was just coming in as I was going out. Virtually all navigation is now GPS, supplemented with DME and INS—if you’ve got it, use it--but GPS can function perfectly at all levels on its own. So, even though navigation is kind of one of my areas of expertise, there isn’t much to add anymore.
So my legitimacy as an aviation writer is somewhat suspect at this point. But there’s more. I was diagnosed with lung cancer (adeno carcinoma, for the medical aviators among us) about a year ago. I was lucky enough to get into a research trial sponsored by Bristol Meyers Squibb and got lucky again when I was randomly assigned to the group that receives two of their immunotherapy drugs. So far I have responded well with minimal side effects. I will stay on this regime for as long as the therapy is effective and doesn’t turn on healthy organs, which it can do. The trial ends for me a year from now, and after that my treatments will probably be continued outside the study. Hence the “expect further clearance” in about a year.
This also means I can’t hold a Third Class Medical. (At least, I assume I can’t. I don’t want to take a chance on trying to get one, get turned down, and lose my chance to fly Light Sport Aircraft.) So my thoughts about flying turn from what sort of serious transportation type aircraft would I like to have, if I could just find a way to finance one, to if I’m limited to LSA, what might that be. I’m thinking Champ, an aircraft I have had a long longing for. We’ll see.
In any case, the picture above, taken at Oshkosh several years ago of an award winning Ryan PT-22, and probably the most beautiful aircraft I’ve ever seen (but you can see a bunch of beautiful aircraft at Oshkosh), is my inspiration.
I leave you with one aviation thought: Good landings mean nothing. Anyone can pull off a good landing, even after a horrible mess of a flight. But managing an aircraft to arrive, uneventfully, at a point where a safe landing can be made means everything. Don’t ever forget that.
Let me explain.
This blog is going to enter a hold for about a year for several reasons. The first and most obvious is that it has been in slow flight for a couple of years anyway, and there are two reasons for that. The first is that I have kind of run out of war stories and important flying concepts to write about. The second is directly related: I’m not flying anymore. I don’t experience new situations and even when something comes up, in the news for instance, I’m not sure my now 10 years lack of direct experience with aviation makes me a relevant commentator anymore. Everything in aviation is now flat screen and computer generated, even at the general aviation level, and my experience with that stopped with the Boeing 757/767, an early hybrid of both round dial and flat screen displays. ADS-B was just coming in as I was going out. Virtually all navigation is now GPS, supplemented with DME and INS—if you’ve got it, use it--but GPS can function perfectly at all levels on its own. So, even though navigation is kind of one of my areas of expertise, there isn’t much to add anymore.
So my legitimacy as an aviation writer is somewhat suspect at this point. But there’s more. I was diagnosed with lung cancer (adeno carcinoma, for the medical aviators among us) about a year ago. I was lucky enough to get into a research trial sponsored by Bristol Meyers Squibb and got lucky again when I was randomly assigned to the group that receives two of their immunotherapy drugs. So far I have responded well with minimal side effects. I will stay on this regime for as long as the therapy is effective and doesn’t turn on healthy organs, which it can do. The trial ends for me a year from now, and after that my treatments will probably be continued outside the study. Hence the “expect further clearance” in about a year.
This also means I can’t hold a Third Class Medical. (At least, I assume I can’t. I don’t want to take a chance on trying to get one, get turned down, and lose my chance to fly Light Sport Aircraft.) So my thoughts about flying turn from what sort of serious transportation type aircraft would I like to have, if I could just find a way to finance one, to if I’m limited to LSA, what might that be. I’m thinking Champ, an aircraft I have had a long longing for. We’ll see.
In any case, the picture above, taken at Oshkosh several years ago of an award winning Ryan PT-22, and probably the most beautiful aircraft I’ve ever seen (but you can see a bunch of beautiful aircraft at Oshkosh), is my inspiration.
I leave you with one aviation thought: Good landings mean nothing. Anyone can pull off a good landing, even after a horrible mess of a flight. But managing an aircraft to arrive, uneventfully, at a point where a safe landing can be made means everything. Don’t ever forget that.
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