Soaring – August 2019

http://www.ssa.org • August 2019 • Soaring 47

riencing a stomach-dropping stall or a
spin for the first time. I certainly didn’t
know; as a kid I’d been a connoisseur
of rollercoasters.
The other thing I uncovered is that
no fully-mature human being with
typical neurology is truly at home in
the air. No matter how cool and calm
they think they are or whether they
are aware of any fear, the body knows.
Heart rate goes up, blood pressure
goes up, and breathing becomes more
rapid and shallow. I haven’t examined
the data on cortisol and adrenaline
levels, but even pilots who accumulate
tens of thousands of flight hours dis-
play subtle changes in respiration and
cardiac function. Simply put, we are
all human, and we know we can’t fly.
Some pilots are in a position to take
to the air as part of a show of force
and power, whether for military pres-
ence or for airshow shenanigans, but a
hundred years of aviation isn’t enough
to make any of us reflexively flee into
the air for a safe escape at the drop of
a hat. Jump, yes. Fly, no.
At the time, not understanding any
of these neural mechanisms, I was
thankful I had planned my flight les-
sons out weeks at a time. It would have
been so easy to drag my feet. Instead,
the schedule kept me committed to
progressing. I’m also very grateful
that I had the good fortune to stum-
ble across a flight instructor who has
such a sense of humor. He’d greet me
with cheer and say, “Ready to leave the
planet?” It was heartening to be met
with a broad smile and a joke every
time I arrived at the airfield.
I wanted to be able to fly. Even so,
there were many nights I slept poorly,
anticipating the next day’s lesson. It’s
insomnia-inducing to be absolutely
clear that you don’t know how to keep
yourself alive in the cockpit the next
day. Your gut knows that you are utter-
ly reliant upon your instructor to res-
cue you from rushing headlong over
the edges of your nascent flying ability.
I learned very quickly not to eat a sub-
stantial meal in the 2-3 hours before
my flight lesson, or my gastrointestinal

tract would rebel. It wasn’t

just a leaden stomach I

had to deal with, either.

Many people talk about

overcoming motion sick-

ness, but nobody ever

mentioned dealing with

the other end. It was so-

bering to realize nothing

else I’d done (including

performing difficult sur-

geries) hit me quite this

way. Learning to fly be-

came an exercise in gritty

determination, quite dis-

tinct from the endurance

demanded by 100-mile

bike rides or the years-

long focus required by

professional coursework.

There were adjust-

ments I could make for

the physical side effects,

but doggone it, merely

tolerating flight lessons

was not necessary. Cre-

ate your own happiness,

right? It didn’t take me

long to come up with

and utilize other morale

boosters. To transform

the commute to the air-

field, I played a list of my favorite

upbeat songs, sometimes bouncing in

my seat or drumming out the beat on

my car’s instrument panel when traf-

fic slowed to a crawl. Everybody likes

a treat, so I’d randomly bring food or

beverages to share with my instruc-

tor and his tow pilot and any other

hungry soul who happened by. Each

little bit helped, including the hours

spent in the sunshine under the wide

open skies.

You have probably guessed by now

that I am no daredevil. I may never

love spins, but that is precisely why I

still do them.

Flight training was proving to be

quite the adventure, and I hadn’t even

soloed yet.

About the author: Dr. Christina Lar-

son has always looked up to the sky in

wonder of those who fling themselves

through its trackless depths. She cracked

open her first logbook in 2016 and became

certificated as a flight instructor in 2018.

She is a recipient of two Women Soaring

Pilots Association ( WSPA) scholarships:

The Flying Montagues and the Maria

Faber. Her poetry has been published by

the Soaring Society of America and the

Experimental Aircraft Association. Pri-

marily a Minnesota soaring pilot, she

has also enjoyed flying over the glaciers of

British Columbia, upside down and side-

ways above the Arizona desert, among

the rolling hills of Tennessee, and high

above the mountain ranges of Nevada.

She can be contacted at: soaring.cloud.

[email protected].

Inciting a spin in a Blanik L23 with Rob Stone

high over the Nevada desert. (Photo by GoPro

courtesy of Christina Larson.)