My work here is done...

Jay Honeck wrote:
40 months ago, when we opened our aviation themed hotel, one of our
first guests was a traveling nurse named Antoinette. She was a
divorced mom in her mid-30s, sweet as pie, in Iowa City to fulfill a
13-week contract at one of our medical centers.

She soon became a "regular" in the lobby, along with her elderly black
labrador, Beasley. A nicer pair has seldom graced our presence, and we
really hit it off with her and ol' Beas. Within a few weeks Mary and I
had invited her to go flying with us for a typical "$100 breakfast",
and with some trepidation she agreed to join us for the 30-minute
flight to the Quad Cities, where her boyfriend lived.

Of course I let her sit up front and fly, and had her do all the usual
turns and climbs. She was concentrating, very serious, and seemed to
be enjoying herself -- but the sheen of sweat on her upper lip betrayed
her effort. As with most newbies, she was over-controlling a bit, but
this soon settled down, and she did a fine job. (It was a nice, calm
day, luckily.)

We landed, had a marvelous brunch, and headed back to Iowa City. This
time Mary and Antoinette flew, while I marveled at the incredible
legroom available to me in the back of Atlas while two short women
flew!

After landing she thanked us both profusely, and it was clear that we
had set the hook pretty deeply. We were badgered with questions about
cost, time, the medical, lessons, instructors -- you name it, she
wanted to know about it.

Well, today, Tuesday, April 4, 2006, some 3.5 years later, Antoinette
soloed! And even though she hasn't lived at the inn for two years, we
have remained good friends (she was our first massage therapist at the
inn, too) and we were her very FIRST stop after leaving the airport.

(Interestingly, we had heard her on Unicom while she was flying, and
Mary had commented how much more confident she sounded. We had NO idea
she was alone, of course!)

It's been a long, long time since I've seen anyone as pumped and happy
-- what a wonderful thing to experience! She has had a long, hard row
to hoe (job changes, trouble with her medical, and instructor problems,
just to name a few obstacles), but she never took her eyes off the
prize. Her celebrations are well-deserved, and nothing could make us
happier than her success.

Antoinette is our first "true aviation convert" to leave the nest
(we've got a couple of others simmering) and she is bound and
determined to get her ticket. She has joined a tiny, tiny fraction of
the earth's population (pilots), and, as a woman pilot, she joins an
even tinier subset of the whole. (Only ~6% of all pilots are women.)
What a great day!

Next time you fly, take a minute to admire that pesky little 152
working the pattern at your airport -- that's our future you're
watching!

Dang -- you know, come to think of it, maybe my work here has just
begun!?

:-)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Cool...

Good on you mate! hehehe My impression of Steve the Crock Hunter.
:-))

The Monk