Go West, Young Man

I recently reconnected with an old friend, someone whose interest in flying I can legitimately claim to have sparked back in the days when we were just-out-of-college roommates. I took him for his first flight in a personal airplane, and he signed up for lessons later that same day. Today, hes a gazillion-hour captain for a major airline, sitting on more type ratings than there are beers in a 12-pack. But we both remember when things were different.

Joseph E. (Jeb) Burnside

Monday, July 18, 2016 at 12:00 AM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

A planned New Year's flying trip was canceled due to unfavorable weather and the pilots' lack of instrument ratings, despite their attempts to wait it out.
Reflecting on the past, the author realized they could have circumnavigated the bad weather by taking an alternative, longer route, a solution they failed to consider due to being overly focused on one path.
The experience underscores the importance of "thinking outside the box" and exploring reasonable alternatives in aviation, rather than fixating on a single approach, while always prioritizing safety.

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I recently reconnected with an old friend, someone whose interest in flying I can legitimately claim to have sparked back in the days when we were just-out-of-college roommates. I took him for his first flight in a personal airplane, and he signed up for lessons later that same day. Today, he’s a gazillion-hour captain for a major airline, sitting on more type ratings than there are beers in a 12-pack. But we both remember when things were different.

It was the end of a forgotten calendar, and we had grand plans for ringing in the New Year: a hotel reservation in Key West, Fla., and a Piper Archer waiting for us at an airport in nearby Northern Virginia. There were two things we didn’t have, though: flyable weather and instrument ratings. We needed one or the other.