Growing up, my sister and I were pretty well-behaved kids who rarely got into any kind of serious trouble. We got good grades, followed the rules, and generally acted in a responsible manner that enabled our parents to adopt a fairly hands-off approach to parenting. There were, however, certain incidents that resulted in one of them loudly announcing “OK, new rule” and subsequently enacting fresh household legislation intended to put an end to the nonsense and property damage.
Earlier this week, I went up for my first flight of the year on a cold and overcast New Year’s Day. And while I always make an effort to objectively evaluate my decision making in my still-new-to-me Cessna 170, I didn’t expect to learn three new lessons and enact three new personal rules after one short flight. But that’s precisely what happened as I kicked off a new year of flying.
