Got my ticket

As of a few hours ago, I am officially a private pilot! Today I passed my FAA practical test, informally known as the "checkride." This means I'm now legal to fly passengers in airplanes, subject to about 700 exceptions, qualifications, and limitations.

You know that heavy lead vest the dentist puts on you when you get your head X-rayed? Imagine wearing about three of those for five months straight, and then one afternoon taking them off and suddenly being as light as you used to be. That's how I feel! Beginning in July of this year I've been "just a few weeks" away from my checkride, and I've put much of my life on hold as a result. Little did I know that weather would delay my cross-country flights for many weeks, that a dozen little things would conspire to delay my checkride prep again and again, and that my checkride itself would take six weeks to schedule and almost a month to complete. I'm excited to have my life back.

I'll write more later.