My following count is decreasing every day. But I haven’t unfollowed anyone by purpose. Seems to be a bug in the contact list. Other clients than Damus show larger followings, interestingly. 🤔

Here it is, another post about my journey to becoming a pilot! #LearningToFly In my previous post, I mentioned that the desire to learn how to fly has been with me since childhood. However, recent concerns about the CO2 impact of flying made me pause and reevaluate my dream. I've taken steps to reduce my personal carbon footprint and fly less frequently. Considering that aviation is responsible for approximately 2% of CO2 emissions, it's essential to weigh this impact. Interestingly, only 5 to 10 percent of the Earth's population takes flights within a year, which highlights the imbalance. These thoughts led me to reconsider my long-held aspiration of becoming a pilot. But then, quite serendipitously, I discovered that a local flying school has one of the first electric aircraft in its fleet: the Pipistrel Velis. This remarkable aircraft was the first fully electric type certified aircraft by the EASA (European Union Aviation Safety Agency) in June 2020. Shortly after learning about this, my wife convinced me that the time was right, and she enrolled me in the flight school. :-) Last week marked my fourth session, the third of which was on the Velis, and I must say it's truly amazing. It bears a striking resemblance to an electric car: no fumes, no loud noises (unlike flying with combustion engines that require noise-canceling headphones to communicate with your co-pilot), and no vibrations at all. The freedom of flying without the distractions of a combustion engine beside you is exhilarating. The only drawback: Electric aircrafts are not yet suited for extensive A to B transport. The Velis has a flight time of approximately 50 minutes. During flight training, you initially focus on the "circuit": taking off from and landing at your airfield, conducting rounds in the vicinity. Much practice in this pattern is required before attempting landings at different airfields. So it is well suited for flight schools. With this groundbreaking aircraft, I'll managed to halve my emissions during flight school, and I find that truly inspiring! To pioneer new endeavors, someone has to take the first step. I'm grateful that Pipistrel developed this electric aircraft, thrilled that my flight school offers it, and I am excited to participate in this electrified future of aviation! On a related note, numerous electric aircraft are in development, set to allow A-B flights with extended ranges. I'll delve into these advancements another time. So, what are your thoughts? Do you believe electric aviation is the future? For those who've contemplated learning to fly, what factors have deterred you from pursuing it? If you're a pilot, what motivated you to embrace aviation? I'm eager to hear your thoughts! This is me during my first session with the Velis: #aviation #AviationCommunity #PilotLife #airplanes #aircrafts

Hey, fellow pilots, to-be-pilots, aviation fans, where are you? 🧑‍✈️✈️🛩️ Please repost and tag others! 🔁 What hashtags should we use to find like-minded #AviationGeeks? #PilotLife #FlyWithMe #FlyingHigh #AviationCommunity

Some weeks ago, I decided to fulfill a childhood dream: #LearningToFly! ✈️ Encouraged by the awesome Nostr community, I decided to share some experiences on my way to my private pilot license. I hope my journey is interesting to those pursuing the same goal, to aviation enthusiasts, and anyone else curious about it. Feel free to ask me questions, and I'll do my best to answer them. As I am still early on my journey, there is much for me to learn. First, I'd like to tell you about my childhood dream. Becoming a pilot used to be a childhood dream for many children. I don't know if it is still a thing. For me, it was something to aspire to. When I was 10, I could identify almost every airplane model that landed at Vienna airport. While other kids played store, I set up a flight office in my room. You could buy flights from me! Unfortunately, I have no photos to share. However, here is a picture of a widely used airplane by Austrian Airlines, the McDonnell Douglas MD-82. I also had a small model of this aircraft and others. Image by Pedro Aragão, License CC BY-SA As time went by, my interest in becoming a pilot faded, though I still liked planes. However, becoming a pilot seemed less interesting as I grew older. Now, I have my own consulting company, and I am content with my career choice. Nevertheless, learning to fly was always on my agenda. However, as a child, I was too young. In my twenties, I lacked sufficient funds. In my thirties, I had no time or didn't prioritize it. Additionally, my concerns regarding flying grew due to its massive CO2 impact. But this year, something changed that reignited my dream. It has to do with a revolutionary new way to fly. I'll share it with you tomorrow.

Awesome story, thanks for sharing it! It really makes me think. #LearningToFly View quoted note →

Wow, thanks for your feedback. That was a clear signal for me! So, let the journey begin: #LearningToFly Maybe I shall start with the beginning, why I am actually learning to fly. But I’ll do this tomorrow. For now, just a photo my wife took some minutes before I crawled into the plane to experience my first flight as a #PPLA student! 👨‍✈️✈ Here I am going through the checklist. That’s what a pilot needs to do before every flight. And you really need to do this. It is not like we all did when learning to drive: going around the car, but never doing it again after we have the permit. When it comes to flying, safety is paramount. You can’t stop an airplane in midair. 🤷‍♂️

I observer that I use Nostr less and less in recent weeks in comparison to Twitter (or whatever the correct name is today). I love the tech and prospects behind Nostr. I run a relay and I support clients by translating the UI. But for me, personally, Nostr is lacking interesting content. So, maybe I should post more content here, that I care about and others might find interesting? Some weeks ago I started training for my private pilot license. Maybe that’s a topic some might be intersted in. Pictures of small airplanes, pictures of the world from above and some insights from a student? Anybody interested? Give me a 🤙 or a repost. Thanks!