Add blog post about taking time off from flying

_posts/2016-03-20-grounded.md

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+---
+layout: post
+title: "You're Grounded!"
+tags:
+- flying
+- vfrpilot
+- aviation
+---
+
+"It's better to be on the ground wishing you were in the sky, than in the sky
+wishing you were on the ground." One of the many sayings that gets told and
+re-told in the aviation community, has been gnawing at me for the past couple
+of years. When you're flying regularly, it is certainly a truism. When you're
+not flying regularly, or at all, it rings false, deafeningly false.
+
+I haven't piloted an aircraft in almost two years.
+
+Another aviation saying, one which I like, is "you start with a bag full of
+luck and an empty bag of experience. The trick is to fill the bag of experience
+before you empty the bag of luck." This isn't _entirely_ true, you start with
+three bags: one full of luck, another full of money and an empty bag of
+experience. The trick is to fill the empty bag with experience before the other
+two run out.
+
+I look skyward at each aircraft passing overhead, attempting to identify
+the make and model, before guessing where they're flying. Having experienced
+the joy, frustration and stress of flight, sitting on the ground looking upward
+is unpleasant.
+
+Learning to fly taught me as much about myself as it did the mechanics of
+powered-flight. However, the amount of flying that would make me feel
+comfortable as pilot-in-command, far exceeds the amount of money I'm willing to
+convert into thrust and lift.
+
+In the time since I last pulled the yoke back, flared and landed on a runway, I
+have: taken my first *real* vacation, helped a friend get their footing, and
+purchased my first house.
+
+None of which were easy, or cheap, especially in Northern California.
+
+I find myself reading old posts tagged
+[vfrstudentpilot](/tag/vfrstudentpilot.html), reminiscing over the fears,
+concerns and delights that went along with flight. In the present, there's not
+much to blog about. There's nothing inherently exciting or interesting about
+home ownership, financial stability and long term planning.
+
+How boring and responsible.
+
+---
+
+If you hang around any airfield long enough you'll notice two general groups of
+people: the young folks, bright-eyed and energetic, many with
+shiny-jet-syndrome aspiring to be airline pilots. The second group: salty older
+pilots who are usually retirees and/or folks with as much time as money to
+burn for avgas.
+
+
+I've got the salty part down, so with luck I'll be able to eventually join the
+second group.
+
+For now, unfortunately, I'll have to sit on the ground, looking up, wishing I
+were there.