This post is the second in a series about Axel’s flight training in Florida and is build from two posts initially dated December 2005. Vincent.

On October 17 this year I showed up at Oslo airport Gardermoen all excited….for the first time in my life I was going to America! And this wasn’t just the ordinary two week vacation trip either….oh, no, this was the real thing. I was on my way to Daytona Beach, Florida to fulfil my dream of becoming a pilot! After some waiting at the gate at Gardermoen which, to an anxious pilot student to be, seemed like an eternity, we finally got boarded on board the Continental Boeing 757 that was going to take us all the way across the Atlantic Ocean to the city that never sleeps – NEW YORK CITY!

This was a sunny morning with clear skies all over Southern Norway, and soon after take off I could see the capital Oslo and the Oslo fjord bathed in the beautiful morning sunlight. A few hours later I looked out the window again, and to my excitement I noticed that the seemingly endless waters of the Atlantic Ocean suddenly had been replaced by the ragged mountain peaks and enormous glaciers of Greenland. Some ice bergs were floating around down there, too. The only dissapointment was I didn’t get to see any polar bears… A few more hours went by as we left Greenland behind and passed over Canada, and finally, after more than seven hours in the air we started our descent towards New York City. As we descended I sat with my face pretty much glued to the window and finally, there it was – what I have heard about and seen pictures of all my life, for the very first time in real life … New York City and Manhattan Skyline!

According to my watch, only a little under an hour and a half after we left Oslo, we had landed safely at Newark Liberty Intl. Airport. (Too bad my flight back to Norway for christmas did not go that fast .

After some waiting in Newark, we took off and headed for Atlanta where we landed in a beautiful sunset with deep red skies. After picking up my luggage there, I went to check it in again for the flight to Daytona Beach, and then, to my frustration, I was informed that my flight had been cancelled, and there were no more flights going there that night. The Delta representative at the check-in counter apologized for the inconvenience, and offered me a free stay for the night at a nearby hotel while rebooking my flight to the next day…all at Delta’s expense. I accepted, and soon realized that what had caused my frustration shortly before, really had turned out for the best. I got to go to sleep much earlier than planned, and instead of arriving in Daytona Beach close to midnight completely exhausted, I flew in the next day after a good night’s sleep, all rested and feeling much better.

At the airport in Daytona Beach, my Admissions Officer from Phoenix East, Amber came to pick me up and drove me to a nearby hotel where I checked in. Then a very long trip had finally come to an end, and one of the biggest adventures of my life so far had just started…

The first three weeks I mainly used to find myself an apartment and a car. Finding a two bedroom apartment in Daytona Beach on short notice showed to be a lot harder than I had anticipated, but finally I stumbled upon one that was available thanks to a cancellation. The apartment was in a nice apartment complex called Wood Forest, located right next to Lake Forest where most of the Norwegian students at Phoenix East live, and just a few minutes drive from school, so I reserved it right away. Then, that was finally settled and I could move out of my hotel room which had been my home for the past two and a half weeks. One night in early November I packed my suitcases in my newly bought car, a Dodge Neon 2003, checked out of the hotel, and a half hour later I could congratulate myself on having moved into my new apartment….a drastic improvement from my hotel room!

A few days had passed by since I moved into my new apartment, and finally first day of Private Pilot Ground School came with four full weeks of fun (and) learning with instructor Kevin Fosberg, an excellent teacher, ahead of me. Around this time I had my first flying lesson, too. As I was progressing through Ground School I kept flying on a regular basis with my very capable instructor Troy, and soon, to my great joy, I could notice that my flying skills were gradually improving. I was able to perform the maneuvers in the airplane with greater and greater accuracy and I was starting to get the hang of the radio communication as well. On my last flight before I went back to Norway for xmas, I was able to make my very first perfect landing, too. Instead of the usual thump and “ouff” on touchdown, this time I could hardly feel the wheels touching the runway. That was awesome! And in other words….solo is getting closer. The training is paying off and I am learning to fly!

Click here to read the first part of Axel’s training and how he made the decision to move from Norway to Florida.