Alyssa Lane's Journey

We asked new member Alyssa Lane for her thoughts on her flight training journey, She's been training at Mike Smith Aviation at Napa Airport KAPC, and has made amazing progress. See more pics HERE

Alyssa says: I started flight training in November with absolutely no aviation background or connections. I didn’t grow up around airplanes and didn’t have any pilot family members or friends when I started. In the beginning, aviation honestly felt like learning a completely different language, and stepping into that world was both exciting and intimidating. I earned my private pilot certificate this April, so it was a pretty fast-paced few months of learning and growth.

One of the biggest things I gained from training was confidence. Not just flying the airplane, but learning to truly act as pilot in command, make decisions for myself, handle the radios, and trust my judgment.

My favorite milestone during training was finally soloing. I was honestly terrified to do it at first and kept putting it off, even though my instructor encouraged me and believed I was ready. But once I finally went up by myself, it felt completely natural and ended up being so much fun and remains my favorite flight to this day. Afterward, I couldn’t believe how much time I had wasted being scared of it.

One thing that has made aviation especially meaningful to me is seeing so many supportive women in the community. At Mike Smith, I’ve met a lot of women who are training and instructing, and being around that environment made me feel much more included and less intimidated starting out.

One of the things I love most about flying is how much it constantly challenges me and pushes me to stay focused and improve. That’s actually why I love doing crosswind landings, they’re difficult, and every single one feels different. I enjoy constantly paying attention, making small adjustments, and working with the airplane and conditions in real time. For me, that challenge is what makes flying so exciting and rewarding.

I’ve had such a positive experience learning to fly, and I genuinely love how aviation constantly gives me opportunities to learn new things. I’m really excited to continue flying and work toward more ratings in the future.