Ciara Thompson, Why I Want to Fly

When I was young, my dream was to be an engineer. With my mother’s help I was introduced to WAASPS, an aircraft building and flight training centre in Kpong, Ghana. That was the beginning of flying for me.

Ciara Thompson

My name is Ciara Thompson and I want to fly. My first flight experience was in an X-air Falcon with the registration number 9GZAA. That day was just another day for me. I did not expect anything. It was just going to be fifteen minutes in a small airplane. When I sat in the plane and took off, it was no longer nothing. It was everything. I felt like a bird, free. Looking down was another thing, the earth was beautiful- different patterns with a myriad of colours, miniature houses, humans, and animals- no painting can compare. The negative G’s made me feel like a lot of people do in a roller coaster. The G’s made me want to scream. The experience was a mixed feeling of trepidation and exhilaration. 

Why I want to fly

After that experience, I want to fly. Why do I want to fly? I want to fly because it makes me light up like a beam. It gives me time to relax and appreciate life. I want to fly because like many things it is a challenge and I love to be challenged. It is hard work but at the same time fun, which cannot be said of many things. I want to fly because it is a dream that was born in me the first time I took a flight. I want to see this dream fulfilled. 

I want to be like a bird, twist and twirl all I want. Glide and take off, spin and roll, yaw and turn. I love the power on take off and the feeling I get each time the plane leaves the surface of the earth. I want to fly because the earth looks more beautiful and serene from above.  I want to look down my side as I turn and see the earth below. I want to see the world covered with greens, yellows, reds, blues, browns, and whites. 

I want to drift in the midst of the clouds and over the clouds. I want to see the horizon in a distance which outlines the magnificent shape of the earth. I want to see the sun rise and set from the sky and the moon take over its place. I want to be with the stars, see them closer and larger, even in the morning. I want to go soaring into the sky through the troposphere, tropopause, and stratosphere. I want to experience the challenge of flying at night.  I want to fly the turbulence as it picks one wing and control the plane to overcome nature. 

I want to fly because it gives me a better understanding of the world I live in. During one of my lessons, my instructor and I were caught up in a storm and almost sucked up by a cumulonimbus cloud. Since then I do not have to be told about the energy of clouds and the dangers of flying in a cloud, because now I know. 

I want to fly because each flight makes me a better person in terms of safety and security, precision and planning. Each flight teaches me more and expands my sphere of opportunities. Flying is not only about controlling the plane but entails navigation, meteorology, engineering and safety. It is a holistic approach to life. I want to fly to be a better engineer; to break the boundary between engineers and pilots. I want to design the engineers’ dream which is pragmatic and desiring to the pilot. I am the pilots’ friend: I am one of them.   

I want to fly because I live in a society where flying is an uncommon dream for a female. I want to show my world that it is not about gender but about passion. 

I want to fly because I love to fly.

Thank you for a beautiful essay Ciara. Your words are gift to all pilots as a reminder why we love to fly, and how fortunate we are to be living the dream. Keep smiling! 

Enjoy the Journey!

~ Karlene