Ricardo Demarco: Aeronautics

ABOVE IN THE SKIES:

Flying has been one of my cherished dreams since childhood. I have always loved the idea of moving through the air as a bird and many times, when I was a kid, I played to be an astronaut and imagined myself flying a spacecraft into the space. I will never forget my first 20 minutes of real flight on a Twin Otter, back in the early 80s. That was magnificent! In 1999 I moved to Europe to pursue studies in astrophysics: that was my first international and intercontinental flight (even my third time flying), and the beginning of an active participation in aviation as ..., well, a passenger. After several years flying economy from one country to another, from one continent to another, I decided it was time for me to move on to the next class, so I decided to move from passenger to pilot.

In 2004 I moved to Baltimore, where Professor Holland Ford, colleague and an accomplished glider pilot, introduced me into the fascinating world of gliders: imagine soaring in the sky like a hawk! From the passenger's seat of his Grob aircraft I also got a unique perception of what flying an airplane is, which strongly fostered my interest in becoming a pilot. In August 2006, I finally began my pilot training at Chesapeake Proflight at BWI, under the instruction of Dr. Carol Christian, also colleague, an accomplished power plane pilot and a certified flight instructor. The instruction is carried out with a Cessna 172 Skyhawk airplane.

In July 2008 I moved to Riverside, California, where I continued my flight training at Zenith Flight Support, based at the Riverside Municipal Airport. Here, under the instruction of Nate Cressman, I did my first night and cross-country flights, totalling about 160 nautical miles during the latter. In 2009 I moved back to my home country, Chile, to work as an astronomer at the Universidad de Concepción. The air club of this university offers all that is needed to keep flying on this part of the planet.

"When you walk to the edge of all the light you have and take that first step into the darkness of the unknown, you must believe that one of two things will happen: There will be something solid for you to stand upon, or, you will be taught how to fly." - Patrick Overton. The Leaning Tree, 1975. Rebuilding the Front Porch of America, 1997.