Thursday, March 13, 2008

SCUBA and Flying....


Yesterday I did some night flying with a friend and he actually let me help with takeoff and do a couple of turns. We flew a Piper PA-28-161 Warrior around the coast and performed a couple of landings. It was exciting just to control the aircraft for the time I did. The only drawback to this plane was that I am short and could barely see over the cockpit. So...I had to use a pillow to boost me up. :(

SCUBA has been going great! On Tuesday I got to go in the pool and do certain things like assembling my gear, taking my mask off underwater for a minute, taking the regulator out and putting it back in, some emergency procedures, etc. It's alot of fun! I was a little nervous at first, but I think I have the hang of it now. Tonight we'll be going over chapters 3 and 4 and then I have to take some quizzes. Tuesdays are in-pool days and Thursday's are lecture days. I can't wait for our open water dives. We're supposed to do a spring dive and then a drift dive off the coast of West Palm Beach. But that's not until the end of the month.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Just don't fly right after SCUBA diving if you want to avoid the bends! That would be like doing an EVA without prebreathing first.

Rainmaker said...

Very cool! I've got to get around to finishing my license. It's sooo much fun flying.

Not quite as much fun - but still lots of fun, is scuba! You're going to have a blast once you get out into openwater. Plus, drift dives are great. The ultimate lazy-dive.

Anonymous said...

Hi Damaris - it was nice to meet you the other day (i'm the Air Force LT who was shadowing Lisa when we were checking out Discovery's blankets) your blog is awesome! i remember seeing it before when i was searching for more info on the astronaut application process. Anyway, i hope you make it - maybe we'll both get into one of the upcoming classes :-)

Richard Par said...

A scuba diver, a pilot, AND you work for NASA!! I envy you =)

Anonymous said...

Hi Damaris.... Its been a long time for me to search some blogs and when I read yours, I can say that its great we do hope that you will enjoy your daily trip in life..I know that only fun you are looking for but also learning in many things..Enjoy your scuba diving....