Hello IFC, today i have a story about how important as a pilot too network and getting to know people. As many of you know, im a private pilot with a few hundred hours under my belt flying in VFR conditions.
I recently with my brother drove up to Heber Springs Airport (KHBZ) too meet with a CFII. This CFII i have never met before but just by talking too him seemed like a cool dude. After driving the hour up there we met up with him and turns out he was a corporate pilot with 15,000 hours flying and just retired a year ago and still loved aviation. Now, i thought our meeting would be a 45 minutes to an hour long but was I surprised when I looked at my phone and it was 3.00 in the afternoon. Talking with this guy, he may have been an older guy but definitely still had a drive and passion for aviation like he was 25.
Also, while we were talking we met a few retired fedex, northwest and air force pilots who all have thousands of hours flying. The conversation turned from talking instrument lessons too trading and sharing stories about our flying adventures. It just goes too show that no matter the age gap between pilots, its always good to make friends because you never know when they might come in handy. So. for all the student pilots out there i encourage yall to hang around the airport and make friends because you never know who you might run into and talk too. It could change your life.