Anthony Ricciardi obtained his pilot's license while working at a factory in Kansas that makes Cessna planes.
When things get too intense on the ground for senior mechanical engineering Colin Block, he just takes to the skies.
“When I get sick of being around people it’s nice to get off of the earth for an hour so,” Block said.
Block has had his pilot’s license for more than two years, and he first became interested in flying when another Tech student took him up for a flight out of the Blacksburg airport.
“I thought the experience was so cool; I wanted to look into flying myself,” he said.
While doing a co-op in Charlottesville during the summer and fall of 2008, Block would take lessons after work on nice days.
“I was usually tired after a long day of work, and training took the rest of the energy out of me,” Block said. “It was really challenging but so rewarding to get up in the sky and see some amazing things.”
Block describes the learning experience as a combination of stress, adrenaline and excitement.
“It can be stressful doing something you’ve never done before, kind of playing with your life, but it’s just such an adrenaline rush,” Block said.
One of his most memorable flights was one to Orange County, Va., during his training period.
“It was later in the evening, the sun was setting so it was beautiful. I came in and had one of the best landings I ever had,” Block said. “I was beaming, my instructor was beaming and it made me realize that’s what I was doing this for — for moments like that one.”
Anthony Ricciardi, an aerospace engineering graduate student, has always had an interest in flying and finally had the opportunity to get his pilot’s license while working.
“I was working at a factory in Kansas that made Cessna planes, and we had a company flying club that you could join to get certified,” Ricciardi said. “It was great learning there because we got to fly in the planes that we made.”
Since getting his license, Ricciardi has enjoyed being part of the private community of pilots, one that he said is an incredibly close group. “It’s kind of a whole new world you don’t realize is there,” Ricciardi said.
A version of this article appeared in the Apr 27 issue of the Collegiate Times.
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