Passed my Check-Ride -- Now I'm a Pilot... Yikes!

On August 7, 1992, I passed my Private Pilot Practical Exam, or "check ride", on a Cessna 150 (N8001F) out of Addison Airport in Dallas and got my temporary airman's certificate. I had flown about 67 hours prior to the test. I was happy to have my wings!

(above) A happy Frieden arriving home with a new temporary airman's certificate.

Copyright © 2008 A.C. Frieden. No reproduction permitted.

Flying over Western Switzerland

While on vacation in Geneva, Switzerland, in 1992, I rented a Cessna 172 at general aviation hangar on the north end of Geneva International Airport (GVA). I flew as second in command along the northern shore of Lake Leman, turned toward Yverdon, Payerne, and then back toward Moudon and Montreux and then returned over the lake, past Lausanne and returned to Geneva.

(above) Flying over Lake Geneva (aka Lac Leman).

(above) Flying over the town of Nyon, on Lake Geneva.

(above) Hills above the village of Villarlod (foreground) and the Lac de Gruyeres (back).

(above) The town of Montreux (foreground) and Lausanne (background).

(above) Swiss Army truck and armored vehicle storage/maintenance base just north of Romont.

(above) View of the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne.

(above) View of Geneva, approaching from the eastern suburbs of Chene-Bourg.

(above) Aerial view of the boat repair facilities in Ouchy (near Lausanne), on Lake Geneva.

(above) Aerial view of the United Nations (European Headquarters), formerly the League of Nations building.

(above) Aerial view of the World Health Organization (upper left), US Mission to the UN (upper right), and the International Labor Organization (lower).

(above) Flying over Yassir Arafat's chartered 747 on the tarmac.


(above) Runway 23 and the freight terminal at Geneva's Cointrin Airport.

(above) Jet Aviation facilities and apron on south end of Geneva's Cointrin Airport.

(above) View on downwind of Geneva's main terminal and apron, the 12,000 foot Runway 23, the much shorter parallel grass strip (center, foreground), and the general aviation hangars (right).

Copyright © 2008 A.C. Frieden. No reproduction permitted.