Pilot Transitions, Becoming Pluperfect
By Scott Spangler on February 7th, 2022
As a word merchant focused on subjects aeronautical, people often ask if I am a pilot. Because a pilot certificate does not die (unless the holder surrenders or the FAA revokes it), my answer is always affirmative (pilot speak for you betcha!). Usually, the interrogation stops there because it is my turn to pose a question related to the word merchantly conversation I’m pursuing.
But sometimes my interlocuters persist. What do I fly? Almost anything that is currently airworthy that I can get into and apply full control inputs without bruising some part of my impeding anatomy (it’s a short list). Before they ask the next question, I explain that I am not now current. To once again fly as pilot in command I would need a current medical certificate and flight review. Call it pilot present and past tense.
Until recently, present and past tense described my relationship to the verb “to fly.” But a recent diagnosis of Parkinson’s Disease has put the possibility of a medical certificate in the realm of not worth the time, tests, money, and bureaucratic calisthenics necessary for a one-year special issuance medical. Closing the door on once again becoming a current, present tense pilot, calls for a new adjective, former, as in “having been previously.”
Pondering this transition, I realized that past perfect is the verb tense that talks about an action that was completed before some point in the past. It is also known as the pluperfect tense. Phonetically, my neurological affliction became Poppa Delta, and before he arrived, just before Covid-19 showed up, I used to fly as pilot in command. Without the possibility of once again exercising those privileges, I am now a pluperfect pilot.
Oh! The conversational possibilities this transition offers. Because I have not surrendered and the FAA has not revoked my pilot certificate, my answer to the primary question remains the same. Only those who persist will learn about Poppa Delta, the pluperfect pilot. This could be fun!
Some may wonder if this transition is a depressing downer? Absolutely not! Never having had the opportunity to become a pilot would be worse by an exponential degree. Now is the time to appreciate all the rewards that becoming a pilot has given me. It is time to recall warmly all of the once-in-a-lifetime adventures with heartfelt gratitude. And while I will never again be a current PIC, as long as I keep getting out of bed in the morning, being a pilot continue its rewards.
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