Why I Needed to Fly
 
Taking-Off with ME/CFS
By Adam Gilbert

 
Aviation is something for which I’ve had a lifelong enthusiasm and one which until recently I didn’t think I had the means or ability to pursue. (Actually I’m not entirely sure I do have what it takes to be a pilot.) My decision to learn to fly was really born out of frustration at turning 25 with very little to show for it, which also coincided with the 10th anniversary of my formal diagnosis of ME/CFS. That year, 2006, now seems like a turning point for me, as I came to realise many aspects of my life had to change. The first part of that year was particularly difficult, but later on with new medical help things slowly started to seem more positive. During this time my interest in flying was reawakened and I wondered if I could start to learn. Happily my GP had no objection to granting me a Group 2 Medical Declaration and after a few tentative starter lessons I signed up to do my NPPL licence. Although this isn’t exactly cheap, it turned out to be more affordable than I’d always imagined.
 
Highland Flying School based at Inverness Airport were brave enough to take me on. It’s a spectacular area to fly in with lessons mostly taking place over the Black Isle between the Cromarty and Moray Firths. Living here you are fortunate or unfortunate enough, depending on your point of view, to be buzzed by low flying Tornados on a daily basis.
 
The feeling of freedom that flying gives is perhaps especially pertinent to those of us with disabilities. It can often be hard for people to appreciate how ill I am; probably because, like many others with the condition, I appear fine on the surface. It does impact upon just about everything I do. My progress at flying is certain to be limited and has, I’m sure, been so quite significantly already. Being safe is obviously important and I must be cautious not to overreach myself by doing too much or going up when I’m not at my best. It’s mostly, but not only, on the mental side that the illness affects my flying. Apart from tiring quickly, I sometimes suffer from lack of concentration and my brain can often be a bit slow, ‘brain fog’ in ME/CFS parlance. I’m also noticeably less confident and more dithery when feeling worse (a perfect pilot, I know). More positively, I’m amazed how much can be accomplished in a short time, even at my not exactly stellar rate of progress. My problems are there to be overcome just as others have managed with those of their own; the more difficult something is then correspondingly the greater the eventual fulfilment will be.
 
My feeling is that I’m not going to recover just by doing nothing. Flying might bring the order and sense of achievement so far lacking to my life. It also offers me the chance to meet interesting people and even just get out of the house. What I hope to gain by flying is not only ultimately a licence, but really to become more confident and capable in myself.