As a wet-behind-the-ears student pilot, there's one thing that gave me the biggest nightmares - more than mid-air emergencies, or being far above the ground, or losing my way:
Radio calls.
From the words used to the different accents, and (worst of all) the speed at which the controllers spoke - it all intimidated me to no end. I was sure that if there was one reason I wouldn't be able to fly it would be because I couldn't navigate through this torrent of critical information that the radio spewed at me.
But with some expert help from my son - an expert mimic - I got very comfortable with radio calls with a very short time. There are a variety of controllers that I now listen to and interact with routinely during every flight. The most familiar are the ground controllers who direct me to taxi to the runway safely and the airport tower controllers who clear me and give me information to takeoff and land safely.
There are actually many many more controllers who I talk to if I'd doing a cross-country flight to a more distant airport. In Southern California where I fly, it could be SoCal Approach Control, Point Mugu Approach, Santa Barbara Approach, and of course the tower and ground controllers at the destination airport.
There is a fascinating system that goes by the name of flight following, which a pilot can request for any long distance flight. What this does is to allow them to be in radar contact with any appropriate controller all along the way to a distant destination.
Air traffic controllers are among the busiest people on the planet. They co-ordinate and ensure adequate separation between aircrafts of all shapes and sizes - from large commercial airliners to private jets to little single-piston-engine hobby flyers like me. So, flight following is available on a controller workload basis for pilots like me. However, I can only remember one single instance where a controller could not accommodate my flight following request.
How it works is pretty easy. As you fly along your route, you're 'handed off' from one controller to the next as you move from area to area - who all give you precise, crisp radio calls as a matter of routine. But the feeling of deepest gratitude is something that I always experience each time I hear a controller's voice. Here is a person who is no more than just a voice to every aircraft in the sky. And yet this voice makes sure that you are safe in the sky. (Of course, your own responsibility as a pilot is the primary one for being safe in the air!)
The presence of these radio voices offers immense reassurance that someone always has my back - even though I cannot see them. And that's made me start thinking of radio calls as my medium to be in touch with these personal guardian angels in the sky.
As human beings, as we navigate through life in a similar way to a cross-country flight, probing out into the unknown realms, there are known and unknown guardian angels who have our back at various times. We may not see them or be aware of them, but they're watching over us and helping us to safely navigate the ups and downs of life. The moot point is - as the pilot-in-command of this flight called life - the quality of the journey is my responsibility alone.