Cleared for the Option: A Year Learning to Fly

by Patrick Chovanec

Could you fly a plane? Patrick Chovanec never imagined he could, until the COVID-19 pandemic pushed him in an unexpected direction. Climb into the cockpit with him and find out what it’s like to go, step by step, from passenger to pilot. Peppered with interesting bits of history, personal insights, and moments of high tension, Cleared for the Option is a fun and relatable introduction to the often intimidating world of aviation.

Cleared for the Option explores, in detail, the knowledge that every pilot must learn to pass the pilot’s exam and earn their pilot’s aerodynamics, handling the controls, reading the instruments, regulations, medical standards, weather, navigation, and mechanics. It describes, in candid and personal terms, the practical challenges—landing an airplane, talking to air traffic control, mastering precise maneuvers, passing the final checkride—that anyone must overcome during flight training to become a pilot. If you’re interested in aviation, or ever considered learning to fly, this book is for you.

For aspiring pilots, Cleared for the Option is a roadmap to the adventure that lies ahead. For the curious, it’s an invitation to sit in the co-pilot’s seat and learn the answers to questions you never thought you had. For all of us, it’s a story about the vital importance of taking on new life challenges—and never letting a year go to waste.

Genres: Nonfiction

602 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 14, 2023

About the author

Patrick Chovanec is an economic advisor and former chief strategist for Silvercrest Asset Management, based in New York City. He has spent much of his life in China and has traveled widely to a variety of unusual destinations, including North Korea. He taught as an Associate Professor of Practice at Tsinghua University’s School of Economics and Management (SEM) in Beijing and as an Adjunct Professor at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA). Patrick’s insights into the global economy and US-China relations have been featured in major media outlets, including CNBC, Bloomberg, CNN, Fox Business, NPR, BBC, and print media such as the Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Washington Post, Business Week, and Foreign Policy.

Patrick learned to fly in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and earned his Private Pilot’s License in September 2021. His mission in writing this book is to demystify and encourage interest in aviation by bringing readers along with him, in the cockpit and exam room, on his unexpected journey to become a pilot. Whether you choose to follow in his footsteps, or just satisfy your curiosity, you’ll never see flying in an airplane the same way again.

Born in the Chicago area, Patrick graduated with a BA in political economy from Princeton University and an MBA in finance and accounting from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. He is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA). Before his career in Asia, Patrick worked in Washington, D.C., as an aide to political strategist William Kristol and to later Speaker of the House John Boehner. He also served as an officer in the U.S. Army Reserves for nine years.

Patrick lives with his wife and three children in New York City.

Learn more at PatrickChovanec.com.

Reviews

[Sebastiano Bavetta · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must-read! 'Cleared for the Option' is an enjoyable reading that, with an elegant and neat writing style, interspersed with historical references and personal episodes, takes the reader from the back seat of an airplane into the fascinating and intimidating world of the cockpit's sticks, buttons and dials.

Taken at face value, Patrick Chovanec's book is a journey into what an aspiring pilot needs to master to earn her licence. Gently and plainly, the book explains the physics of flying, illustrates the mechanics of controls and instruments, describes the skills needed to get aloft and navigate, dwells with the most complicated and rewarding manoeuvring of flying, namely putting the undercarriage safely back on the ground, addresses the hurdles and the red tape required to get the Private Pilot Licence (PPL). The book is accurate and informative, so much that here and there I thought it can be used as a resourceful complement to the FAA's 'Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge'.

However, I think that the greatest value of 'Cleared for the Option' lies elsewhere. Patrick Chovanec is an accomplished economist. He approaches flying at a mature stage in his life and without the ambition of making a career out of it. When your personal and professional life is successful and fulfilling, it takes a lot of courage to push the throttle forward at the runway head and to let your Cessna raise its nose from the ground. It takes a lot of determination and moral resources to continue your learning process beyond the first solo or to cross the Bravo space at Phoenix Sky Harbor, even if the CFI seats next to you. And it takes a lot of imagination to accommodate the newly acquired knowledge and certification in the deeply seated -- and rather stable -- habits of your established life.

So, my take is that Chovanec's dwelling with the mechanics and the technology of flying is his way to dig into his inner self in search for the courage, the determination, the moral resources, and the imagination necessary to accomplish his achievement. To put it differently, Chovanec's journey in 'Cleared for the Option' is his way to align his intellectual, emotional, and moral resources with the aim of learning to fly.

From this perspective, the book is original and important. It is original because most of the pilots in Chovanec's position resort to the emotional experience of flying, which often proves insufficient over time to keep filling the blank lines of their logbook. It is important because it reveals, in plain English, how creativity may be used to harness the resources that we need to start new adventures, to clear new options in our life that make it significant, even after the shadow line of youth lies behind us.

[Eric Monkman · Rating 5 out of 5]

‘Cleared for the Option’ is essentially two-and-a-half excellent books squeezed between two covers. While some authors might fail to pull off such a combination, Patrick Chovanec nails the landing, combining the different components to produce a whole that is better than its parts.

Unsurprisingly, the first ‘book’ is about aircraft and aviation. Chovanec covers how planes fly, how they are maintained, and how pilots navigate them from place to place. He also covers how aviation is regulated in the United States, describing how airports and airspace are managed, the ways in which pilots communicate with air traffic control, and (of course) how pilots are trained and licenced. These topics are covered in a fair bit of detail—perhaps a little too much for the reader who is merely curious and not actually considering flight lessons.

Chovanec has included half-a-book’s worth of material about aviation history, from the Wright Brothers’ first flight to the use of iPad apps to calculate routes. The contributions of pioneers like Glenn Curtiss and James Doolittle are described and connected to current equipment and practices. This portion of the book will appeal to anyone inclined towards history.

The final and (for me) best ‘book’ is about how to learn. As one might expect, learning the knowledge and techniques required to fly a plane is a daunting task. Chovanec has mastered the process of learning, and he weaves the methods he uses into the narrative. He describes spending time with different teachers, actively comparing their styles, and considering what he can gain from each of them. He uses technology to enhance his learning, practicing maneuvers and flying routes beforehand on flight sims. However, he always keeps the differences between virtual and actual reality in mind. He even describes the amusing mnemonics he used to remember and categorize voluminous amounts of information.

What I most enjoyed about Chovanec’s description of the learning process was his honesty and humility. While he is evidently an intelligent man, he never describes knowledge as coming easily. He details the hours he spent flying, the additional hours he spent reading, and even the snatches of otherwise idle time he spent going over procedures in his mind. He describes his mistakes and how he used them to improve. The most gripping parts of the story are those where he uses what he learned to overcome difficult problems (thankfully, mostly virtual emergencies or training situations). I would recommend this book to anyone who wishes to learn something that will challenge them.

[Sam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredibly in-depth journey through one man’s quest to learn to fly across one year. The author takes you a fantastic ride as you ride in the copilot’s seat through all his ups and downs, trials and tribulations. Early in the book, there is a mix of highly detailed portions, going through seemingly innocuous minutiae like what is required for a passing medical exam. But the author makes a solid effort to mix these chapters up, and for a history minded reader like myself, includes lots of interesting historical anecdotes along the way.

With that foundation, the last two thirds of the book really pick up the pace and by the end of it, I was barely able to put it down. From utilizing Microsoft Flight Simulator (MSFS) to practice things like flying in inclement weather, to the unplanned trip out to Arizona, the author works hard to bring the reader through all the painstaking process he went through to complete his journey.

I most appreciated his humbleness, outlining all his mistakes along the way as he used his luck bag while building up his experience bag. I highly recommend to anyone thinking about trying to earn their own pilot’s license, a lover of history of flight, or someone who just like reading about another’s journey to learn a new hobby.

[Kayla Tornello · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book follows the author's experience of becoming a pilot. I liked all his personal experiences along the journal. He also goes into detail about all the details of flight, explaining things such as how a plane flies to how to read charts. This book is a great way to find out what learning to fly is really like. Even if you're not interested in flying, it's very interesting to find out about the process.

I received this book as a Goodreads giveaway. Yay!

[Gil · Rating 5 out of 5]

Patrick does an amazing job of telling his student pilot story. He folds in technical details and historical background without letting them overload the narrative, and his style keeps you in the story. I kept sitting down to read just one chapter, only to find myself still fully engaged three chapters later. A must-read for anyone thinking about scratching the flying itch.

[Charity Schmidt · Rating 4 out of 5]

For someone who's has two pilots in their family . This book will definitely help me with my conversations with my uncles. I like how the book breaks down every term and explains the process of becoming a pilot.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

I won this book through a Goodreads giveaway in exchange for an honest review. Thanks to Book Launchers for choosing me.

Although I do not want to become a pilot myself, I found this book to be highly informative of what it takes to become a pilot. From beginning to end, Patrick Chovanec did a wonderful job of describing what he went through on his journey. His writing style is easy to follow and the images he provided throughout his story definitely helped me understand exactly what he was talking about. Having the glossary at the back of the book was also helpful, as some of them terms he used I was unfamiliar with.