YouTube episode (#280) by Kenny Keller sharing an inspirational member story: Chris Whitaker overcame weight and learning-plateau challenges to earn his private helicopter pilot certificate and continue toward a commercial rating. The video emphasizes persistence through learning plateaus, lifestyle changes to meet physical requirements, and promotes the Helicopter Online Ground School (HOGS) training platform and its 24-hour trial.
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Check out the face on this guy. Look at that frickin smile. This is proof of you can overcome your obstacles and we're going to tell you more about this. This is Chris Whitaker, online ground school member has his private and he overcome a weight issue going from 260 down to 205 so that he could pursue his dream of helicopter pilot. So of course that's why there's a great big smile on his face. Why wouldn't he have day 280 coffee with Kenny and I'm going to tell you exactly what he said in this video because this is very important. This is for all of you struggling, whether it's a weight issue, age issue, he's 45 years old and we've been doing a lot of motivational stuff. We've been doing a lot of accidents and other training and stuff lately and I thought today he just sent this to me overnight and I'm like I got to share this today because he wanted to share this with you. He wanted to share this with all of you. So here's what he said. Kenny, I've been a HOGS member for a few months now and have found your knowledge and inspiration extremely helpful. I was at a plateau in my learning curve that was hard to get through. Now I want to mention we occasionally talk about the learning plateau and almost everyone hits one and you hit him at different stages, different times. So working through these learning plateaus is really hard to do and you'll level out for a little while and you just have to keep either going after it or or even take a small break and go back after it and you will get through it. So after mentioning that the learning curve was hard to get through he said but felt encouraged with the daily CWK videos and online ground school to reference the platform you are operating at, videos online and available 24. Seven is a valuable resource and much appreciated. Here's a photo of me after my first solo. Again, thank you Chris. So that's email one. Then he sent me another one last night and this is the part he wanted me to pass on to all of you. This may be inspiring to some others so I will share. When I started this journey last December 2018 I was 45 and 260 pounds. I was told that in order to get a job I would have to be around £200 or less. I changed some lifestyle things to eat healthier and lost some weight. Now I am 46 and 205 pounds with my private pilot certificate and I feel like the work invested was well worth it. This is a journey and I wanted your listeners to know it's not too late, you are not too heavy. And if you have a sense of adventure and are willing to learn, learn how to fly helicopter if that is your dream. I am excited to complete my commercial rating and move on to the next phase of my life's journey. And the HOGS training will be there for me. Chris Whitaker. Chris, I really appreciate you sending me both those emails because. Because it's just proof for anyone that has some kind of a struggle, you know, going from 260 to 205 in that short amount of time, that's not an easy task. So going through that, losing the weight, learning to study, learning to fly, getting the private amazing, freaking amazing feat, people proof that you can do it and the weight is one that's an issue. And we get this question a lot from a lot of people and they're like, well, you know, I'm determined to lose the weight. Well then go for it, man, go for it and do it, because it can be done. And right here is living proof. Let's take one more, one more look at that smile. This is the proof that it's worth it. None of us are saying it's easy. If it was easy, everybody be doing it. But if you put your mind to it and you buckle down, then you study and you just got to focus and you got to face those hurdles. And I want to mention the learning plateau again. It happens to everybody almost once in a while. You get people that sail through, but the average person's going to hit one, whether it's in the beginning of your training or a month before your checkride or any time in between there, right up to the day. The checkride. A learning plateau is just something that happens in the human brain. It's part of it when you hit it, just keep working through it. Sometimes taking a break is good. I do want to say that, you know, you have to muscle through it. But sometimes people say, well, I don't want to stop and take a break. I'm afraid of losing too much. So many times I've seen people over the years get frustrated, get hung up in a plateau. And sometimes I've said, hey, you know, why don't you take a break for a week? Oh no, no, no, I can't do that. And I had one individual in mind that just happened a few years ago and he was dedicated two, three days a week, every week for months. And then he had to go on a trip to California. And when he came back, even though he didn't like it, it was a business trip, he didn't want to go. He came back and he flew better than he'd ever had after taking a week off, after hitting it two to three days a week for a couple months. So taking a break sometimes can be good and you'll be amazed at how much you don't lose. Sometimes it takes just a little bit for things to sink in. You need that little break. So whether you choose to hammer through or take a break, that could be a good option for you as well. So thanks again, Kris. And any of you struggling with the private commercial CFI or instrument. We talk about it almost every single day online. Ground school man. I've been online almost eight years and this is true from the heart, from the gut. Everything I've got, I've put into this and more. And there'll be more. This brand new studio, the hogs wall that we've filled up, start another wall. The amount of people we've helped is absolutely frickin amazing. And I am just amazed every day at where this has went. So we can help you. Go below to helicopterground.com check out our courses. We have a 24 hour test flight on the monthly options means you won't be billed for 24 hours. You can go in, just check it out and see if it's right for you. It's that simple. If it's right and you keep it and go month to month, cancel any time, that's great. It's not for you. Pull your credit card information or cancel on PayPal. We part as friends and we might see you later on. Maybe you're not ready right now and you want to come back a little bit later. That's why the 24 hour test flight is there. It's there to let you go in and see the whole course, not just a sample. So I'm really proud of Kris again. Thank you Chris for sending that in. You're a motivation for a lot of people and we appreciate it very much. So subscribe to the channel and click the bell. We do daily training videos every single day. A lot of times we're training subjects, we're looking at helicopter accidents and sometimes we just celebrate members like Kris because we can and that's what we do. It's a fun journey and we need you, we need you, the members to keep this thing rolling and we absolutely love it. I love the daily video. One of these days when I run out of content, maybe I'LL stop, but for now, charging forward. So subscribe and click the bell to be notified of the daily video and we'll see you tomorrow. See you tomorrow in day two. 81. Go below, check out helicopterground.com and we'll see in the next video. Peace out. It.
