And now for something a little different.

I’ve spent the last week in Las Vegas for work, attending CES — the consumer electronics mega tradeshow.

Calling CES a big event is an understatement — more than 175,000 people attend it each year, making it the biggest trade show on the planet. All the big tech companies have a presence at CES, and Uber, the car ridesharing service was no exception. Uber just hit Las Vegas four months ago, and they’re working hard to make an impact for CES attendees.

Case in point: UberCHOPPER.

That’s right, you can call a helicopter ride through Uber. And, as a pilot, I just couldn’t resist.

UberCHOPPER a $99 flat-fee service that picks you up, takes you to Maverick Helicopters at McCarran Airport (KLAS), and puts you on a 15-minute helicopter tour of the Las Vegas Strip in a late-model Eurocopter EC130 turbine helicopter.

(Normally, Maverick charges $124 for these flights.)

I went on the first day they were doing it. Riding shotgun was a representative from Uber corporate, who wrangled the communications between Uber and Maverick, passing on details like my name and weight for the flight. In other words, they’re probably not making any money on these. It’s probably just a special for CES.

It was a really great experience, in part because I set it up using the uber app, and in part because I was the only customer in the last flight tour of the night.

You can see a short video of my tour below:

If you’re ever in Las Vegas, I’d definitely recommend doing a tour with Maverick — especially if it’s offered by Uber.

It’s that time of year again — the New Year is mere hours away!

Like most pilots, I’ve got my own set of aviation specific New Year’s Resolutions each year. For 2016, my list is short, but it’s probably the biggest flying challenge I’ve undertaken to date. The biggest project this year is going to be earning my flight instructor certificate. Becoming a CFI is incredibly difficult — especially for those of us with “real” jobs. So, I expect that earning my CFI ticket will be a feat in 2016.

That said, I’ve been knocking out lots of requirements in the last few months that should make the process a little easier.

For example, I’ve been flying from the right seat whenever possible. And I passed the FIA and FOI written tests just before the holidays (as well as the Advanced Ground Instructor test — more on that in a future post).

From here, the big challenge is going to be finishing up my lesson plan binder.

After that, I’m sure I’ll need to knock some rust off my actual flying. But the ground stuff is still the biggest hurdle between me and a CFI certificate. Still, after the marathon month of training I survived to earn my commercial ticket in 2015, I think that the slower pace of the CFI will be easily accomplished. Most importantly, that CFI certificate is going to give me the opportunity to get paid to bum around the airport on the weekends, which will dramatically change the costs associated with this addiction hobby.

Along the way, I’m hoping that the material I’ll be covering will give me some good fodder for this website. When I was a student pilot, I found a lot of answers to my burning flying questions from more experienced pilots online. Now, I’m hoping to return the favor.

2015 was a great flying year — all told, I logged about 80 hours, which seems to be pretty par for the course. But, if all goes well, I’ll be logging a lot more time in 2016. I’m definitely excited for the challenge.

What are your aviation goals for 2016? Leave ’em in the comments below!