Flying Lesson

For Christmas, my husband gave me a gift certificate for a flying lesson. We finally had gorgeous, clear weather so I booked my flight. I was pretty nervous. My husband and Boogs went with me to the airport. My instructor, Mikhail, said that my family could ride along if they wanted to. They did! Just a little added pressure not to crash the plane. :-)

I spent a little bit of time in the classroom becoming familiar with the design of a Cessna 172. Then we headed out to do a pre-flight inspection on the plane. Wow, there is a lot to remember! The cockpit instrument panel looked intimidating.

Boogs looked even more nervous than I did to board the plane.

Once we were all aboard it was time to take a deep breath and enjoy the experience.

I felt like it was a challenge to keep the plane in proper position while we taxied to the runway. I did not do such a great job using the foot pedals to keep the plane centered on the yellow line. It made me very nervous about the actual flight. Mikhail talked through each step of the procedures for taking off. I kept my hands and feet completely to myself so I would not accidentally bump anything important while Mikhail took the plane up. It was pretty amazing to be up in the air.

I got to take the controls and take the plane up to 3500 feet and keep it steady there. I also executed two turns. Then Mikhail asked if we wanted to feel zero gravity. I explained to Boogs that it would feel like an elevator going down fast. Mikhail added that it would feel like the elevator cable had snapped. Boogs said he did not want to do it, but we did. Boogs screamed a little but thankfully did not throw up. 

Flying in the pilot seat of a Cessna is a neat experience. I was ready to have my feet back on the ground when Mikhail demonstrated what it would feel like if the engine went out. Then he instructed me to keep pointing the nose of the plane up, let it level out, point it up again, and let it level out. He explained, "If you don't panic you will have plenty of time to figure out your problem or use the fire extinguisher between the seats to put out a fire." Yeah, I was really ready to be back on the ground after that bit of knowledge.

It was VERY windy today. Coming back down for a landing was a bumpy ride. Mikhail explained each step for the landing, I kept my hands and feet to myself and just observed. The landing was smooth. I got to steer the plane back towards the flight school. After we stopped, Mikhail asked if I would be interested in taking a full course of flight lessons. I told him I did not think flying a plane was for me at this time. I would much rather be a passenger in a much larger plane. 

I have to say a big thank you to my sweet husband for giving me this flight as a Christmas gift.

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