There is a small airport near here that does a thing called a Discovery Flight. It’s for people who might be interested in seeing what it’s like to fly an airplane. You get a little instruction, then go up in a small plane with the instructor, then take some time at the controls. Yesterday, Denis did that, and I went with him.
The experience started with a series of safety checks. The instructor was thorough and good at explaining things.
Next were some instructions about the controls inside the plane. I couldn’t see what the instructor was talking about, because I was in the back seat by that time, but Denis made it seem easy 🙂
And then it was time to take off:
The flight instructor did the takeoff. It was smoother than I thought. And I wasn’t as scared as I thought. Smaller planes seem safer to me for some reason.
As soon as we were up, the instructor gave the controls over to Denis. He did a fine job.
We flew around the Rancho Palos Verdes peninsula. It was so interesting to see from the air.
The ocean view was pretty too.
There was lots of teaching going on during the flight. I could hear it all through the headset. The instructor was good.
We soon rounded the end of the peninsula – but not before we saw the Trump golf course:
Next was a descent to the landing strip. It’s the brown area near the top middle of the picture below.
And then we were on land again.
What a fun experience. The instructor said Denis was a natural. Maybe he’ll continue with his lessons. He did get a certificate that logged this flight time toward his 40 required hours of practice flights.
Your facial expressions were the high point of this post for me – thanks for the morning giggle.
…and congratulations – to both of you – for your bravery. I’m more than a bit surprised that you even took part in this, Brad. (I’d’ve been the one holding purses and waving goodbye during take-off, for example.)
That is a crazy experience! I guess that all pilots need to start somewhere, so this is a good place to begin.
Lloyd and I went on a flight or two with Lon, and he was SO strict about adhering to the pre-flight check-off list, it took a looong time before we even got in the plane. I appreciated the safety, though.
(Also, I needed an ‘ocean picture’ warning. That’s where I would have died from fright.)