It was GREAT!

I have flown in commercial jets plenty of times. I often traveled to Alabama during the summers to see my father. My parents divorced when I was 4, so I was often put on a Southwest jet and sent from Houston, TX to Birmingham, AL. I really enjoyed it. The pilots often allowed the kids to come up and sit with them in the cockpit and look at all the controls. They would then give us a pair of wings. It was a pretty cool experience for a young, impressionable kid.

Back to reality, I have never flown on a small aircraft like a Cessna 172. The plane is not very well taken care of on the interior but it does have a brand new engine. It is a 1966 model. When I first arrived, I met my flight instructor, Kevin Morris. He has over 9000 flight hours. He did his preflight checks ( a lot of what I did while I was active duty) and checked the fuel mixture for water. After a very short preflight, we boarded the plane and started our preflight checklist. After that was accomplished, he let me start the engine. We then proceeded to taxi down the runway.

He let me do all the taxiing. For my first time, he said I did a great job. I don't know how many people get to do this but Kevin also trusted me to do take-off. That was probably the scariest part. I was very nervous. As we bulled down the runway, I had to check a gauge and make sure we were over 60 mph (I assume it was mph). After we got above 60, I then pulled back on the yoke, which activates the ailerons and lifts the plane in the air.

Climbing was intimidating. The plane naturally wants to climb so you don't have to pull back very much. As we climbed up to 2,000 feet, I was pretty nervous. I never felt sick or anything, I was just intimidated by all the bouncing around. We eventually reached our altitude and we did basic maneuvers like banking right and left. I did two banks to the left and two banks to the right and it was over.

It was so quick. Kevin then showed me how to adjust the trim to make the plane climb level. He also showed me how to turn on the heater for the carburetor because the carburetor sits away from the engine and it can freeze up. If the carburetor freezes up, you might have a problem.

Anyways, I took about eight photos that I will eventually post on here when I find out how to. I still haven't quite figured out this blogging thing yet. Kevin then landed the plane. He said the way he approaches landing the plane is by trying to keep it from landing. I don't mind that concept but I was thinking in my mind as he said it that you might want to try to land it because the runway doesn't care if you land or not. Anyways, we hit the ground and I taxied us back to the spot. We unloaded, I paid, and called my wife who demanded that I call her before and after the 30 minute flight so she knew that I wasn't dead (She's too funny!).

I'm hoping to fly again very soon. I loved it and I can't wait to go back up. I am sure I will enjoy it even more the next time because I know all the bumps and shifts to expect.