Well I had to turn back the hands of time a little. I didn’t have this blog setup when I took the adventure ride from Aviation Adventures. So back to 26 April ’09…..
No I didn’t tell anyone what I got for my birthday, I was kinda nervous about it, to tell the truth. My wife gave me my first flight lesson. So yesterday afternoon I went out the Manassas airport…and took my first lesson. This is something I’ve always wanted to do since college and joining AFROTC. When I found out I need glasses when I took my commissioning physical before graduation…it sorta dashed those dreams. I guess I should’ve done this while I was in the AF…it would have been cheaper.
Anyway…went out to the airport and got in a cessna 172, started the engine…and taxied out to the runway…..by the way…turning the steering wheel on an airplane doesn’t turn it when it’s on the ground, you have to use the rudder peddles and the brakes…after some weaving around…trying to follow the yellow line, we got to the end of the runway. then we had to wait while 3 planes landed…tower clear us, and I taxied onto the runway…pushed the throttle all the way in and away we went…about 75/80 mph pull back on the yoke…and we are flying…..climbed out to about 800 feet and turned to the west and climbed to about 2000 ft. (there is a restricted area in DC…so we had to fly a little to the west to get out from under that…about 25 miles or so to the west of manassas). We then did some turns both right and left and then climb to about 3000 ft. Yesterday was pretty clear temporatures around upper 80′s, so the air was a little turbulent below 3000 ft. Above 3000 it was pretty smooth. We then descended to about 800 ft and followed a winding river…(more turns holding altitude) then back up to about 2000 and then headed back into manassas. descended to about 1200 ft and started a slow descent at about 70 mph and then turn toward the runway…The instructor handled the rudder and I handled everything else. Landed and taxi back to the ramp. All total about an hour flying…
it was a blast. I gotta do that again….
anyway here’s some pictures, the first is the airplane I flew,
Cessna 172S
the second is one the instructor took inside the airplane as I was flying…
Me Flying
thanks again to my wife….now…i need a headset of my own and I have to convince the FAA that my cancer is in remission to get a medical certificate to continue doing this.
anyway…that’s what I got for my birthday….