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| Captain Taylor |
As you know I recently jumped out of a plane with a man strapped to my back and a parachute strapped to HIS back. I know, that is Army Ranger territory right there. It was thrilling and exciting and I loved it.
My friend Dan and I are starting our "bucket list" early. But I actually hate that phrase because it's not like we have some list of things to do before we die (aka turn 30...just kidding all friends over 30!!) but we've decided that while we are young and don't have any commitments we should just do what we want to do! If an exciting opportunity comes our way, usually via Groupon, as we are still trying to be thrifty, we just do it.
Our last adventure was awesome. We got to be pilots for a day. We arrived at Blue Line Aviation at RDU airport bright and early on Saturday at 8:30 AM. It was a beautiful day. We didn't really know what to expect. The Groupon said we would get an hour of flying time with an instructor and a free t-shirt.
After grabbing some Starbucks coffee (which Dan brought on the plane as he was horrified to hear there would be no beverage service) we arrived at RDU.
Inside the building we first met our instructor's mom. She was working in the office and was very friendly. We expected some kind of terrible power point presentation about flying and the rules and what all the buttons do, but when the instructor arrived he just took us right out to this very cool and very vintage-y Cessna. We didn't know this at the time but we were only his second clients...ever...so the protocol may tighten up over time.
He went through the checklist with us and put up with our picture taking shenanigans. That is him checking the fuel on the plane. Why is the fuel in the wing? I don't know! I guess I wasn't a very good student....
Dan was terrified* so I got to fly first. I sat in the pilot seat with the instructor in the co-pilot seat. Dan was folded up in the back seat. I asked how hard it would be to flip the plane over (my biggest concern) and the instructor said it would be really hard. He didn't seem worried about anything so I decided not to be worried about anything.
Once on the runway I got to take control and take off all by myself! It was so cool. Once we were in the air I got to do lots of twists and turns and wing dipping. We flew to the Louisberg airport where we had gone skydiving the month before. From the plane we could actually see a bunch of skydivers with their parachutes open, coming in for a landing.
I steered clear as best I could...but my best was not good enough...
KIDDING! I was no where close to them.
After an hour or so we landed at the Lousiberg airport (no, I wasn't allowed to land the plane myself) and Dan and I switched places. He flew us back and did daredevil stuff like really steep turns left and right.
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The instructor said that either I had flown many times before or I was a natural. I think it must be the latter as I don't have any memory of flying before. However it does run in my family (on both sides!) My dad's father owned a plane and and used to fly all over the state of Wisconsin. When my mom was my age she got her pilot's license when living in Madison and would fly my grandpa's plane back and forth to Three Lakes.
I don't think it is in the cards for me to get my own pilot's license at this point, it is a little pricey, but I really hope that I can someday.
*Dan was not actually terrified
