“Skipper 37147… you are clear for take off…”

Whew! What a thrilling experience! I have to say, I don’t think I have ever experience anything quite like flying an airplane before. Ok… so here’s a little of what we did.

After checking the weather every 15 minutes all day at work today, 4:45 rolled around and I hopped in the car to head down to Lunken Airport. At about 5:30, Richard and I walked the airplane discussing the preflight checklist along with the different parts of the plane. After waiting a rather long time for fuel, we were finally ready to go. When that engine started and the plane started to rumble, I have to say I got rather nervous. These weren’t nervous thoughts of not wanting to do this, they were nervous thoughts of, wow… I can’t believe I’m doing this!

After taxiing, we were quick to take off. Taking off was probably the most unexpected experience of the entire flight. I had never been in a small airplane before, and I didn’t realize how bouncy it would be. I wouldn’t call it bumpy, I wouldn’t call it jerky, I would really call it bouncy. They were gentle but defined bounces. At risk of sounding cliche… the ground kind of disappeared beneath us, as we ascended to 3,000 feet and leveled off turned east and heading past the Clermont County Airport, going towards East Fork Lake. We pretty much stayed around East Fork Park and Lake as I tried a few turns. I received compliments on keeping the level altitude while we went through turns (approx. 20 degree turns). Then we tried a few steep turns (approx. 45 degree turns). I had a little more difficulty with them, as I lost a little altitude. Sooner than it seemed, my time was up and we headed back towards Lunken. We saw a plane flying below us, kind of an awkward sight really. And we came into the flight patter on the downwind leg before turning to descend and land. I was actually surprised at how soft the landing seemed. I was really expecting to get jolted, but it was alright. And after a short taxi to the fence and gate, it was over.

I got the student pilot kit, which includes my first headset, pretty neat if you ask me, and my first entry in my log book.

I’m excited to get into these lessons. It seems like an awful lot to keep in mind while flying, but I’m sure it just becomes second nature soon. And of course, I’ll keep the blog updated with the latest flight experience. Sorry if I seem a little giddy… its cause I am.

Later!