Flight Number Five: Cuddling And Turning Cessna Style “You’ve done your homework,” Todd my pilot said sitting down next to me at the Fullerton airport. Yes, it was that time again; time for flight number 5 and finally something I had been asking for since early in my flight adventures: steep turns. I always say that each flight is different, and it is. From that first anxious flight when I hardly knew what a small plane looked like, to the stalling and the scenic flight over a friend’s house, to the PAR taken over the Army airfield, they have all been different; rewarding in their own way; building on one thing: rapport and communication. Yes, this flight was all about one of my favorite themes lately: communication. The day promised to be a hectic one, had started out well enough and had turned into a bit of a frantic race against the clock with some unexpected work and an eye on the bus schedule. There was no way after putting the flight off for six weeks that I was going to put this off again. Money was a bit of an object, but it was okay because once again God had intervened in my financial situation and it was going to be possible: or I was going to make it possible. Aviation has become a steady, burning flame of passion and perhaps those are the best kind, and my concentration on other things in the last few months had not stemmed my passion for the small plane. So today as I walked into the airport office, calm, relaxed, finally glad to be back in the confines of that little office that has been the source of so much pleasure, it was time for the steep turns. “I saw your name on the books and I was happy to see it there,” said the receptionist who regaled me with a story about her child’s illness with sympathetic groans from me since I’ve done late night duty enough times to know that I could do it again if I had to, but that’s never the fun part of raising kids: though perhaps more bonding than you might think. I was on the cell phone trying to work out a Renaissance fair date change, when Kristy announced: “there he is” and I waved as he and a student came through the door. Then it was my turn as he sat down and told me he needed a break and informed me that I had done my homework. Yes, I had. He asked me a while back about load factor, and so maybe it was just my persistence that made him remember that I was interested in steep turns or made him remember that he had asked me to describe load factor. Well, I asked a pilot about that a while back (turns out Todd had read his name in the AOPA Flight Training magazine) and he was impressed with my answer at the time. I know who to ask for answers when I need them. Gs and lift and bank angle are not entirely foreign concepts to me anymore and it has been with the help of pilots that I’ve begun to grasp them. The walk out to the plane was old hat but never quite loses that awe for me. Climbing into the left seat this time (the pilot’s chair), I was ready for anything. After twenty-one papers, learning some sign language, the manual alphabet, an increased voluntary work load, and a million new sights, sounds and concepts all within the last four months, I was ready for that little Cessna. Before I turned the key and the CFI went through the checklist I could feel myself relaxing. The little intimate confines of that small plane were working their magic on me. Cuddling with a small plane has always been relaxing and today, of course, was no exception. The sound of that engine was like a favorite old song, the encasement of ear in the headset a familiar snuggling and finally the ATIS announcing wind direction and preferred runway were all becoming familiar again. It was a long way since that first garbled signal in my ear wondering what on earth ATC (Air Traffic Control) and ATIS (Automated Terminal Information System) was talking about to this clear understanding of what was going on. Did I understand all the concepts as we held short waiting for our turn in the cue and then headed out over the ocean for maneuvers? No, of course I didn’t understand all of them, but I was understanding more and more of it; polite conversation about where to go and how to get there, all saving our lives as rules were comprehended an obeyed. There was some rocking motion today, we were catching thermals from hot air and widely spaced cloud cover but instead of being tense for me, it was relaxing perhaps like being gently rocked by a lover or a mother? Maybe that’s a bit dramatic, but I was relaxing. I was happy. There are few moments in life that truly relax me and slowly I am discovering what they are: flying is one of them. Perhaps it’s trusting the pilot to do his job that relaxes me; perhaps it’s just being in the clouds even if I can’t see them that relaxes me. I know one thing: soon it was my turn to do the turns. Our mission today was to complete forty-five degree steep turns: part of the pilot’s arsenal of tricks. Through the series of talking me through the turns, and explaining all of them, we turned right, left, in and out of the turn, explained the action of gravity on the plane and the human body, and the vision. Not seeing the instruments in a situation like that can be crucial to someone’s survival: it’s hard to know where you are, up, down, or straight, and that artificial horizon really is a life saver. Even if your body feels straight, spatially orientated, that little needle may show that you’re not straight at all. It is up to God and that needle to get you home safely, oh yeah, and my pilot, too! The feeling of the g force against the body was tame compared to other forces one could feel, but there was a definite sense of pressure, of being pulled down into your seat. For kicks or experience, we pulled a fifty-five degree turn in that twenty year-old Cessna, a commercial turn, and then the fun started! I did something that had to be explained to me three times! Let’s see if I get it right! We had gone into a turn and applied back pressure to the yoke, and as we came out of the turn and the wings were level I still hadn’t released the pressure and well, we went into a rather steep climb rather quickly. It was like being on a roller coaster! Ok, no screaming, but maybe that would have helped! Suddenly that little plane felt as if it would leave me when it was really fine! “What happened was,” said my pilot, as if this happened everyday, and then he explained it to me. Overall he said I did well and I thought of one thing. We’ve been flying together for almost two years whenever I get the money to go there and we’ve figured out how to communicate. Oral instructions repeated back to him, and my concentration on listening have gotten us through stalls and now turns. I was relaxed, trusting that all was well, remembering to breathe, enjoying the experience, and always wanting more. Only one hour? One hour always seems to go so quickly! So, so quickly! It was time to go back to Fullerton; no PAR (precision approach radar) today, no listening to John Wayne Traffic, no scenic flights over houses, just turns over the ocean, ACT lingo, and one final thing: a small detour on downwind over Fullerton High School to possibly grab the attention of a friend of mine who likes planes and was graduating. I think she saw us! And then we were inbound, following traffic and landing. Today I let Todd land the plane; I guess he needed the practice since he had passed his Airline transport Exam requirements and needed to retake his check ride in a King air. So I let him land! Yeah right, that’s like saying I need practice writing a paper! Todd hardly needs practice landing in a C172, since he’s been stunt flying, but perhaps each landing is a new experience because conditions can change in a heartbeat. They didn’t change for us and we landed and pushed the plane back to its cable and tied it down. The satisfying clink of the chain and the fastening of the S hook in the wing said it was time to pay my fiddler and go to dinner! And so it was off to dinner with the pilot where the conversation was relaxed and informative. A new restaurant, discussion of his King air trip to New York, the Continental engine in a C310, my Masters program, communication with my deaf friend Richard (Todd had been informed by email about my new experiences and informed me he had been contacted by a deaf man using video relay service), naturally led to my favorite discussion (though they all rank pretty high on my list). That discussion centered around an airport! Ah, yes, flight instructors and airports! Sitting in The Old Ship in Fullerton, a small, cramped English pub drinking ginger ale and eating fish and chips, the discussion turned to a ga airport in Riverside that Richard my friend told me about. I hadn’t heard of that airport and so another one of my great pilot contacts in Illinois looked it up for me. Of course mentioning it to Todd brought a wealth of information. He informed me that airport has a chapter of an organization endeavoring to restore old vintage aircraft, and then he told me something else. “Another great thing about that airport,” he said, passion gleaming, and perhaps smiling, and then explained that landing there at flabob is like going back in time fifty years. This is coming from a man with personal experience. It was a fun, relaxing conversation. We paid the bill (or I should say he did),and then we were off to the journey back to my house. I regaled him with descriptions of my latest fictional pilot characters, feeling the effects of the food and the post adrenaline rush. And in case you want to know, The Old Ship has a wonderful orange cake! If you’re ever there, try it! Todd refused since he was on his way home to study for his exam and didn’t want to risk falling asleep. Me? I was ready for sleep! It had been a long, productive and perfect day. Next Steps Todd is preparing for the route to airline pilot. Walking back from the plane I asked if he would miss this place (Fullerton airport.) “Yes,” he said. “No you’re not,” I said squeezing his hand, “you’re going to be rich and famous and a big time pilot.” He was silent for a moment and responded that no one ever got rich being a pilot. “Okay you’ll be a pilot and you’ll stop over at my restaurant,” I said. The evening ended quietly, the most relaxed I had been in a while and I was glad he could share my post flight debrief with me. I always have to have them! I imagine Todd will be around for my next flight, but in preparation for the big event when he graduates from patiently training students how to land and taking scenic flights and crazy college graduates on jaunts around the sky, I’ll put together a series of articles I’ve written over the last two years. I don’t’ know what’s next in the flight adventure: stung flying? More turns? More scenic flights? I do have plans to shoot a flying video at some point, but whatever the next adventure in flight is I’ll be there with wide eyes and bells on ready for the next step! I love flying! I’m ready for the next plane!
Copyright © 2004 Shelley J Alongi |