Aviation 101

When Chris asked me what I wanted for my birthday this year I told him the same thing most gals would say, some money to go shopping.  I guess he thought that was too boring because he decided to give me a flying lesson instead. Let me say that if I had made a very long list of things I wanted for my birthday, flying an airplane would not have been anywhere on that list.  I would much rather jump out of a plane than fly one.  Basically, I was not as pumped about it as he was.  For months he has been talking about how much he was looking forward to paying the $25 to ride along and take pictures from the backseat of me fulfilling this dream of HIS.  

So today we found ourselves dropping Nora off and my mom's house and kissing her goodbye...  When we arrived at Atlantic Aviation we were greeted by Adrian, my flight instructor, a tall, black, self proclaimed ex-hippie, farmer who referred to me for the rest of the day as "Moms".  He was pretty cool. After going over some basics (instrument names, plane parts, navigation, etc.) we entered the flight simulator.  This thing was high tech with 5 computer screens showing the various views of the runways.  We went through the entire flight from taxiing to landing. My simulated flight played out like this: cutting across the grass on the runway while taxiing, unknowingly taking a sideways nosedive mid-flight, then landing and screeching off the side of the runway. After this simulation I expected to try again, but he simply said, "OK. You ready to go up?"  Um, ok, puke.  That is when Chris says "SMILE" and takes this pic. 

If I was feeling a little unsure of things before we arrived, I was really unnerved now. Oh, and then he asked us to sign one of those waivers releasing them from any lawsuit in case of yada, yada, yada, death.    So in we go. Seat belts, headsets, cameras, knee sweat, check!

We made it up. Take off was really neat.  I think I liked it the best because the likelihood off crashing was so low. We flew over downtown heading for the coast.

  There I am, white knuckles and all.  Adrian commented on how focused and smooth I was.  That was nice of him.

We made it to the coast.  Can you believe that while I am over 5,000 feet in the air, behind the controls of a tiny prop plane, I am actually scanning the ocean for sharks?! What is wrong with me?  It was really pretty though, and no visible sharks.  

 We made it all the way back to the ground and the landing was much smoother in real life than the previously simulated disaster.

 I don't really believe in bucket lists.  There are too many things out there I would never even think to put on a bucket list or birthday list that could turn out being something really worth experiencing. I believe in trying ALMOST anything once or maybe even twice (just to make sure I do or don't like it).  I know I found the perfect mate.  One who challenges me to get out of my comfort zone and try new things.  He makes life an adventure and that's why I love him.  

Having said that, for my next birthday I do not want to be gifted a lesson in scuba diving or surfing.  I would rather see sharks from the air, or not at all.