Our guest columnist slips the surly bonds of Earth
Remos GX | © Benét Wilson
By BENÉT WILSON
I have wanted to learn to fly ever since I stepped into the cockpit of a Pan Am Boeing 747 when I was 6 years old. I have several friends who fly general-aviation aircraft and have always enjoyed the ride.
A few months ago, I saw a blog post on my Google Reader on International Learn to Fly Day, which was May 15. One of the associations I cover in my day job is the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA). I had been out to Frederick, Md., to visit them, and I knew they would be participating in the day’s festivities. So I dropped an email to AOPA editor at large Tom Horne to see if I could come out to Frederick for my demo flight, and the deal was done.
My instructor for the flight was Dave Hirschman, AOPA Online’s senior editor. I’ve known Dave since we were both living in Atlanta, he as a reporter for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and me as senior manager of corp comm for Delta Air Lines. We were flying the 2-seat, German-built Remos GX, a light sport aircraft.
It was a beautiful, albeit windy day, and we took off. We headed toward the Potomac River and flew west toward West Virginia. I did a turn around a house and we made our way back to Frederick.
First, if you decide to take lessons and you’re in the Frederick area, you MUST have Dave as your instructor. I was terrified — and exhilarated — which he said was exactly what I should have been feeling. Dave just kept reminding me that we were just taking a nice ride on a country road. I was gripping the stick for dear life — so hard that my arm hurt. He actually convinced me to use only 2 fingers to control the aircraft, and it worked!
I was worried that I was going to touch something that I shouldn’t on the Remos’ amazingly modern glass cockpit. I was also nervous every time we hit a bump at the beginning of the flight. But once I got into the rhythm of the flight, I would have stayed up all day.
While I was flying, my daughter was on the ground looking at aircraft in display, including a helicopter, some vintage planes and her favorite — the basket of a hot air balloon. She’s been flying since she was 10 days old, and I’m proud to say that at the tender age of four, she’s already inherited my love of aviation.
There were information tables and the AOPA crew was out in full force just in case someone was ready, like me, to take that next step in learning to fly. For more information on your own lessons, check out AOPA’s Let’s Go Flying blog.
Reminds me of my one lesson in powered flight, many moons ago, aboard a Cessna 172 out of San Diego’s Montgomery Field. The actual flying wasn’t so bad, and the takeoff especially was a snap. It was taxiing that was a nightmare. On the ground, you steered the 172 with a pair of foot pedals. I was weaving all over the taxiway; it was pitiful. I looked as if I were driving home from the bar after last call.