Flight in a Chevette

[Dupo]

Let me start by saying, im 38 and i've never flown in any kind of aircraft in my life. Never had a reason to, never really cared to (Mr T syndrome, aint gettin on no plane foo).

Well i received as a xmas present, a half hour flight in a Cessna from Lehigh Valley International Airport. Date was set for yesterday (saturday the 17th) at 2pm.

We get there and talk to the pilot who says he needs to ready the plane before we go. Ok no problem. Well an HOUR passes and still no go. Apparently they had too much gas in it for 2 people. Now, i've seen video's on YouTube of Cessna flights. I know they are small ... but there was too much gas in the tank to lift off with 2 people aboard. They had to remove about 26 gallons of fuel before we could leave the ground. Oh boy .. just what i wanted to hear.

We make our way out to the section that they have their planes at hangar 7's 'parking lot'. As we walked, i seen a few Cessna's and others about the same size. I thought, huh, these aren't too bad. So i walk behind the pilot in anticipation of what plane we would be taking up. Hmm, not the red one, not the blue one ... both have front and back seating and still relatively small. We keep walking ... i see this rinky dink plane on the end and chuckled, my god thats a tiny plane that looks kinda beat up .. Well guess what, its the plane the pilot was walking to.



He opens the door to the plane (which was receiving heat to the engine via a propane heater with a pipe attached). The cockpit was so small. I thought for sure there was no way we were to fit in this together. You can see how much room i take up in the cockpit in the following picture.



So we climb in .. like sardines we are shoulder to shoulder in this tiny plane. Doors close (barely) and we proceed to start the engine. Now, theres not enough room for both of us let alone reaching over me to get to the left side controls. So he has me prime the fuel and turn the key while he messes with the choke to get it fired up. After 2 tries and a plane that sounded like Speed Buggy from the 70s cartoon ... it finally fired up.

The pilot said i could do hands on if i wanted to, i said 'sure'. So he let me taxi the plane out to the runway while worked the throttle (i got to steer it out to the runway). We get clearance and the pilot says over the mic 'if you want you can lift off and fly from there'. Holy crap, im going to take off??? Yes, apparently i was. He told me to just pull back slightly when he signals. We tear ass down the runway, he signals and the tuna can is in flight. At this point i was pretty dam nervous. Felt as if i took one wrong twitch the dam thing would overturn and we'd crash into the ground. He radio's to me to turn it slightly right and keep the nose up. Now, i've never flown before, so you could imagine how i felt having this thing cliimbing, nose up, then having to bank right. I actually got a small anxiety attack at that moment as this thing is leaning and climbing under my control.

He as me level out after we hit about 2500'. At this point im calming down a lot and getting used to how it flies. Theres a lot of bouncing up and down because the plane is so light, any amount of wind/pressure change in the air moves the plane wherever it wants to. So flying this thing was an actual challenge. You could feel the wind pushing it side to side as i kept the controls dead center. There was a lot of left/right adjustments to be made to keep it going straight.

We flew towards Blue Mountain which is a ski area around here. Took about 10 minutes to get there. From there he took the controls and let me snap some pictures while he turned the plane around for our return. He again let me take control of the plane for the ride back. We approach the airport and i figured he would take over for the landing. Nay nay... he instructed me to turn the plane left, then bank right ..... towards the runway. He pushed in the throttle as we approached to slow the airspeed so we could descend. Flaps down ... he tells me to just ease it down to the runway. We got about 5' off the ground .. and he grabbed the control and set us down perfectly. He then braked to a cruising speed and let me taxi it off the runway and back to the hangar.

We get out, my ears are clogged from the ride. I felt a sense of relief that i made it back safely. I took one more look at that little plane in awe that i just flew that thing 2500' in the air and didnt die. Thanked the pilot and told him that was one of the coolest experiences i've ever had.

I am definetly over my fear of flying ... in a little plane. Now i have to kick the big plane fear lol.





















Safe and sound, back at the hangar...

[Water Warrior 2]

Good for you. Must have been a blast. First time I was up was 1963 and the second time was 2005. First time was with a buddy and his new flying license. Almost didn't make it out alive. Took us 3 tries to land without crashing. Oh yah, I kissed the ground after I didn't die in a flaming crash.

[dan_]

I can see it now everyone upgrading to a bigger bike and you say fuck it i'm gettin' a plane! bye bye 250 forum.. :'(

[Dupo]

At $30,0000 for a plane ... i'll stick with motorcycling lol.

[alanmcorcoran]

At least you didn't go up with an A-Hole that was tryin to impress a girl. I've been up in a four seater and it took every ounce of my biological controls to keep me from heaving all over the cabin. The guy was doing climbs into a near stall and then plummeting 3000 feet or so in a handful of seconds. I prefer the kind where the ladies serve you drinks and you can take a nap.

Although, flying one sounds like it might be fun.

[Water Warrior 2]

The cost of a light aircraft is one thing. The upkeep and maintenance is another. You need the utmost in reliability or the end will be more than exciting. "Crash and Burn" is not just a figment of some one's imagination.

[dan_]

And I bet they don't get that great of gas mileage :-P

[Dupo]

I was looking at ebay for prices on planes .. i seen one of them said their slightly similar plane to the one i flew in got 12gph.

The one i flew in held 40 gallons and they said it could fly 5 continuous hours on that tank. So the tin can i was in gets 8gph.

[mrlmd1]

Yeah, but what's the overall mpg? Most of it is used on takeoff, once you get up to altitude and cruising speed it's a lot less. If it'll fly at 100-120mph, then the fuel consumption is not that bad. 100-120mph/8gph averages to 12.5-15mpg. if you can calculate something like that for a plane, you are paying for speed to get somewhere, or for the pleasure of flying around with no real place to go.

[Water Warrior 2]

Also according to theory you can fly in a straight line to get somewhere. Shortest distance between 2 points and all that silly stuff. Might make for better fuel consumption but probably boring as watching paint dry.