First Flight

A Flying Start

I did it. It was something I was thinking about for a long time. I said, “if not now, then when”?

I booked my first exploratory flight with Horizon Aviation in Norwood. They have an introductory offer for $250 for your first experience with a guest which is half price. Yes, it's an expensive hobby.

Since it’s your first experience in the small Cessna 4-seater plane, they want the weather to be perfect. Not just so the ride is smooth for you but also these small planes are not built for rough weather. My first three schedules had to be rescheduled, one due to traffic delay and twice due to bad weather. But I stuck to it. And the 4th time was a charm. Perfect weather for flying.

My instructor was great. He himself was training to be a commercial pilot which is a longer process. To get a personal pilot license, which is the first step, you need an average 50-60 hours of flying plus instructions to clear exams and physical fitness. So it’s a long process of a year or two depending on your pace.

My motivation clearly is recreational and I am in no rush. But at this small airport I could see a constant stream of students coming for lessons to log their hours towards commercial pilot license. My instructor said their youngest student is only eleven years old and the oldest is a little bit older than me. The older students like me were clearly looking for enjoyment.

My instructor took us to the small plane. It’s a really small airport with a single runway for smaller planes. Mostly private and institutional planes and few 10-15 seater air taxis. You also have helicopter training school here.

“Flying is all about safety “, said my instructor. Every time you fly you have to go through a long checklist. From external to internal. It includes many things like battery, engine, oil pressure, fuel and many more. After these safety checks he started the engine and performed additional operational checks. The checklist manual was open and checks were performed step by step.

Then the instructor asked permission to taxi from the tower. It’s something difficult to understand through your headphones for the first time and you need to learn the language. Once the permission was granted and visual checks done we started to roll. Then we were cleared for takeoff.

Since it was my first flight, I had no role in the takeoff and landing. But my instructor said, “once we are at our flying altitude of 2,500 ft he would give me control to maneuver the plane”. He continued, “you don’t have to make any jerky moves or push hard, these planes are designed to fly by themselves and you are not needed to do anything hard.”

It was a beautiful flight. We went around the Gillette stadium a few times and we could see some game going on. He pointed to landmarks for me to get oriented to the landscape below. Boston to the north, Providence to south, not far. The Blue Hills and Berkshires far to the west. Many airports, small and large around us. Highways I-95 and  I-495 to orient you locally. Mansfield municipal airport just a few miles away, and the Logan traffic controller instructions audible giving warnings about air traffic around us. All the time I was told to watch the elevation, not to exceed 2,500 ft., as beyond 3,000 ft. is Logan airspace that you can’t enter. His instructions continued, “keep an eye to the horizon to keep the plane leveled. While gently maneuvering for smooth turns, look to your left and right to get visual clearance.”

It was a thrill, while I realized that there is a long way to go for me, before I can get confident to fly independently. There is so much to learn. And ofcourse safety first.

As we safely returned after an hour of flying, I was sure that I would like to continue to pursue flying to get my private pilot license. Yes it is an expensive hobby, but think about it this way, if you are a golfer and golf 2-3 times a week then this hobby is not that much more expensive.

Will keep you posted as I progress!

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