Ready for takeoff!

I forgot to mention - I took Nate flying a couple of weeks ago. For me it was the culmination of a dream almost 5 years in the making. Nate was in utero when I started flight school and I remember lying awake at night thinking how cool it would be to take my son to the Islands for the day or to give him a birds-eye view of Mt. Rainier.

The forecast called for overcast skies and showers, a marginal day overall, so I tried to prepare him in case we weren't able to fly. When we got to the airport I checked the weather again and the ceiling was high enough for us to make a go of it. Nate helped me during pre-flight by removing the tie-downs and checking the fuselage, propeller and tail for problems. After that I loaded his booster seat in and plugged in his headset. Nate's always thinking ahead - note the sippy cup!


I was concerned he might be a bit scared, but as soon as the wheels left the ground I heard Nate let out a "yeeee haw!" He was actually laughing pretty hard. We made our way out to the Snohomish valley and flew around, dancing between bands of clouds.

Nate flew the plane by himself (for about 2 seconds) and then with my help the rest of the time. He was a bit aggressive with the controls, resulting in a 45° bank descending turn, which is only slightly uncomfortable at 110mph. "Treat it like a baby, son," I said.

We headed back in to the airport after 45 minutes or so, packed up the plane, and drove home. He loved it and talks about going again all the time. Yesterday he was trying to talk me in to bringing Carmen with as well, knowing full-well Dad's minimum age for flight is 4. "You promise to keep your headphones on, right Carmen?" he says. "Yeah!" says Carm. "Yeah, right," says Dad.