In October I was given the opportunity to fly in a 4-seater airplane to a math conference in Lansing. One of the other math teachers, Cindy H., has her pilot's license and offered to fly a couple of us up there to meet the rest of the bunch. Surprisingly, I said yes! I've never been one to LOVE flying (though once I'm in the air I don't mind it) and I'm not very adventuresome, but for whatever reason, I never second-guessed my decision to fly in this teeny-tiny plane to Lansing.... Even the night before, when I would usually have difficulty getting settled and would be a little nervous, I felt nothing. It was one of the oddest feelings, knowing that I don't do stuff like that without thinking twice and weighing my options. We had to be at the Ann Arbor Airport by 7:15 as we were to take off about 7:40am. The conference started at 8:30 am and it would only take us about 30 minutes to get to Lansing.
I pulled into the airport and right up to the hanger where the plane was still parked inside. Clint K. and I were the passengers and Cindy H., the pilot. Cindy was doing all the final checks on the plane before we pulled it out of the hanger (yes, we! It's small enough that the three of us could pull it out of the hanger....) and climbed in.
Once we did climb in, Clint was the co-pilot and I sat in the back seat. We put on our headsets (in order to communicate with each other) and Cindy went through the instrument panel checks. It was brisk so the windows kept fogging up - no defrost on the plane.... Cindy then communicated with the tower and got us cleared for take-off.
Clint looked back at me, giving me a look almost to say, "Well, this is it. Say a little prayer!" We lined up on the runway towards the west and started accelerating. I took a deep breath and began praying....and praying...and praying! Next thing I knew, we were off the ground and assending into the deep blue morning sky! The sun had not risen yet but was just beginning to come over the horizon behind us! I could see the blocks of land, the roads, I-94 backed up towards Jackson in the early morning traffic. Amazing. Indescribable. We flew over Dexter and Chelsea and off we went towards Lansing. I pulled out my camera and took a ton of shots of the sunrise behind us! With very little cloud cover, the colors were magnificent. God really knows how to paint a breath-taking picture.
We flew on towards Lansing, taking in all the sights and listening to Cindy tell us about the landmarks below, various towers and cement domes that guide the way to Lansing. Before entering the Lansing Airport Airspace, Cindy had to communicate via the headset that we were coming, who we were, etc. The air traffic controller in Lansing, though, could not hear her....AHHHH! Clint looks back at me and I look back at him with a sort of panic on our faces. Cindy was so calm, though! She told Clint what to do and had him communicate our location and information to the controller. Way to go Clint! Before we knew it, we were landing in Lansing where Ron was there to pick us up! We felt like big-shots as we got out of our plane right at the terminal with our briefcases and walked right in to our ride to the conference! Goose, Mavrick & Iceman have arrived!
The conference went well but all we could think about was flying back home in the beautiful blue sky! Once we arrived back at the airport, Cindy had to look up the weather & wind information before we could take off. She then checked over the airplane again before we got in and settled for take-off #2. Small problem....The engine wouldn't start.... Trying not to panic, I thought about something else...anything else. She called her instructor and through some trial and error, they figured out how to get it turned over. Still, I couldn't let it go through my head that I was going to be a thousand feet in the air in a plane that had a hard time starting for about 10 minutes before we took off.... Here we go....
The ride back wasn't as smooth due to a little bit of wind but the view was just as gorgeous. With it being the afternoon, we were able to see the State Capital Building, the Grand River in Lansing, Michigan State University's campus (including the football stadium and dorms!), the Huron River in Ann Arbor, the new location for Mott's Children's Hospital, Briarwood Mall and Michigan Stadium. Cindy asked for permission from the Ann Arbor Airport traffic controller to circle Michigan Stadium so I could get some pictures! VERY COOL!!!!!!
Landing went well and we pushed the plane back into it's little hanger at the Ann Arbor Airport. What an amazing experience! Would I do it again with her as the pilot, YOU BET. Would I go with another pilot??? We'll see. I'm so glad that I didn't hesitate and overthink before having what was truly an amazing and breath-taking experience!
Check out the picture slideshow here! :)
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