CJones
Final Approach
The weather FINALLY cooperated with me having the RV this weekend to give first rides to some folks: my wife's 90+ y/o grandparents and our two nephews - Noah (5) and Isaac (7).
The grandparents were simply along for the ride and weren't interested in trying their hand at flying. They seemed to love it though! They both told me the story about how, when they were 'courting', he took her to the airport and bought them an airplane ride in an open cockpit plane for $1 - a sliver dollar from 190_ that his father had given him. I wish I had gotten them down to Ames a couple of weeks ago when the Barnstormers were there. I wish I had a tape recorder back at their apartment building while they're all sitting around playing checkers or dominos. ha!
My nephews were very surprising. They're not the most adventurous kids, so I was a little apprehensive of how they would react. I figured Noah (younger nephew - dirty-blonde hair) would be OK with it, but I wasn't sure how much he would really enjoy it. I was really worried about Isaac (older nephew - dark hair), he's a pretty 'emotional' kid to start with, so I wasn't sure if he would have sensory overload with an airplane ride. For all riders, I explained to them to let me know the MOMENT they start feeling woozy - I made it clear that it's OK to get sick and we would land if they started feeling like they might.
As soon as I started the engine, Noah exclaimed "This is AWESOME!" As we taxiied out, I made sure to tell him not to grab the stick, but I would let him try it later. Once in the air, he just started giggling. I entered a slow left hand turn to the south and the "Cool's" and "Whoa!'s" and "Awesome!'s" were coming rapid fire from him. I climbed up a couple thousand feet and flew near town so he could see what it looks like from the air. Once clear of town, I asked him if he wanted to try it. "Sure!" I loosened his straps (5 point harnesses are an overkill with a kid that small) so he could lean forward to reach the stick. Once his hand touched it, he pulled back hard. It was hilarious! He was bent forward a bit already, and the extra G's caused his head to nearly hit his knees. I looked over at him and he looked back at me. His eyes were as big as silver dollars and his headset was down around his cheeks. For a split second I wasn't sure what to expect - would he freak out after scaring himself or would he just want to quit or would he be OK with it. His response was great -- "THAT WAS AWESOME! CAN I DO IT AGAIN!?" I said "Sure." He would pull back a few times to get that 'weird' feeling, then he would push forward to get the opposite feeling. Overall, we were maybe hitting 2 G's at the 'peak' and maybe down to .5 G's at the push-over. He would rock the wings back and forth a few times. I said "See, it's just like a roller coaster." He said "I've never been on a roller coaster before!" I said "Well, this is BETTER than a rollercoaster!" He absolutely loved it. I was so suprised and extatic that he enjoyed it so much. I asked him if I could do something fun, which he agreed to. I explained that I would pull the nose up and turn sharp in one direction and then we would turn and be pointed toward the ground a bit - a lazy wingover. He loved this too! He asked for, and we did 3-4 more of them. I was loving it! His comments and Oooh's and Ahhhh's reminded me how much of a little kid he is. We headed back to the airport and I lost count of how many times he said "This is so cool! I love it!"
Isaac - the nephew I was most worried about - was my last passenger. I got him strapped in and gave him the same briefing I had given everyone else, only I emphasized the "Let me know if you START feeling sick." As I started the takeoff roll (the RV pushes you back in your seat a bit) the "Cool's" and "Awesome's" started. He asked "Are we off the ground yet?" I said "Wait wait wait.. Now we are." He was as excited as Noah had been! I was still taking it easy with him until I was SURE he wouldn't freak out. He made almost word-for-word the same statement Noah made about how small everything looks from up there. I flew him past town and then made him the offer of trying his hand at it. He also had a hard hand and was jerky with the controls, but loved every minute of it. He's a little bigger than Noah, so he could how the outside picture changed with his control movements. He said at one point "This is the next big thing in video games!" I said "No, this is what video games wish they could be!" It was obvious that he was OK with this whole "flying" thing, and I figured I would do something different with him than I did with Noah so they would both have their own story to tell. I pulled a pencil off of clip and laid it on the Throttle/Prop/Mixture controls. I explained that I would put us in a bit of a nose dive, then pull up - you'll feel 'heavy' in your seat, then I'll push over and the pen will float. I did it and he was a little squirmish after the first one. I asked if saw the pen float. He said he didn't pay attention b/c he was afraid he was going to hit his head on the canopy. I explained that the seatbelts would keep him from hitting his head and I did it again. Now that he knew he was safe, he LOVED it! We did it a couple more times, and I was started to get tired of them (1.3 hr of giving rides wears one out! ha). He started asking what BERKY meant on the GPS screen. I explained to him that we use those points to get lined up with the runway if we're flying in the clouds and can't see the ground. I let him fly again, and told him to point the plane so that we go toward BERKY then to KMIW. He did fairly well actually. He even said at one point during the ride "I might have to become a pilot myself!" I said "There's no reason for you not to!"
All-in-all, it was a GREAT day. 1.3hr total. There were storms north and west of us, which I kept an eye on with the 396. On the flight to their airport, Rachel and I had to get above 3000 to get out of the bumps, which made me a little uneasy about giving first rides. As the storms got closer, the leading overcast cooled things off and calmed everything down - it was silky smooth for all the flights with 3-4kt winds right down the runway. Both nephews were interested in riding again and wanted to know exactly when we would be able to do it. I think I have a couple of future pilots on my hands now.
The grandparents were simply along for the ride and weren't interested in trying their hand at flying. They seemed to love it though! They both told me the story about how, when they were 'courting', he took her to the airport and bought them an airplane ride in an open cockpit plane for $1 - a sliver dollar from 190_ that his father had given him. I wish I had gotten them down to Ames a couple of weeks ago when the Barnstormers were there. I wish I had a tape recorder back at their apartment building while they're all sitting around playing checkers or dominos. ha!
My nephews were very surprising. They're not the most adventurous kids, so I was a little apprehensive of how they would react. I figured Noah (younger nephew - dirty-blonde hair) would be OK with it, but I wasn't sure how much he would really enjoy it. I was really worried about Isaac (older nephew - dark hair), he's a pretty 'emotional' kid to start with, so I wasn't sure if he would have sensory overload with an airplane ride. For all riders, I explained to them to let me know the MOMENT they start feeling woozy - I made it clear that it's OK to get sick and we would land if they started feeling like they might.
As soon as I started the engine, Noah exclaimed "This is AWESOME!" As we taxiied out, I made sure to tell him not to grab the stick, but I would let him try it later. Once in the air, he just started giggling. I entered a slow left hand turn to the south and the "Cool's" and "Whoa!'s" and "Awesome!'s" were coming rapid fire from him. I climbed up a couple thousand feet and flew near town so he could see what it looks like from the air. Once clear of town, I asked him if he wanted to try it. "Sure!" I loosened his straps (5 point harnesses are an overkill with a kid that small) so he could lean forward to reach the stick. Once his hand touched it, he pulled back hard. It was hilarious! He was bent forward a bit already, and the extra G's caused his head to nearly hit his knees. I looked over at him and he looked back at me. His eyes were as big as silver dollars and his headset was down around his cheeks. For a split second I wasn't sure what to expect - would he freak out after scaring himself or would he just want to quit or would he be OK with it. His response was great -- "THAT WAS AWESOME! CAN I DO IT AGAIN!?" I said "Sure." He would pull back a few times to get that 'weird' feeling, then he would push forward to get the opposite feeling. Overall, we were maybe hitting 2 G's at the 'peak' and maybe down to .5 G's at the push-over. He would rock the wings back and forth a few times. I said "See, it's just like a roller coaster." He said "I've never been on a roller coaster before!" I said "Well, this is BETTER than a rollercoaster!" He absolutely loved it. I was so suprised and extatic that he enjoyed it so much. I asked him if I could do something fun, which he agreed to. I explained that I would pull the nose up and turn sharp in one direction and then we would turn and be pointed toward the ground a bit - a lazy wingover. He loved this too! He asked for, and we did 3-4 more of them. I was loving it! His comments and Oooh's and Ahhhh's reminded me how much of a little kid he is. We headed back to the airport and I lost count of how many times he said "This is so cool! I love it!"
Isaac - the nephew I was most worried about - was my last passenger. I got him strapped in and gave him the same briefing I had given everyone else, only I emphasized the "Let me know if you START feeling sick." As I started the takeoff roll (the RV pushes you back in your seat a bit) the "Cool's" and "Awesome's" started. He asked "Are we off the ground yet?" I said "Wait wait wait.. Now we are." He was as excited as Noah had been! I was still taking it easy with him until I was SURE he wouldn't freak out. He made almost word-for-word the same statement Noah made about how small everything looks from up there. I flew him past town and then made him the offer of trying his hand at it. He also had a hard hand and was jerky with the controls, but loved every minute of it. He's a little bigger than Noah, so he could how the outside picture changed with his control movements. He said at one point "This is the next big thing in video games!" I said "No, this is what video games wish they could be!" It was obvious that he was OK with this whole "flying" thing, and I figured I would do something different with him than I did with Noah so they would both have their own story to tell. I pulled a pencil off of clip and laid it on the Throttle/Prop/Mixture controls. I explained that I would put us in a bit of a nose dive, then pull up - you'll feel 'heavy' in your seat, then I'll push over and the pen will float. I did it and he was a little squirmish after the first one. I asked if saw the pen float. He said he didn't pay attention b/c he was afraid he was going to hit his head on the canopy. I explained that the seatbelts would keep him from hitting his head and I did it again. Now that he knew he was safe, he LOVED it! We did it a couple more times, and I was started to get tired of them (1.3 hr of giving rides wears one out! ha). He started asking what BERKY meant on the GPS screen. I explained to him that we use those points to get lined up with the runway if we're flying in the clouds and can't see the ground. I let him fly again, and told him to point the plane so that we go toward BERKY then to KMIW. He did fairly well actually. He even said at one point during the ride "I might have to become a pilot myself!" I said "There's no reason for you not to!"
All-in-all, it was a GREAT day. 1.3hr total. There were storms north and west of us, which I kept an eye on with the 396. On the flight to their airport, Rachel and I had to get above 3000 to get out of the bumps, which made me a little uneasy about giving first rides. As the storms got closer, the leading overcast cooled things off and calmed everything down - it was silky smooth for all the flights with 3-4kt winds right down the runway. Both nephews were interested in riding again and wanted to know exactly when we would be able to do it. I think I have a couple of future pilots on my hands now.
