Wayne has been training to get his private pilots' liscense. He passed the test a couple weeks ago, so today we flew to Iowa for Thanksgiving at Wayne's parents' house.
I have been converted to being a big fan of small planes and regional flying since riding a few times with Wayne. Our flight was so convenient, fun, and exciting.
Flying privately makes you feel rich and famous. Even though you are actually very poor after paying to fly the plane using $5 per gallon fuel. But that all fades when you arrive at the airport and flash your badge to go through a super secret security gate. (not really super secret, but it sounded good) Drive up the the hanger where the plane is, and Wayne gets the plane ready. I park the car in the hanger (no, I don't have to pay a parking fee!) Then we jump in the plane and taxi out to the runway. Takeoff is pretty fun, but ascending is pretty slow, so you don't get that feeling you get in an airline of raising hundreds of feet in a few seconds. Once we get to the right altitude Wayne turns on the autopilot, and we pretty much relax for 2 and a half hours. It's fun to spot landmarks and laugh at the poor little cars trudging down the interstate. When we get to our destination, we land at another small airport. Wayne's family was waiting, basically parked on the taxi-way. Then we zoomed off to a delicous Thanksgiving meal prepared by my mother-in-law.
Another cool thing about flying is the FBO's. These are nice little lounges for private pilots and passengers. The ones in Rapid City have nice furniture, clean, nice, bathrooms, refreshments, and a bigscreen TV. So like I said, you feel like you've joined the ranks of the rich and famous. Or at least I do.
I have been converted to being a big fan of small planes and regional flying since riding a few times with Wayne. Our flight was so convenient, fun, and exciting.
Flying privately makes you feel rich and famous. Even though you are actually very poor after paying to fly the plane using $5 per gallon fuel. But that all fades when you arrive at the airport and flash your badge to go through a super secret security gate. (not really super secret, but it sounded good) Drive up the the hanger where the plane is, and Wayne gets the plane ready. I park the car in the hanger (no, I don't have to pay a parking fee!) Then we jump in the plane and taxi out to the runway. Takeoff is pretty fun, but ascending is pretty slow, so you don't get that feeling you get in an airline of raising hundreds of feet in a few seconds. Once we get to the right altitude Wayne turns on the autopilot, and we pretty much relax for 2 and a half hours. It's fun to spot landmarks and laugh at the poor little cars trudging down the interstate. When we get to our destination, we land at another small airport. Wayne's family was waiting, basically parked on the taxi-way. Then we zoomed off to a delicous Thanksgiving meal prepared by my mother-in-law.
Another cool thing about flying is the FBO's. These are nice little lounges for private pilots and passengers. The ones in Rapid City have nice furniture, clean, nice, bathrooms, refreshments, and a bigscreen TV. So like I said, you feel like you've joined the ranks of the rich and famous. Or at least I do.
I would LOVE to travel in a small airplane once...be allowed next to the pilot and get an amazing view...! ;-) have a happy Thanksgiving week-end!
ReplyDeleteKristina - you need to come visit us and I bet Wayne would give you a ride! It is lots of fun and great views! We flew near Mount Rushmore and over the Black Hills and Badlands near where we live.
ReplyDelete"Wayne in the sky!!!"
ReplyDelete--Ian