Wife passenger

This morning I told Tristine I was going to go visit the pilot shop to pick-up a check-list for a C172 and she offered to come along for the ride. Having picked up a check-list and a nice shiny new key fob for the cessna keys with a cessna badge on it (just had to be done!), I asked if she wanted to come take a look at Lima Sierra. She agreed so we headed over to Blackbushe.



The weather was sadly pretty cold and grey overcast skies so she didn't enjoy helping me remove the fabric covering from the aircraft, however her mood improved sat inside and she asked alot of questions about what things did. She then said it was a shame we couldn't just fly her (I still need to get officially check-out with an instructor on the type before I can fly). We took a few photos on my mobile phone so apologies for the quality.

On the way home an idea formed in my mind, hmm the weather is not to bad and the wind is gentle, maybe Cabair has a Katana available. I called and sure enough
I could fly in an hour, the temptation was too much so I asked her if she wanted to go we can go. Tris readily agreed so we headed back to Blackbushe.

There was a slight delay in departing as the aircraft needed fuel so I first had to take Foxtrot Victor to the pumps and fill up, the delay whilst not a huge problem meant we wouldn't have too long in the air but then in some respects that may be good considering this will the first time she has flown in a light aircraft. Before departing I gave her a full briefing on what to expect once airborne, she was quite excited by this time so we went.

In fact I was secretly more nervous than she was, I was worried that once airborne she might really hate it and want to land as soon as possible, signifying the end of any dreams of flying regularly with her.

I lined up and off we went. As soon as we were in the air she was grinning and pointing at stuff and said many times "oh my god! wow, I can't believe it". I climbed gently away and headed out towards a familiar area. The air was incredibly smooth today making a huge difference from yesterday, however visibility was pretty poor at around 10km at best and heavy overcast cloud at 4000MSL. The weather was therefore not ideal for a first impressive flight however at least she was able to experience flight in small aeroplanes, and in fact with our weather being what it is this time of year we were quite lucky for this opportunity to fly. She very much enjoyed the flight and spent the entire time gazing in wonder at everything, this totally surprised me as I had almost expected the opposite reaction. Before long she wanted me to show her some G forces, I laughed and asked her if she was sure, I therefore did a couple of small pitch changes rapidly just to test her reaction; these had her laughing. I was then tempted to move into 60 degree turns but the visibility was such that I thought better of it. Whilst being fun I was flying in an area with high traffic density in less than perfect vis so safety comes first.

We soon headed back and came in to a greaser landing, despite my efforts the plane is good at landing.

No sooner than we were down and she wanted to go up again. The next couple of hours were spent talking about flying and her desire to get back in the air as soon as possible. So all in all an amazing ending to the day.