I have been checking most of the cabin by now. The normal flow is slowly driving me towards the engine start.

Prop. clear!

Michael had the window open and suddenly yield: "Prop clear!". I recognize here the signal that we are going to turn the engine on! This is to let people know that the propeller will be pretty soon turning at more than 1000 rpm and that they better stay clear from it! Everybody has been warned, it is then my turn start the engine. I can see the engraving on the panel above the key and they read something like stop, left magnetos, right magnetos , something I can't remember and start. Michael then tell me to start turning the key. I hold the key in my hand, start turning. Click! On the first position! Nothing happens! Do I have to wait before going to the second position? I keep going. Click! Now I'm on the second position and still nothing! Well, I better keep going! Click! Ok now I'm on the third position and still nothing. I guess it might like a car starter where the last one really cranked the engine! So I turn the key one more time and … here it is! The engine is coming alive! First impression? IT'S LOUD! I couldn't believe how noisy it sounded. It was not bad or hear piercing but so much louder than expected. I guess I was used to the sound of car, expecting maybe the sound of big car or truck but nothing like that.

The fact is that on a car, you can afford to use mufflers but they tend to rob power from the engine. In a plane, you want all the power that you can out of the engine because it has to carry some weight and you do not want to loose some of the load capability just to get a lower noise level. After all, once in the air, you will not bother too many neighbors!

Razorback Approach, Cessna Alpha Bravo Charlie at 3500 approaching Bentonville

And aviators have their own way to cup with the noise: headset! This is another part of the myth, the headset with microphone in front of the mouth, talking to an air traffic controller. The headset first function is to isolate the pilot from the outside noise. There are many different headset with different technologies but we will talk about that in another post! For the moment, I'm putting the headset and start appreciating the sound absorption offered! After a few more checks, we are ready to move the plane .

Taxiing

I thought moving the plane around would not be that hard! After all on the simulator, it is just about giving some power and then stirring it like a car. But things are a little more complicated. Michael starts to explain to me that, in fact, on the ground you control the plane not with your hands but with your feet! Pedals are here to steer the plane in the air but also on the ground. Then came a big surprise to me, something that I had no clue. The pedals are actually divided into two parts! The top part control the brakes and lower part controls the rudder. Michael is explaining that the plane is controlled by using the brakes to slow down the wheels on one side or another. This is called differential brakes and you push both pedals to slow down and only one pedal when you want to turn. At this instant, I realize that controlling the plane on the ground is not like driving a car but more like driving a tank!!! Also there are some helps from the rudders because each time you are pushing the pedals, you are actually turning the nose wheel, helping this way to turn the plane. We are slowly approaching the runway. After checking that no plane were coming to land, Michael did the announcement and went to position the plane at the end of the runway to prepare to take off. This is the time were I'm getting a little anxious. Will I enjoy the ride? Did I build up so much expectation that I will be disappointed?

Lights! Camera! Action!

Michael is giving the last instructions for taking off. Precisely: “Don’t touch the pedals, I will take care of it! Watch the speed and at 65, start pulling slowly on the yoke.”. Ok that sounds simple enough. We are going down the runway and I’m focused on the speed. Then come 65 and I start to pulling on the yoke. The plane is slowly pitching up and start taking off. The sensation of leaving the ground by your actions is really great. You start suddenly to be more aware of the ground. You can feel that you are gaining altitude and can actually measure it by a glance out of the window. I’m use to fly in airliners so what is the difference? I think, for one thing, having the control makes it very different. It’s the same idea for a car, between being a passenger and suddenly becoming a driver. The other aspect that is different from an airliner is the speed. A Cessna is of course much slower than Airbus or a Boeing and this makes a huge difference, you can see the details of the ground much longer, you have the time to recognize the roads you’re driving, the stores you are shopping… It is offering a truly different view.

But as we were climbing, not everything was smooth. The plane was shaking because of the turbulences and I realized that the stability of a small plane is not that great. It was not that bad or risky but it was uncomfortable for someone not used to it and I tend to avoid roller coaster as I’m getting sick on them.

At that moment, I can remember thinking that so many pilots like the peaceful atmosphere of flying. Really? Being shaken up is what people are calling peaceful? It’s like driving on cobblestone road. This is everything but relaxing and I much rather like to be on German or French highways (where there are no bumps on the road and the speed limit is fairly high ). But back to our plane. As I’m maintaining the plane in a climb attitude, Michael is telling me to go at 4500 feet and that we should get calmer air there! He is explaining me that the nice sun that we are enjoying is actually reheating the ground and that this is generating convective or in a more direct way: the turbulences. Feeling reassured about the prospect of calmer air, I felt I had to postpone my judgment… And I was right to do so. As we were progressing up, the turbulences started to occur on a more irregular basis, with more time between each of them until at one point, they disappeared totally. After being in the air for a little bit, I realized how quiet the air was and indeed how peaceful it was. This was an incredible sensation of being free to go pretty much wherever we wanted.

Too boldly go where… well, maybe not that far!

But I’ve realized something else too. Michael had indicated to the Air Traffic Controller that we where heading for the East Practice Area. I’m not sure what that meant or what I should expect. But as we were heading North, the environment started to change drastically. We passed another airport, that I would later identify as the Rogers airport and then the number of houses decreased faster and faster, replacing the heavy signs of civilization by the one of nature. Streets got replace by trails, properly lined up trees along the

sidewalk turned into the irregularities of a natural forest, the swimming pools and occasional ponds turned into lakes and rivers. Nature at his best. I thought about my fiancé. She would like this environment and that we should probably think about coming back there during the week end. But I stopped myself almost immediately thinking that what took us 10 minutes to reach by planes would take a good hour to an hour and a half by road! I guess this is part of the magic of being in an airplane. You can change your landscape in a very short amount of time while soaring several thousands feet above the ground. You get to see the big picture better than anyone on the ground.

 

Arkansas is a state that I don’t know as we are recent implants there. But this flight was revealing some of the natural treasures that it has to offer. The many lakes and rivers are offering a wealth of outdoor activities and, compared to Minneapolis, for such an extended amount of time during the year! To be completely fair to Minnesota, there are a lot of outdoor activities that you can do all around the year but you have to be willing to endure the cold weather and while I can deal with it, I can’t say the same thing some of the people around me!

So what’s on the menu?

As  we were arriving to our destination, Michael asked me what seemed a strange question at the time: “So. What would you like to do?”. I’ve received the questions with a deer in the headlight look! What do I want to do??? I don’t know. I had no expectation about the trip. I was going to fly and that was it. So I tried to get an answer that would make sense. Since I was trying to determine if I was going to be interested in flying, I then gave the following answer: “What are you asking your student to do? What are some of the maneuvers that I would need to know how to do?”. After a few seconds, Michael gave a pretty much straightforward answer: S-Turns! Ok. At that point I have no idea what it is about except that we would probably fly following an S shape. And for the most part, I was right but I was missing some extra information. If it is just about writing an S, it would be fairly straightforward. In order to perform the maneuver properly, you have to pick a straight road or any straight reference on the ground. Then the goal is arrive straight and level perpendicular to the road. As soon as the plane is above the road, you have to start turning. By how much, is up to the pilot but the goal is to be able to cross the road again completely perpendicular and level again then to repeat the operations on the other side. The timing or the size of the half circle is not important but the precision of the maneuver is. It is imperative to be crossing with the wings leveled and perpendicular. Another point that examiners are asking is that you are maintaining your altitude while performing the maneuver.

After the explanation from Michael and locating a suitable road, I’m starting the maneuver. I’m banking the plane then wait for the plane to start reacting. We are slowly turning and I’m feeling pretty good about the exercise. We are passing the first quarter of the circle and everything looks good. I’m properly oriented and I can start the second quarter that will bring me back to the road. And, there, same thing, I’m feeling good about it and ended up crossing the road exactly as I was supposed to! I immediately start banking the plane on the other side. Everything looks pretty good and I was able to cross the road again straight and level and perpendicular.

It was a surprise to me and at the same time, the exercise did not seem so difficult. I would learn a little later that the exercise is actually more difficult as the wind is getting stronger because you then have to compensate for it by changing the angle of the plane. I might have benefited from calm winds this day but I’m sure I would have to redo it, should I decide to get the license.  We did a couple more S-Turns. Each of them were done properly.

I guess while I’m getting excited about the ease of the maneuver, I’m wondering also what are the others maneuvers that we would have to perform and I know there is one required that I’m REALLY not looking forward: stalling the airplane! This is a dangerous maneuvers when performed close to the ground because it does not give enough time to recover from it. It can be deadly also if you have an airplane that is not well balanced because it can make the recovery impossible. Basically, a stall is happening each time the plane is flying too slow and does not have enough speed to sustain the flight. At that point, the plane starts falling.

Time to go home to Bentonville

Michael then did spend more time explaining the controls of the airplane and we chatted about more about the requirements to become a private pilot. The more I was talking, the more I was getting interested. Then came the time to start thinking about heading back to the airport. Michael is giving me the instructions to go back to the airport and I’m applying them. At that point I was not looking too much outside because I was really focused on the instruments. I wanted to make sure that I was keeping the proper heading and speed that was assigned.

The airport was now in sight and Michael took over the control to perform the approach and the landing. Looking at runway approaching was pleasant, it reminded me so much of the simulations that I have played on the computer except that this time it’s for real! In no time we were on the taxiway!

The picture on the side is actually a picture of the Bentonville airport. Can you locate it on the picture? This is one of the challenge of being in the air, things looks so different that we sometime have some issue recognizing what is what!

Hint: there is a pond at the end of the runway!

Conclusion

It is definitely rating among the best gifts I’ve received so far! The flight went by very quickly and I really enjoyed every single minute of it. I’ve realized that it was probably easier than I had ever thought it would be to pilot a plane. Note that I’m not saying it  will be easy, just easier than I thought. I’m also indirectly encouraged by a comment that Michael made a couple of times during the flight after some of the exercise: “You will be easy to teach to!”.

Anyway, as I was stepping down from the airplane, I was determined to make a first step towards getting a license and this started by purchasing the Cessna Pilot Course (aka CPC). Among the kit was in fact a pilot’s log book. This first introductory flight had covered in fact all the requirements of the first lesson in the CPC so we were able to log that intro flight into my pilot’s log book!

I am now equiped with all the materials for ground school! My next actions are pretty clear. Since I’m going to be outside the US for quite some time, this is giving me an opportunity to work on the ground school and get into Flight Simulator to try to apply some of the learnings. With the flight in a real plane, I should be able to better understand the simulation now.