Learn to Fly!

Joanne & Eithne 

I mentioned that my adventure group has been making the most of great deals from LivingSocial and Groupon. A few weeks ago, three of us spent $40 on a 1-hour flying experience that allowed us to pilot a little Cessna around our part of Maryland.  My friend, Eithne, captured the experience.

Eithne, Casey and the Cessna

“Getting away from it all” usually means taking a trip orvacation, but on August 7^th Michaelle, Joanne and I literally andfiguratively got away--we took off, left the ground and went flying. I haveflown around the world, from Ireland to Australia, to the US and back toIreland but in the past I have relied on folks who knew what they were doing,they flew the plane. This time, we took off and for 30 minutes each we held thecontrols! We were lucky, the weather cooperated and we had a terrificinstructor, Casey, who although he looked 12 years old, swore he was 24 and hadover 800 flying hours behind him! In for a penny in for a pound!

After about 30 minutes of “ground” instruction we were off.I went first - it was truly amazing, we were 2,000 feet above ground, closeenough to see houses, cars driving by, swimming pools, and even people – formiles! As Joanne said “I can see why people get hooked.” It was also a littlesurreal to know that this plane was truly in our hands, we were flying! Inthe DC metropolitan area flight preparations are unique, because we aresandwiched between the White House and Camp David. We learned that filing anaccurate flight plan is crucial, adhering to it even more crucial. Casey keptus on the straight and narrow and also ensured we stayed far away from otherplanes! Smaller airports do not have a control tower so navigating in the sky isdependent on the pilot being in constant communication with fellow pilots.Casey spoke to several during our 90 minute flight primarily to negotiatelanding order. Suddenly, planes we could not see would appear from the cloudsand land ahead of us, just as they had planned during their radiocommunication, it was remarkable!

In the pilot's seat

I flew from Montgomery Airpark landed inFrederick, Michaelle flew from Frederick to Carroll County and Joanne flew thehome leg. Thankfully, Casey landed for all three of us and we were once again onterra firma. The next day in work, as usual, we talked about what we did over theweekend there were a few raised eyebrows when for the first time in my life buthopefully not the last I said, “I flew a plane, how about you?”

One note of congratulations to our flight instructor, Casey. He's the NFL's new Sunday-night aerial man. Next time you see an eagle's view of the stadium, you'll know who's piloting that plane!

Watch Eithne take to the skies in this video: