It all began on August 30th of 2007 when I decided that it was time to bite the bullet and put my love of airplanes to the test. Until that point, I would look to the skies and admire airliners as they passed over head. If the sound of a jet could be heard, I wanted to make sure I could see it as well. I would always sit in the backyard of my house in West Hills, California and watch the Southwest jets line up with the runway across the valley at Burbank Airport. Though I had never been interested in small aircraft, I thought I would try an introductory flight at Van Nuys Airport to see if I liked being in the cockpit as much as I did in coach.

After searching the internet for a flight school I came across Hollywood Aviators, a business that operated out of VNY. I scheduled an appointment on a Sunday afternoon for an introductory flight and was extremely excited with hints of nervousness. I arrived at the bungalow in which they operated and to my dismay, and after about an hour wait, it turned out that the person scheduled to instruct me was not available. I ended up leaving and writing an email when I got home. Not but a couple of days later, I received a call from a manager who not only apologized but offered me a full hour flight for the price of a 30 minute flight. I took the offer.

On August 30th, 2007, I took an extended break at work and headed over to Van Nuys. I filled out a couple of forms, was introduced to my instructor, and headed outside to check out an aircraft. When my instructor asked me to help her push a Piper Warrior III out (by hand) I thought to myself, “I have to fly in this?!”. I quickly got over that kink in my gut and before I knew it we were in the plane and ready to taxi.

From what I first believed to be somewhat of a tour quickly turned to be a lesson. After we taxied onto the runway, my instructor told me to go full throttle and slowly pull back on the yoke…I was taking off in an airplane.

We headed due West and did some 360s over the Santa Monica Pier which gave me a wonderful view of the California coast. Before I knew it, we were over lush green mountains and then heading back to VNY. My instructor took full control of the aircraft prior to our crosswind landing and we were back on solid ground. The first thing I did was buy a pilot’s logbook, had my instructor log the flight, and promised myself that I would fill it until I received my private license.

(This post was created on June 10, 2008 but reflects the date of the flight)