Time to get my eyes examined.

I got to experience the thrill of flying today and I gotta tell you, it was fun.

I met with an instructor at Northampton Airport at 3:00 this afternoon and we talked for a while, just to get to know each other. He's a good guy and we got along pretty well.

After chatting for a bit, we went outside, he handed me a checklist and had me do the pre-flight inspection while he oversaw me. Then he had me get into the left seat and go through the pre-flight checklist.

Once I finished that and I had the aircraft running and raring to go, we taxied to the runway and he had me take off. We spent an hour flying around the upper Pioneer Valley with him having me do all kinds of things to get an idea of how the aircraft handles in various ways.

After an hour of enjoying myself immensely, we headed back at the airport.

I gotta be honest with you, I fully expected him to take control of the aircraft for the landing but he simply sat there, point the airport out to me and gave me instructions on throttle settings. I managed to touch down on the numbers with little or no thump.

I will admit that steering the plane on the ground was harder than flying it. I damned near drove us off the side of the taxiway while making our way back to the parking area.

So after going through the post-flight checklist and shutdown, we went into the office and I asked him if he thought I might have what it takes to learn to fly. I made it clear that I didn't want to end my life in a twisted pile of burning aluminum and if he felt that my learning to fly was a major mistake, I wanted him to say so.

He said that I did things on my first flight that most people don't do until they've spent several hours flying. He also said that while I tended to fly the plane like it was a car, I would overcome that pretty quickly.

So I guess I know what I'll be doing two or three times a month for the next several months....

*

Here are some links:

• A U.S. quarter weighs exactly 5.67 grams. That means he had almost 5 tons of quarters.



• Watch the video. I really wish it had audio because I would love to hear what he is saying.



• Yes, alcohol was involved.