Flying Solo

My dad, Serge Cote, has been working with airplanes most of his life. Growing up we would go to the air show every summer and see all kinds of airplanes show off their stuff. I would sit inside the cockpit and wonder why in the world do they need so many buttons and gages. It must be a really hard thing to do, fly a plane. These machines are too sophisticated for me but it looks like fun. That's what I thought, but this experience changed my mind. Going into this I wasn't sure how I would react I knew that I was scared of heights but I can handle commercial flights. I also love to drive cars and boats, would an airplane be any different? Actually not really. We took off the runway and up into the air. Climbing to 4,000 feet we were just below the never ending sheet of clouds that covered the sky. The pilot, Wes Shartle, adjusted a few things and took his hands off the controls. I was flying. At this point I realized this is too easy. The airplane was moving straight into the horizon. All I had to worry about was rolling the plane left and right with the aileron. If I turned around a total 360 the plane would gradually get lower to the ground, and going past 360 the plane could eventually spiral down to the ground, not good. To get back to the right height I had to roll out and ascend. Next my gage knowledge was tested by Wes placing a map in my view so I wasn't able to see outside. All I had to do was make sure the plane was flying on the horizon line. I had to be careful with controlling the elevators, flaps on the back of the plane, because quick movements made the plane drop or rise fast, giving me that strange stomach feeling. The only other control I had to worry about was the foot pedals, they controlled the rudder turning the plane left and right. Wes was a great instructor and he told me I did very well for my first time, encouraging me to get my license. One of my favorite experiences so far.

We flew a Mooney, it's a small plane built for speed.

Serge Cote (left) and the pilot, Wes Shartle (right).