pilot hines

I flew a plane!!!!!!!!!!!

I've been smiling non stop since this morning! I was SO excited!!! I went with Thea and her dad, Jeff. He's a pilot and has his own little plane. It was lovely. I got to feel all official with the cool headset on, sitting in the co-pilot seat. I loved learning all about the plane. There's a lot more to it than you'd think. The movies (of course) are way wrong. Did you know you actually have to steer with petals at your feet? That combined with the wheel. There are a bunch of cool gadgets to look at and that tell you all the info. Although, I learned that when you get at a higher altitude, they aren't always accurate, so we used an electronic reader. Thank goodness for modern satellite technology.

It was really fun listening to all the other pilots on the radio through the headset. I didn't understand everything, but I got most of it and could follow where the other planes were. They use a different alphabet. All the planes are named with letters and numbers, and when you radio in, you have to say the name of the plane. The one we were in was 66L, so we were six six lima. It was funny to hear the other ones; foxtrot, charlie, tango, whisky, alpha...


We took off from the Minden airport and circled around the valley. We found my house and my mom was down on the ground waving. I couldn't see anything, but she claimed that she was down there with my grandparents. Then we headed up to Lake Tahoe and flew around the beautiful water. After that, we came down Carson Pass. That's when I flew the plane all by myself (sort of. Brother Whitaker told me what to do and kept an eye out. I definitely couldn't do it by myself yet). Then we landed again in the valley! It was fantastic. We were up for almost an hour.

I'm now more determined than ever to get a license when I'm older so I can fly my own planes.



This counts as the 24th thing I've crossed out on my list of things I want to do in my life. Just 76 more to go!


Quotes of the Day:

Me: "I don't know where to put this. Just like, I just set my purse down on an airplane wing today. Not very common."

and

Jeff: "And we've got flappage."
Thea: "Dad, that sounds like a dirty word."

and

Thea: "I'm just so freakin' delicate!"