Flying School

Wow. Amazing. Spectacular. Awesome. These words can't even begin to describe the adventure we had today! Last year I purchased a Intro to flight lesson at Westwind School of Aeronautics. I had initially thought I would have some interest in taking a lesson, but since Kenny is so good at driving everything we decided he would take the first lesson and check things out. Luckily our instructor, Steve Kenny was extremely nice and let me tag along for the lesson- double bonus! 

We started with the simulator. Just the site of the elaborate machine seemed pretty intimidating... all those controls, knobs and switches. When we turned the machine on and the screens were illuminated with charts of air space, numbers etc I had almost completely lost interest. Kenny spent about 15 minutes on the simulator with the instructor explaining the different controls and what everything did, meant etc. Steve assured us we shouldn't worry if we didn't catch everything and only expected us to retain about 10% of what he said--- it sure is a lot to take in at once! 

Then it was time to find our aircraft. When we walked out into the parking area I was absolutely shocked at the size of the planes... they were seriously SMALL! 

When we came up to our plane - N1590W - November, One, Five, Niner, Zero, Wiskey- the instructor patted the plane and said "this is it" and the entire plane shock... Wow did my nerves get me then! Kenny and I laughed nervously. Steve is probably the perfect instructor for Kenny because he is super safety conscious and meticulous just like Kenny! After a good 20-25 mins of inspecting the plane it was time to board the tiny 4 seater. I climbed into the backseat, buckled up and put my head set on. The guys climbed in and after more explanation and instruction, Steve fired up the engine. WOW. Before I knew it we were rolling toward the runway. Steve instructed Kenny how to drive the plane on the ground and keep it straight : ) Then we lined up and awaited our turn for take off. Steve advised Kenny that he would be taking off, which came as a bit of a surprise, but Kenny was up to the challenge. We took off heading West out of Deer Valley Airport and were airborne in a matter of seconds going over 100 miles per hour... 

I am not gonna lie the ride was BUMPY!! To be fair besides being Kenny's first flight ever it was also a cloudy day with lots of wind. We floated over Water World and Thunderbird Park (were we hike) and then followed the freeway North. In an effort to explain a concept to Kenny, Steve dropped the plane so drastically I thought my stomach would fall out of the bottom of the plane! I was airsick and dreaded finding the 'blue envelope' I had been instructed NOT to throw up in... Steve said, "Don't throw up in the envelope, get the plastic bag out of the envelope and throw up in that. " 

Water World 

Thunderbird Park 

A Cloud : ) 

 Luckily things started to click for Kenny and he really got the hang of it! Once we turned East and were flying over the mountains and under the clouds he really did a great job. Steve said he didn't even touch the controls during that time : ) 

After flying over the mountains and Desert Ridge mall it was already time to land. Kenny let Steve handle that because of the weather. 

Although it was scary it was really an amazing experience! Kenny and I couldn't stop smiling and talking about it all day. 

We went to lunch at Village Inn, my favorite, and discussed the possibility of flight school over lunch and pie! The school is really expensive so I don't know if we will be able to afford it, but I know this will be on Kenny's bucket list now because he is still just reeling over the experience.