My Virginia Cessna Flying Adventures - 4/27/2013

Today was Awesome!! My first flight at New Kent Aviation (NKA) with Jim. Loved it! I enjoyed every moment.

I picked a great day to take flight. It was a gorgeous Virginia day.. sunny, comfy temps, & calm winds. Icing on top... It was NKAs Customer Appreciation BBQ day!

Flight was Fantastic! We went through the checklist~ cabin, empennage, right wing, forward fuselage, left wing, before start, engine state, before taxi, before takeoff, climb, cruise, descent/before landing, after landing, & shutdown!!

I got to taxi... Working the rudder. It's really cool to "connect the dots" from what I'm learning in ground school to hands on practice. I got to do Basic 4- Climbs, Descents, Turns, Straight and Levels.

Jim did a fantastic job instructing & guiding me along the way. I'm already looking forward to our next flight w him. I would encourage anyone interested in the flying thing.. Even if its not to get a license, but just to enjoy a flight I recommend you visit New Kent Aviation for a Discovery Flight!
http://www.newkentaviation.com/

I got to see all sorts of cool planes, meet new flying peeps, hang out with others I already know, chat it up, enjoy BBQ, & John's award winning chili. Also, got to see a guy who drags banners by plane hook his... That was a neat sight.

It didn't take long for me, back on ground, driving to really know inside that I have found something extremely special to me in this flying adventure thing. Who knew I would be here.. well, I knew it when I would just look up at the sky over the past few years, especially the last year, seeing cessnas flying by and thinking that could be me. It's a great feeling to know I'm doing it, on my way. I can't wait to get more experienced. I can't wait to learn more!

Here are some pics I captured during the day. I had a blast!! Hooked:)

Jim showing me the headset plugging situation - Radio and Mic - Check!

Preflight checklist - Engage!

Flying Cessna 172

Part of our check list.. Circuit breakers in - Check!
I look a bunch of pictures while doing our check so I can refer back to them to study more!

Cowling - check!

Induction Inlet/Filter - Check!

Static port clear - Check!

Pitot tube - Check

Finishing up our hour of flying - Jim is taking us back to land at NKA. I snapped a few pics during the end of our flight.

Caught our shadow!!

Didn't even realize I caught this AMAZING picture.. realized well after this flight.. looking at this pic.. check out where our shadow is... somehow I took the pic at the moment to capture our shadow perfectly in that little sweet spot!

Approaching runway!!

Runway 28 - here we come!

Jim refueling

check out this cool yellow piper cub coming in

Post flight - a group of us enjoyed the NKA Customer Appreciation BBQ. Here's my shot of John's chili, Jim in the zoooone, and that cool 150 in the background.

Here's a quick inflight pic of Jim and I.

Yes, it's official.. my log book entries have begun! Muaah aah aah :)

Oh this is too cool.. I'm watching Flying Wild Alaska on Netflix and DUDE, I understand some of the pilot/plane talk..here they're talking about stalling.. haven't tried that yet, but it will come.
Yep, not just a passenger anymore ~ SWEET!:)