A Georgia Girl in Germany

High Flight
Oh, I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
Of sun-split clouds -- and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of -- wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov'ring there,
I've chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air.
Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue
I've topped the windswept heights with easy grace
Where never lark, or even eagle flew --
And, while with silent, lifting mind I've trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.
-- John Gillespie Magee, Jr.

Last Friday (Nov. 2), the kids were out of school, so the School Age Services (SAS -- roughly equivalent to a YMCA after-school program) Aero Club had time to take a field trip. But, this wasn’t just any field trip. The kids in the Aero Club had been studying about aircraft, including practicing flying on a PC-based simulator. In order to qualify to participate in the field trip, each student had to have completed at least three take-offs, landings, slow flights, turns, climbs and descents on the simulator. The reason: so they would feel comfortable when they climbed in the cockpits of some Cessna 172s. Yes, these 13 students made the trip to Coleman Barracks, near Darmstadt, for an opportunity to fly with the Coleman AeroClub.

It was a foggy day, and for a short while we weren’t sure if they’d be able to take to the sky. But, after lunch, the fog cleared enough to allow just above minimum visibility (5 miles). Unfortunately, the Blackhawk helicopters at Coleman Barracks also wanted to take to the sky after being grounded for three days due to the weather, and their operational flights took precedence over the kids’. But, they didn’t totally monopolize the skies, and everyone from SAS eventually had a turn at the stick.

When it was Zachary’s turn, certified flight instructor (CFI) Fred Schellhorn helped him do a walk-around inspection. Most of the kids enjoyed watching how moving the elevator and trim tab on the wing made the cockpit controls move. Once his walk-around was complete, Zachary climbed into the cockpit and prepared for flight.

He sat on a rolled up tarp and shoved my jacket behind his back to help him sit high enough and far enough forward so he could see over the instrument panel and out the window -- a good thing when controlling an aircraft. Fortunately, he was tall enough that his feet could reach the rudder controls. Some of the kids couldn’t reach, so had to rely on their CFI to steer the rudders.

We were soon in the air, and it didn’t take long for Zachary to feel comfortable enough at the controls to turn around and grin at me. He later claimed he was nervous during the flight, but I couldn’t tell it from the back seat. Any time his CFI explained something to him, he calmly replied “OK.” If his CFI told him to maneuver the plane, he performed magnificently.

When he practiced on the simulator, he seemed to have the most difficulty with turns and landings. However, his turns at 1,500 feet were spot-on and very smooth. No jerky movements, no adjusting and readjusting. Even his CFI commented that each of his turns was great.

Yes, his hands are on the controls. He flew the entire flight, and only had the CFI there to guide him. He kept it straight and level exactly as he should have, and didn’t have me bouncing around in the back at all. Amazing!

It was especially neat to know that he was navigating by following the autobahn and the Rhine River for portions of his flight.

After nearly 30 minutes in the air, it was time to bring the plane in for a landing. I watched him do several simulator landings where he either landed on the grass beside the runway and skidded to a stop on the runway, or where he was still lining up for a landing with a good portion of the runway behind him and quickly ran out of runway in front of him. Neither of those events happened this time. He lined up perfectly, and his touchdown was smooth. No bouncing, swerving or too abrupt of a stop. His landing was smoother than some commercial landings I’ve felt!

After taxiing back to our parking spot, he turned everything off and climbed out. Mission complete. He had a grin from ear to ear as his feet hit solid ground again. He even has a leather-bound pilot logbook, annotated with 30 minutes of flight time and 30 hours of ground instruction. His work with the SAS Aero Club counts as ground instruction since his SAS counselor is also a CFI. So, if he ever decides to work toward his private pilot’s license, those hours count.

Yes, a Cessna 172 is fairly small (although no one flew the smaller Cessna 152 also sitting on the ramp--whew!). This is the one he flew, with tail number N72401 annotated in his flight logbook. When I was back in college, and had several friends who flew Cessnas, I never imagined my first Cessna flight would be piloted by my 11-year-old son! After this flight, though, I would gladly fly with him (and a CFI) again. He had the knack!

As a testament to these kids’ hard work, the two CFI’s who flew with them commented that these 13 youngsters understood more about the plane and flying than a group of High School JROTC students who had flown previously with them. Definitely goes to show how seriously they took the day, and how well-prepared they were for their flights.

Labels: Zachary