Day 1, Monday, January 17, 2011

Well it was finally here, the day of my Discovery Flight.  I slept fine the night before, with one exception, I  sat up suddenly at 0200 thinking I had forgotten to set my alarm.  I had made plans with CFI Bob to be at the Sumter Airport at 0800, which is about 50 minutes or so from Manning where I live.  The thought that I was off duty today (federal holiday) meant I could have slept in, and maybe I forgot to set the alarm.  After waking suddenly and finding out that the alarm was set, I went back to sleep.  I did have to get up a little earlier than I anticipated, as I was picking up a good buddy who is also going to get his Private Pilot's License as well.  Todd and I had worked together in a ministry at church and we didn't even know we each had the same desire of learning to fly.

Once I picked Todd up in Sumter we headed to the airport.  I was an unusually chilly start for a South Carolina winter morning.  CFI Bob had to go to Columbia, SC for a meeting laterin so we moved the original scheduled time of 1300 up to 0800.  CFI Bob met Todd and we got into the ground educational portion of the Discovery Flight.  Sumter Airport has a nice training room setup for their CFIs to use.  We sat there for the next hour and a half talking about the "basics" of flight and discussing the AOPA curriculum that we would be using for the pilot training.

After the ground instruction we headed out to preflight the nice 180 h.p. 2001 Cessna 172 (N5001U).  What a beauty of a bird to take lessons in.  The preflight instruction went well, but there was still some significant frost on the leading edges and the windshield.  The sun was working hard to break through the broken ceiling and CFI Bob suggested we might want to come back later in the day.  We finished up with the preflight and the sun had now won the battle and was diligently melting away the frosted Cessna.  Thanks to the friendly FBO staff at Sumter, Todd and I were able to borrow two pair of headsets for the flight.  

CFI Bob taught us the instrument panel and checklists.  We started up the Skyhawk and had a taxi lesson.  Wow...difficulty #1, taxiing is no easy task.  I probably looked like a drunk driver weaving down the taxiway.  A few more checklists before taking off, which I was able to do...I took off from Sumter!  We climbed out and practiced some straight and level flight, a few banks to fly headings and then returned back to Sumter Airport.  CFI Bob made the landing but had me hold slightly on the yoke and pedals to "feel" what he was doing during the right hand pattern and landing.

YAY!!!!  I'm now officially a student pilot, after years of reading about this stuff, it has finally come to a realization in actual flight.  What an awesome day, one that I will not soon forget...Happy Birthday Dad!

Day 0 (continued) January 15, 2011

Since I was "beside-myself" excited about my Discovery Flight in two days, I decided to take a trip to the local airport, which is Santee Cooper Regional just outside Manning, SC.  A great little strip just off of Lake Marion.  I have stopped by there a few other times and previously and have met the FBO who seems to be very nice as well.  I also met Pilot Harold, a super nice, retired Marine who operates an aerial photography business.

The trip to Santee Cooper Regional (KMNI) turned into a flying opportunity.  I had taken my middle child with me and when we arrived we met up with Pilot Harold, who was assisting his hangar neighbor with a small repair project.  The second gentleman, Pilot Bill was the owner of a nice Mooney aircraft.  My daughter and I met Pilot Bill and upon completion of the project he was about to take a short trip in the extended local area.  Pilot Harold stated that Pilot Bill was looking for someone to ride along and he got us hooked up with a ride in the Mooney.

Pilot Bill was an excellent teacher (of sorts), he's not a CFI, but he showed me the Mooney checklists and verbally walked me through the taxi and run up checklists before we turned onto Runway 2 for a departure enroute to Summerville, SC.  My daughter sat in the back and I manned the copilot seat.  Pilot Bill told me everything he was doing and "how" he was doing it.  It was a great flight on a clear day across Lake Marion and south to Summerville.  We landed at Summerville, sat on the taxiway for a few minutes while other aircraft were landing and preparing for take off.  Once airborne again we headed back north to MNI and landed on Runway 2.  This preface to my Discovery Flight was a solid confirmation that I was ready to venture into this new world of general aviation.  Now to get my wife to see it the same way as me, might be another story...

Day 0

Wow! So flying has been a life long (well almost) dream of mine and now I'm about to embark on this new adventure.  South Carolina seems to be as good a spot as any to attain my Private Pilot's license.  A quick trip to the Sumter Airport yesterday landed me right in the learner's seat speaking with CFI Bob.  Bob seemed to be the ideal CFI when we spoke on the phone about a month ago.  He offered to sit down with me and go over what this new adventure would comprise of.

A last minute call yesterday at lunchtime found CFI Bob working out at the YMCA, but still willing to accommodate a quick meeting to discuss "What to expect" and "How much to expect on spending".  CFI Bob had a student slated for 1500, so I met with him at 1230.  More on the "What to expect" and "How much to expect on spending" in a later post, as this is very important info for anyone considering flight training.  Before leaving Sumter Airport, CFI Bob and I reserved the "new" 2001 Cessna 172 for a Discovery Flight on Monday...just 2 days from now!!!!

Today brought a surprising event that I can't wait to tell you about...