Learning to Fly
Something I’ve always wanted to do was to fly a plane. This is something that I actually did about 2 years ago. It was a great, if not strange feeling. I don’t think I’ve ever steered anything, other than a sea kayak, with my feet! This is me!
I went up in a twin seater Cessna, and it felt very cosy. Of course, I had a licensed pilot next to me the whole time, and truth be told, he did most of the work. He did let me taxi before take off and after landing, and I steered the plane while up in the air…
The plane actually doesn’t feel that small when you’re inside it. I suppose I was concentrating too much on what was going on to notice too much, and making sure that I didn’t crash into a building while taxiing!
It was a great feeling, and of course I had to take photos while I was up there. I couldn’t take my bulky SLR, but I did manage to bring the trusty Canon Powershot S80. Here is a photo you can even see the propeller in - now that was not planned:
This gives you a little perspective of how far off the ground we got (not that far really), and how small the plane is - it’s not that far from where I was sitting to the propeller!
Once in the air I was allowed to steer using the hand controls. I was also allowed to test out the effect of the foot-operated rudder - now that’s a strange feeling in the air. Talk about a hard turn! The real pilot did one turn, and nose dived at the same time - apparently it was about 3Gs. I don’t have any idea if that’s good or not, but I felt that turn. Thankfully I’m not scared of heights and have a pretty solid stomach 
Despite the noise, which is mildly blocked out by ear muffs, it’s beautifully serene up there. It’s definitely a different sensation to being in a commuter jet. Another thing on my list of to dos - really learn to fly a plane!!