It has always been my dream to become a commercial pilot for either American or Delta. I took up an internship here at Fun Outside hoping to gain valuable experience and hard skills that could help me progress toward this goal. Only two days into the internship, Garrett approached me and my fellow intern Klaus with an offer we simply couldn’t resist: the chance to take a demo flight with a certified flight instructor. We promptly replied with a definite YES!
Being the gentleman that I am, I let Klaus fly the first leg of the flight while me and the instructor performed the pre-flight inspection. A little bit of taxiing later, and we were up, up, and away. We started out with a flyover of Fullerton and Buena Park before heading south along the coast. Along the way, the instructor walked Klaus through several turns, climbs, and descents. I, meanwhile, held on for dear life praying we wouldn’t fall out of the sky (I guess that’s what happens when you watch too many air crash documentaries). After about an hour, we landed safely in Torrance. Then it was my turn to take the controls.
It was a little nerve-racking at first, having never really flown a plane before, but I quickly got the hang of it. The flight was peaceful, the views were gorgeous, and I was having the time of my life. At least, I was, until the instructor put the plane into a simulated stall. The sudden nose-down really sent a shiver down my spine. Thankfully it only lasted a couple seconds before I was able to continue on with the final approach back into Fullerton. I made a smooth landing, taxied the plane to its tie-down spot, and headed into the office for our debriefing. It was here that I received my own pilots’ logbook, where I can record all future flight hours as I continue on the path to being a commercial pilot.
It was an immense pleasure to take that huge leap from my high school courses to the actual cockpit. I plan to log some more hours over the course of my internship and then take flying lessons over the summer. Hopefully, I will be able to head off to college with my Private Pilot certificate under my belt.