Day Trips

Photo by Gerald E. Mcleod

Learning to fly without looking down. When pilot R.J. Nickel invited me on a training flight in a four-seat Piper, I jumped at the chance. I admitted afterward that I'm a little uncomfortable with heights.

I love the sensation of flying. After years of being a customer of large airlines, I still get a thrill soaring through the clouds. It's airports that I hate.

After a walk-around inspection of the blue-and-white plane, we climb into the cockpit. As we taxi toward the runway, R.J. lets me steer the plane with the pedals. It is a bit like the rudder pedals on a kayak.

Set for takeoff and cleared for launch, the double-yellow stripe down the middle of the runway zips underneath the airplane until it breaks away from the earth. The initial excitement of being free of gravity sends electricity through my straining muscles. I hope I never become so complacent about flying that I lose that rush of adrenaline it gives me.

I look out the windshield and see only blue sky. The little plane is climbing effortlessly. It feels like we're hanging in the air. R.J. is holding the steering wheel (called the yoke) with the light touch of one hand as if he were driving a sports car down an empty country road. Then he says, "You take the controls."

I want to feel the power of the airplane in my fingers, but something in me is hesitant. I squeeze the U-shaped controls in a death grip. I aim for the big puddle that is Lake Travis shimmering on the horizon, while the flaps shift at my touch. I push forward on the yoke and more of the horizon comes into view; I pull, and the nose of the plane rises to block the view. What a thrill: For the first time in my life, I really feel like I am flying.

Back on the ground, Robert Graham of Step Up Aviation at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport explains what his company does. Pilot's licenses can be earned in 20 to 40 hours, he says. Once you get the license, the aircraft club has a fleet of seven airplanes that members use without the expense of full ownership.

"Having a private pilot's license opens a lot of opportunities for vacations and business," Graham says. Of course, one of the first things you would want to do is join the $100 hamburger club, aviation slang for a pilot who spends $95 for fuel to get a $5 hamburger.

Graham recommends the Fifties-themed diner at the Brenham Municipal Airport and the Hangar Hotel Airport Diner at the Fredericksburg airport as popular short flights. "Llano is popular for the barbecue and the pretty flight over the Highland Lakes," Graham says.

Step Up Aviation can be found at www.stepupaviation.com. For information about learning to fly, go to www.letsgoflying.com.

1,032nd in a series. Collect them all. Day Trips, Vol. 2, a book of "Day Trips" 101-200, is available for $8.95, plus $3.05 for shipping, handling, and tax. Mail to: Day Trips, PO Box 33284, South Austin, TX 78704.