Flying a Fire-Breathing Monster
Until 3pm Friday, August 29th the largest aircraft I had flown was a Cessna 182RG. It was a little faster than the C172’s and manipulating the landing gear lever and the constant speed prop had me convinced I had finally “made it” into the next realm of aircraft. Let us take a moment of silence for my delusions of grandeur are no longer with us……. At precisely 3:30pm that day, as I ripped down the runway at the controls of a Cessna 310, I realized I had no idea what the hell I was doing. With 570HP at my fingers and the heaviest control yoke I had ever felt in my hands I became momentarily infantile. Have no fear because as quickly as I lost my mind I regained it and again felt like Maverick. Climbing out at 120kts and 1300fpm really makes you feel like you’re flying an actual airplane. You have to plan much farther ahead, accomplish your tasks at a more rapid pace and suddenly a 3000ft runway feels inadequate for your needs. You, my friend, are flying a whale amongst a sea of minnows. That is of course until you get lapped by a Learjet and again feel like the pee-on of a student pilot that you are. Maybe I’ll get to land the thing next time…
Tags: 172, aviation, Brad Mertes, Bradley Mertes, cessna 310
September 26th, 2008 at 7:04 am
Sounds like you’re having an enormous amount of fun. It’s a great thing to do. Having read your post about not wanting to fly boxes around, I think you’ll enjoy my short blog post titled “never marry a nurse”. You might get a giggle - leave me a comment! Good luck with the rest of your training, and I love the pic with yr little fella strapped in beside you.
September 26th, 2008 at 9:01 pm
Good Lord !!! I thought I was writing to another female pilot. I was impressed that she was strapping her son in to go for flying lessons, and that she sounded so bolshy about handling the big ones.