Flying with Dad

(Posted by Rubia)

My Daddy loves airplanes. He loves to fly the Cessna that he shares with his flying club. He hadn’t been flying in a long time, so a few weeks ago he went up to the airport to get some practice. Then last week, he decided to go back and take a flying exam.

At the last minute, Mom asked me if I wanted to go with Dad. I hadn’t been flying with him in a long time, so without hesitation, I agreed. And Daddy said I could go!

But on the way there, he warned me that he would need to do some scary things as part of the test. He knew that I didn’t really like it when he would fly up and down, and up and down. It didn’t make my stomach feel good. He also warned me about the blindfolding test, which I will explain later.

I got all that out of my mind as we talked and talked on the way to the airport. Finally we arrived, and Dad parked the car in front of his hangar. He said that it wouldn’t be just us flying, but a friend of his, Mr. D, was going to lead him through his test. I didn’t mind—I actually felt relieved that Daddy wasn’t going to do the test alone.

I pushed the green button that opened the door of the hangar. Dad checked the plane over and pushed it out. Then we walked across the parking lot to the main building, so that we could use the restroom before taking off.

Outside the building were two men sitting at a picnic table. Dad said that one of them was a pilot in an air show! He had brought his little dog, Brady, with him, who I fell in love with right away! I cuddled with the dog until Daddy’s instructor arrived.

About 10 minutes later, I was in the back seat of Dad’s plane, putting on headsets, and making sure my seatbelt was fastened tight. Mr. D, Dad’s instructor, didn’t notice me until he climbed into the seat next to Daddy.

“Is she going to be okay with all this?” He looked at Dad.

“I think she’ll do fine,” he replied.

I felt a little nervous once again as the plane sped faster and faster down the runway.

“It really isn’t so bad,” I convinced myself the whole time. “It’s just like a regular flight. Just have fun.”

Even so, I kept praying. I thought it was almost silly that I was so nervous…but I prayed anyway.

As the plane rose higher in the sky, I gazed out the window. I kept looking out, until I couldn’t see Brady, the little dog, anymore.

Now it was time to start the test. For my sake, Daddy began with slow flight. In this test, he had to fly as slow as he possibly could. But not too slow, or the plane would stall.

I remembered a comforting verse in the Bible, about how not one sparrow falls without God knowing it. I felt better. This was relaxing.

But then when Mr. D. would say, “Nose down,” I knew that my stomach was about to drop. “Nose down” meant that Daddy had to point the front of the plane (the nose) downward toward earth. And then the instructor would say, “Nose up” and the front of the plane would tilt a little upward. I didn’t want to do this. I let out two hollers, so they stopped.

After all that, Daddy did the blindfolding test. No, he didn’t really have to fly blindfolded, but he wore some special glasses, and he wasn’t supposed to look out the window; just downward at his instruments.

I wasn’t scared anymore. So I took a few photos, and enjoyed the flight. As I looked out the window at all the tiny buildings and farms, I was reminded of how small we really are, and how BIG God is!

My ears were popping, so I kept chewing and chewing my gum. We flew for about an hour, and then it was time for Daddy to finish his test. I knew that I wouldn’t be able to handle the rest of it, because now he had to fly up-and-down and side-to-side.

“Dad,” I said through my headset. “I have to go to the bathroom!”

“How bad?”

“Pretty bad!”

“Oh, come on,” coaxed Mr. D. “Flying is fun! You can handle the rest of the test.”

“I think we’ll just fly her back to the hangar anyway,” said Dad to Mr. D.

I wondered if he was talking about me, the plane, or both. I hoped he meant me!

“She can wait in the office while I finish this.”

Now I knew he was talking about me. J

But just then, both men saw what had happened to the airspeed indicator.

“Huh? It says zero!” said Dad.

“A bug must have gotten in there,” said Mr. D. “We’ll just fly your daughter back to the airport, then figure out what happened.”

Well, it ended up that they never took the plane back up, because when we were landing, the indicator said 120. It was definitely acting weird.

By the time we got back to the hangar, it was dark. Dad left a note to let everyone else in his club know NOT to take the plane up. Then we drove home.

The good news is, we’re safe, and a mechanic can fix the plane soon. I really had fun flying, even though I’m not much for the “up-and-down” kind of flying. But I like to be with Dad! I hope to fly again soon, after the plane is fixed!