Dave Piloted an Airplane - July 30, 2006

On July 30th, I was fortunate enough to receive a free flying lesson from Bill Komanetsky with Shawnna as the passenger/photographer. Bill is the neighbor of a friend we met on the ACE Train (Mike Seymour) and just so happens to be a flight instructor. We were at Mike's house for a get together a few weeks ago and I started to talk to Bill about flying and he generously offered to take Shawnna and I up in his plane for a tour of the San Francisco Bay - and try to reel me in as a student :-) When he said that he would let me fly, I figured he meant that he would give me the wheel for a few minutes as a token gesture. Boy, was I wrong...

At 9:45am, we met Bill at the Livermore Airport and drove out to the hangar where his plane is stored. We pulled the plane out and that's when Bill opened the left cockpit door, showing me all of the instruments on the panel in front of the pilot's seat and told me that's where I would be sitting to pilot the plane. My first thought was that he was kidding, but he wasn't, so Shawnna got in the back, I sat in the pilot's seat and Bill sat in the co-pilot's seat. I looked at the instrument panel completely baffled, but Bill walked through each gauge and explained its purpose. After an initial safety check, we taxied to the runway, performed a further safety check and got ready for takeoff.

Oh, did I mention that I was going to be the one taking off? That's right, Bill gave me the instructions on what to do and we went full throttle down the runway, I pulled back on the yoke and we lifted off - what a rush. Not only did I take off, but I also flew the entire time we were up in the air. I ascended to 3,000 feet and we headed toward Benicia to see all the battleships in the water. Then, we headed south toward San Francisco to get some great views of the Golden Gate Bridge from the air. After circling the bridge and checking out Alcatraz, we headed east to Point Reyes, checked out the lighthouse on the point and flew up the coast directly over the beach. Then, I ascended to 5,500 feet and we headed back to Livermore.

Of course, that was a very quick synopsys of what we did, but the time really seemed to go by fast. The weather was perfect - just a few clouds, but mostly sunny even over San Francisco. While in the air, I had to pay attention to the instrument panel to make sure everything was OK, but I was able to look out the windows quite a bit and take in the sights. Since landing the plane is probably the most challenging part flying, I handed control back over to Bill so he could get us safely on the ground - which he did very smoothly. Finally, we taxied back to the hangar, put the plane away and drove home (not as fun as flying).

When all was said and done, the flight took about 2 hours and I had control of the plane the entire time except for the landing. We flew at various altitudes, but never went higher than 5,500 feet and cruised at about 120 Knots (138 MPH). The airplane was a 2002 Cessna 182T in great condition and most importantly, it was a complete blast to fly. Thanks again Bill! It was awesome and if anyone is interested, here is Bill's website with lots of info about flying: www.komanetskyaviation.com

Click on any picture to enlarge. The map below highlights the general area where I flew.