That's right, Iceman...we ARE dangerous

After three reschedulings due to bad weather, we finally had our flying lessons today. I use the term "lessons" loosely, because in all actuality we were in control of the plane 95 percent of the time (including takeoff!!). The instructor was there to make sure that we didn't do something stupid, like get ourselves into a death spiral, although he was so calm he'd probably have let it ride for a while.

We each flew a Cessna 172 (technically a four-seater, but realistically a two-seater). Bob went first while I waited in the safety of the airport lounge. He flew for about an hour, over Northfield and Faribault, and at one point he purposefully aimed for a pocket of snow in the sky (livin' on the edge, baby). The smile on his face when he landed said it all - he practically jumped out of the plane he was so excited.

Bob here - I thought I would write about my experience flying. I have wanted to do this for years and today was finally the day. After many, many hours and many missed meals logging hours on my flight simulators this was truly an AWESOME experience. After I took off (that's right, I took off, not the instructor) I pointed our compass south toward Faribault. I was lining up to land on the runway and take off again, but we opted against it as we could see that another plane was hooking up with a glide plane behind it. So, since I wasn't able to put my Maverick-esque pilot skills to the test and buzz the tower (there actually was no tower), I headed north to Northfied to look for the Lucas household.I circled the city twice and got my bearings and followed the street right over their house (I even waved, guys)! After touring Northfield I flew back to Lakeville, safely landed the plane and handed over my headset to Erin.

Erin here - then it was my turn. As he did with Bob, the instructor gave me a briefing on the instrument panel, showed me how to work the pedals and brakes, showed me how to start the plane and then basically told me to start taxiing down the runway (!?!?!), using the pedals to steer the plane. When the air speed dial reached 60, he said, I should pull back on the wheel, lifting the nose for takeoff. When I noticed his hands were in his lap during takeoff, it really hit me - I was in control of the plane. My first thought: Should he be letting me do this??

Words cannot describe the feeling of taking off in a small plane when you're holding the wheel. Once you get up in the sky (at more than 2,000 ft), you feel invincible. The instructor, Barry, told me I could go wherever I wanted, so I also decided to buzz my sister's house in Northfield (you guys had no idea the excitement going on over your heads!) He pointed to Northfield and I turned the plane and headed for it, making sure to keep the nose level with the horizon (not always easy on a windy day like today). We encountered some turbulence and a flock of geese that I had to turn away from, but it was a pretty smooth ride. The only scary part was when I turned a little too hard at one point, and I felt the G-force kick in, making me dizzy and disoriented for about two seconds.

Landing was a bit more nerve wracking than takeoff - trying to line up with the runway while decreasing your altitude and keeping the nose steady and, by the way, I've never done this before - but it went very smoothly. The whole experience was incredible, and we both would love to go up again. We toyed with the idea of getting our pilot's licenses, but then we found out it costs about $7,000. Maybe someday.

Afterwards, we did what any self-respecting flyboy (and flygirl) would do - we went to Doolittle's, threw back shots of tequila, and scoffed at all the non-pilots. Pansies.