This is Your Captain Speaking: My Experience with an Airplane Discovery Flight

Travel is my greatest passion, so I have always daydreamed about sitting in the cockpit and boldly proclaiming “this is your captain speaking” as I wore my white shirt and Captain’s hat. Is this for me? Like for realz? I got my answer with a 40 minute Discovery Flight at Arlington, TX Municipal Airport in a Cessna 152.

After a rigorous internal and external check of the plane, my instructor (Neal) aced the take off and turned the “yoke” (the steering wheel) over to me for a sunny 30 minute cruise around the DFW area.

Seriously, you might be thinking, can I fly a plane, too?? Absolutely! Booking a discovery flight is a simple and enjoyable way to spend an afternoon OR determine if you are born to wear a captain’s hat. As you can imagine, flying an airplane isn’t like starting a car, but attending the lengthy pre-flight checklist is Step One of ensuring a flight’s overall safety. Get ready for lots of colorful buttons, gauges and switches!

My favorite moment was slipping on the headset, listening to the air traffic control chatter, then feeling like “wow, this is really happening!” After Neal's takeoff, he ran down a series of instructions, like keeping a close eye on certain gauges and staying at 2500 altitude. Fascinating how multi-dimensional a plane is. For your car, there is only one way at a time: backwards or forwards, right or left. With flying, you are moving up or down in addition to all that. Lots to consider, so the altitude gauge had my full attention.  

I was surprised at how sensitive the yoke is! Neal’s instructions were clear…”Don’t oversteer or make sudden corrections.” The trick to a Discovery Flight is to see where the airplane drifts and nudge the yoke in the desired direction. 

Your journey to pilot begins with a Discovery Flight! Just like mine. There’s no magic to it, folks. Why not give it a try for your next big birthday? Even if you decide not to join up in the pilot’s life, a Discovery Flight is a fun and unique experience that offers cool Insta photos and a great memory :) 

Thanks for flying with me today! This is your captain signing off.

 

Check out my Instagram page to follow all of my travel adventures: lfarrimond