Pat’s Story

The airport where we stored our plane was closer to Melinda’s house than my own. After parking in the lot, I went through the lobby and straight into the hangar. My uncle’s plane was sitting in our parking space. It was nearly identical to ours, just a little smaller. I had only ridden in the cockpit two or three times and only ever as the monitoring pilot. But the controls were essentially the same as Dad’s plane.

This test was beginning to feel a lot like when I went for my driver’s license. I was so confident in my ability that I was afraid of making a stupid mistake, causing me to fail. As I sat in the cockpit, I pretended I was taking the plane for a joy ride. I went through all the motions, even “calling” the tower for clearance.

When I was satisfied that I had done my best, I decided I needed to clear my head before the exam. I had just enough time to grab a burger at the fast-food restaurant down the street.

When I returned to the airport, a man about my father’s age was sitting in the lobby. Taking a deep breath, I went over to him.

“Mr. Reynolds?”

The man looked up, and I figured he was my examiner. I extended my hand. “Pat Evans. Nice to meet you.”

The man narrowed his eyes. “How old are you, son?”

“I turned seventeen a few weeks ago.”

“And how long have you been flying?”

“Officially? A couple of years. Unofficially, my father let me sit in the copilot seat when I was like ten.”

Reynolds nodded. “Well, let’s get started, shall we? Is there an office where we can work?”

I shrugged. “We can work on the plane. In the cabin.”

Reynolds gestured towards the hanger, and I led him to my uncle’s plane. As we boarded, I was pretty sure Reynolds was impressed. There was a desk in the rear of the cabin. We each sat in one of the double seats on opposite sides and I pulled the table from the wall. Reynolds opened a briefcase and pulled out a file.

“So, I have the results of your written exam. Can you tell me about the different classes of airspace?”

I shook my head with an exasperated sigh. “I do know them. That question was designed to be tricky.” I spent the next five minutes answering his question in so much detail, I could see his eyes glaze over. He asked me a lot more questions, some based on the questions I had gotten wrong on my written exam, some just questions he thought I should know. After about two hours, Reynolds decided it was time for a break.

“Can I get you something? I’m pretty sure there’s some waters in the galley.” I walked towards the hatch and began rummaging through the cabinets.

“A water would be great, thanks. So, did you rent this plane for the day?”

I found a lower cabinet full of bottled water and grabbed two.

“Nah. It’s my uncle’s.” I passed Reynolds the water as I took my seat.

“I see. Is this the plane you trained in?”

“No. I usually fly my dad’s plane.”

“If I may ask, why do you have this one instead?”

“My grandfather’s brother, I think it was, passed away. So, my dad let him and my grandmother and, like, some cousin who’s our housekeeper take the plane to Ireland for the funeral.”

“I see.”

I got the impression he was just being polite. I was anxious to keep going with my test.

“So, what’s next?”

“Tell me about the cross country you planned for today.”

Reynolds dug through his bag and pulled out the sectional maps as I told him about my hypothetical trip from here to an airport just over the Rhode Island border. He asked me a lot of questions about the plan, then had me use the maps to fill out another flight plan, this time round trip to a nearby airport in Long Island and back.

When that was done, he started asking me more questions about the map itself. The questions seemed so easy, I thought I might be answering them wrong. I was sure I had to be missing something. I was positive when he suddenly put the maps away.

“Okay. I think we’re done here.”

I was crestfallen. My overconfidence had caused me to fail. I got to my feet, prepared to walk him back to the hangar.

He looked up from his bag. “Why don’t we head into the cockpit?”

With a sigh of relief, I nodded. I led him to the cockpit, closing the hatch on my way. I took my seat, and he asked me a lot more questions. When he asked me to file the flight plan we had just made, I opted to do it online. Reynolds seemed skeptical, and I wondered if he was one of the old-school pilots who actually still liked to fill out paperwork.

After I received confirmation that the plan had been accepted, Reynolds gave me permission to contact the tower and head out. Since I technically could not fly solo in this plane, Reynolds explained that he would only assist me when I asked.

I was used to this. My instructor, and even my father, had done this with me many times. I asked Reynolds to monitor the radio, although I was the one in direct communication with the tower.

I had no problems navigating my way through the hangar to the runway. I had done it many times before and Uncle Vinny’s plane handled as well as Dad’s. As soon as I was given clearance, I was in the air. When I reached cruising altitude, I let out a breath I didn’t realize I had been holding. This plane couldn’t fly as high as Dad’s, but it could still more or less get over the clouds.

Our destination airport was less than ten minutes away, but Reynolds used that time to have me try several maneuvers, including some steep turns and flying in some crosswinds. When we reached the airport, I handled all the communication with the tower and had to circle for a few minutes until it was my turn to land.

We did not disembark but went straight to the takeoff queue. This was a much busier airport, but I had been to similar ones. While we waited our turn, I asked Reynolds to check the weather one last time. He informed me we would be taking off in a crosswind. Since we had already discussed this scenario, I had no problems reaching cruising altitude. A few more maneuvers later, and we were back at our home airport.

After parking the plane, we went through the post-flight checklist, and I shut down the plane. Reynolds then suggested we return to the cabin to review my performance. It took him nearly half an hour to tell me I had passed. He made comments on nearly everything I did right and pointed out areas where I could improve. Finally, he handed me my temporary certification.

We disembarked, and he showed himself out while I buttoned up the plane. It was nearly suppertime, and I was exhausted. The entire experience had been more mentally taxing than if I had taken all of my academic finals in one day.

But I had my reward. I could fly. I couldn’t wait to tell my brother all about it.

Attention Hammerheads

Melinda is always trying to build her vocabulary. What were some words in this episode that were new to you? She will add them to her vocabulary journal.