I'm a naughty lil pony!

You Are Opium!
You like to have fun & enjoy life. Really enjoy life. If it isn't fast, loud, or extreme forget it. You value friendship & are loyal & will not hesitate to go off if someone crosses you.

What Naughty My Little Pony Are You?

Flying high

On June 16th, the ex & I went to fulfill the birthday gift certificate that I had gotten him (for the big 4-oh). The big surprise ~ to me anyway ~ is that I was invited to go along on the plane ride! EEPS! I'd never been in a tiny plane before & was WAY nervous.

When we arrived at the airport, the pilot met us & my first thought was... OMIGAWD this BOY is young! I asked him how long he had been flying, did some fast math & realized he was indeed old enough to be a legal adult. LOL Due to winds picking up, he offered us the chance to reschedule the flight, but the ex choose to go ahead.

The plane was a 4 seat (FOUR!) Cessna 172. For those who are not well versed in airplanes, this plane was sort of a Yugo with wings! We made sure the ex would actually fit in the front seat before getting ready for take off.

After a few pictures of the ex in front of the plane, we donned our headphones and climbed in. I settled in the back seat & strapped my seat belt on TIGHT! The Cessna was older & showed it's age which made me a tad nervous. And the gasoline leaking from under the wing did not help, despite the pilot telling me that it was normal.

Take off! Wow, it was MUCH smoother than I thought it would be. The pilot had warned us that the ride would be bumpier than normal due to the strong winds, but it was not so bad. We were airborne very quickly. The first thing I noticed was the trees! You see so many trees from the air - even in areas that feel congested on the ground.

Once we reached 2200-2500 feet there was very little turbulence. We were glued to the windows of the small plane gawking at the sights. We were high enough to have a good perspective, but low enough to actually see things. The ex had asked the pilot if we could fly over our house & he said no problem! We followed the Rapidan river as a guide.

With the strong headwind, it took us about 1/2 hour to fly to Culpeper. We saw the Culpeper airport & now that we were close to flying over both my Mom's house & Uncle Jack's farm. As we headed back towards Fredericksburg, we stayed very close to the Rapidan as the ex searched for landmarks. It was easy to see Kelly's Ford & we knew we were close.

As we searched, we realized that we live in a VERY wooded area & seeing our house would be pretty tough. The pilot was a champ though & followed the ex's instructions. While we knew that we had to be pretty much on top of it, we could not see anything that looked like our house. The pilot was in a tight banking circle & the feeling that my pizza dinner was not very happy with all that started sinking in. When we were about to give up the search, we spotted it! We got to see our house from the air!

With the house spotted, we headed back to Fredericksburg. With the now strong tailwind, we made the trip in about 12 minutes! As Shannon Airport came into view, we prepared to land. It dawned on me that the landing may not be so smooth & while I was contemplating that, the pilot swung the Cessna around for the approach. Without warning, it sounded as if the engines had cut out and a "Oh my Gawd!" came out of my mouth. I was nervous but as I eyed the pilot, he gave no indication that anything was wrong.

As the runway came in closer, it seemed that we were going very fast. The landing was a bit bumpy, but not too terrible... I was just SO happy to be on the ground again! I am really glad that I had the chance to go up with the ex on his birthday flight. I shot close to 3 rolls of film - I'm not sure that any of the in-air pictures will turn out.

Funny thing is... the ex never once took control of the plane. He said he was too busy looking out of the windows to fly.