Journal entries in 'Flying Lessons' for May, 2007

Since I started flight lessons a few weeks ago, Bryan had occasionally mentioned coming along with me on one, but since my lessons are always during the day, he was always at work. Yesterday was a holiday, though, so he came along (after making me promise not to kill him). Fortunately, he brought along Cat's camera too, so he took some pictures and videos during the flight.

It was a relatively exciting lesson too, since we were practicing stalls and stall recovery. A stall occurs when a wing pitches up so high that the airflow breaks up and the wing suddenly stops producing lift. It tends to happen during slow flight, at times when you're flying just barely faster than the plane's minimum speed, such as takeoff and landing. The recovery involves adding full power and pitching down briefly to break the stall, then smoothly pitching back up to stop the plane from descending.

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As anyone who knows me is well aware, it has long been my dream to fly. I've loved airplanes since I was a little kid. I first started to suspect I might need glasses in fifth grade when I realized that I could no longer focus clearly on the airplanes that I'd gaze at when they passed overhead.

When I was 15, my father took me to the small airport in San Juan to have a demo flight lesson. That cemented it — I was determined to get my pilot's license. I despaired over the several-thousand-dollar cost, but I was willing to set aside my puny allowance each week to do it.

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