Redundancy?

It could be said that many of my flights have a common thread – mountains. There are a couple reasons for this. One. I love mountains. Always have, even when I drove up to be among them. Two. There is a spine of mountains that runs right down the middle of Washington, and another system along the northwest coast. If you’re flying in Washington, mountains appear in front of you.

Sunday’s flight was to introduce a Dad and his two sons to aviation. I’d offered to pick them up at the airport in Olympia – a 15 minute flight. They were eagerly waiting when I taxied up to the FBO. (Fixed Base Operator, which is similar to a gas station, but with more services).

I like to provide more than just a “ride”, especially when taking young people. It is my hope that the hands-on experience will inspire them to become pilots themselves.
So I took them through pre-flight procedures, explained the function of control surfaces and what makes a plane fly. Some kids are just anxious to get on with the ride, but these two soaked up knowledge without fidgeting. We talked about where we could go, but unfortunately their home (everyone wants to fly over their house) is within OLM’s airspace. I probably could have asked the tower for permission to do some low maneuvering in the area, but hate to do so on a day with a lot of air traffic. We settled on visiting Mt Rainier. Next the discussion as to seating plan.

“Who wants to sit up front and fly the plane?” This one always results in big eyes and excited faces. Dad (Spencer) generously took the back seat with oldest son and young son scampered up into the right seat. We spent some time talking about dials and knobs and their function. I explained communication protocols, safety and the role of passengers.

As we lifted off from Runway 17 and turned out to the East, our view was filled with Mt Rainier.

As we gained altitude I explained the artificial horizon and how to turn the plane. Drew, at 10 couldn’t see over the panel but he watched out the side window and while not comfortable, seemed to take pride in the fact that he was flying an airplane.

The mountain was welcoming and we moved in close, hoping for a view of shimmering blue-green glaciers, but they were all buried in snow. The façade was none the less a treat for all on board. Spencer (Dad) took videos and I snapped a few photos. We spotted some climbers making their way up through the snow, but I didn’t get photos of them.


Here is one of Paradise, the visitor center and hub of ground based visits to Rainier. I was surprised to see the road open, and so many cars in the lot.

In order to introduce my friends to Rainier, I’d climbed to 10,500 feet. Now I needed to lose 9,000 of those feet in under 30 miles. Mindful of ear discomfort in sudden changes of altitude, I kept the descent to 500 feet per minute and circled down to our planned stop at Pierce County airport.

At PLU there was plenty of action on such lovely day. We walked past the lines of tied down planes and talked about makes, models and of course made time for photo ops. Here are happy fliers, and the two boys with a beautifully restored DC-3.
As we headed back to Olympia, it was Skyler’s turn to try the controls. I don’t know if it was his time spent practicing with Flight Simulator or my theory that youngsters seem to have a natural feel for flying, but either way, this kid was flying the heck out of the plane. We started with straight and level, added turns (I handled rudder since his 13 year old legs couldn’t reach) then maintaining heading and altitude. He instinctively divided his time between instruments and eyes outside the cockpit and in spite of light chop almost perfectly maintained position in the sky. Skyler ‘s concentration was complete, yet he remained relaxed at the controls. He reluctantly handed over when it was time for me to negotiate our approach back into Olympia. I think he would have flown for hours. Such a joy to watch his face and imagine his conversation with friends at school.

I keep balsa wood planes on hand, so back on the ground, Spencer and I watched the boys burn off energy flying while we talked with a local instructor about the costs and joys of flying.

SoapBox
The instructor and I bemoaned the fact that due to the litigious society we now live in, young people can no longer hang around airports, washing planes and doing other tasks to earn flight time and instruction. That is a loss to aviation and our youth. Guess it makes more sense to sit them in front of game consoles or have them roaming the streets getting into trouble.