The First Flight

After having the first lesson canceled, I finally went up in the air today. I arrived at the Grand Forks airport and walked into the Dispatch Center for UND Aerospace, where the first thing I saw was the TV that displays various information. It had the radar map of the Grand Forks region and I saw a giant green spot heading towards Grand Forks. There was nothing I could do but take a seat and wait for my instructor to arrive as I began to wonder if my flight was going to be canceled again.



When my flight instructor arrived we went up to her office for a short briefing. When we finished the briefing, she started to worry about the weather so she talked with two other UND instructors. They informed her it was only rain with no lightning, and the wind was almost dead calm so it would be a good day for me to practice my landings. They also said the weather wouldn't arrive for a couple hours so even if we were still in the air it would be good experience for me. Given that it would be my first real flight, my instructor asked me if I wanted to go up now or cancel and go up on a better day. I told her I was comfortable flying with the weather since it was still above minimums for VFR (Visual Flight Rules).



We walked out to our aircraft, a Piper Warrior, and completed the preflight for the aircraft. When we were ready to go, my instructor told me I was going to be doing all radio communications. Now that scared me. I had a cheat-sheet in my kneeboard but was still nervous to make the radio calls. I contacted Ground Control and taxied to the run-up area.

Right before we started the run-up we saw a Northwest Airlines CRJ-200 land on the runway. My instructor and I were silent as we watched it come in, both dreaming to one day be in the captain's seat of that aircraft.

It came time for us to enter the runway and takeoff without delay, meaning taxi onto the runway and go full-throttle without stopping to line-up. I tried maintaining the centerline but didn't realize how much pressure it took to move the rudder pedals with finesse and ended up drifting left on takeoff. I rotated smoothly and started climbing out. Even though I drifted left a little bit, my instructor complimented me on my takeoff given that it was my first one. She instructed me to proceed on my current heading until 2500 ft before turning 30 degrees and climbing to 3500 ft.

She got a map out and asked me where we were. With the help of the highway, Lake Ardoch, and 2 small towns on either side of us, I was able to tell her where we were and when we would enter the boundary for Practice Area M, centered around the Grafton Airport.

Once we arrived at Practice Area M, I got out the checklist for the Aerodynamics Demonstration, the same flight I went through in the simulator a few days earlier. I followed the checklist and demonstrated each aerodynamic control individually and explained what happened when I made an input on each control. The fun part came when I pulled back on the yoke. The aircraft pitches up, the airspeed slows down, and I get to experience a little bit of Positive G-Force. My instructor tells me to push the control wheel all the way forward. I comply and the aircraft begins to pitch down quickly as our flight path is forming an arc. At the top of the arc I begin to experience Negative G-Force. That was the best part of the flight, even though I was struggling to stay down in my seat with my feet on the rudder pedals. I explained what happened and my instructor verified with me that it was fun. I love all aspects of flying so I replied with a yes.

We finished the demonstration and headed to Grafton Airport to enter the Traffic Pattern so I could practice some landings. I contacted the the airport, communicated my intentions to land and entered the pattern. On the first landing I had a lot of help from my instructor to keep the aircraft lined up and on the glide slope. The weather getting close and the winds were picking up somewhat. The first landing was smooth and we came to a full stop before I applied full-throttle to takeoff again into the pattern. I climbed up to the pattern altitude and turned onto the downwind leg which runs parallel to the runway going the opposite direction of the intended landing. The second landing was with less help on the controls from my instructor and was more rough than the first; the aircraft bounced once on the runway before touching down. We came to a full-stop before taking off again for the third landing.

This time I was all on my own throughout the pattern and the landing. I explained every action I was performing throughout the traffic pattern, but I entered the glide slope a little high. I compensated by pulling back on the throttle and pitching the nose down slightly. I was still higher than I wanted to be but I had to start moving the throttle around to compensate for losing and gaining airspeed. I was aiming the aircraft towards the runway numbers and once I got close to the runway I pulled the throttle all the way back to Idle and pitched the aircraft up to flair for landing.

I touched down 3 times that landing. In other words I bounced twice and finally touched down on the third one. The landing was good enough with it being my first one with total control of the aircraft. We didn't come to a full stop on this one. Instead, we performed a touch-and-go meaning we applied full throttle after establishing ourselves on the runway and took off again into the sky.

I climbed up to 4500 ft and turned slightly to start heading back to Grand Forks. About half way back to Grand Forks I noticed a light rain began to fall because I started seeing thin streaks of water on the windshield. I looked to the West and noticed that wall of rain getting closer. I saw Lake Ardoch come into view and flew the aircraft to the East side of it because a National Wildlife Preserve is on the West side of it. Once we crossed the highway on the southern end of Lake Ardoch I announced to my instructor we were exiting the Practice Area.

While we were still flying back to Grand Forks there were 2 instances where I felt some turbulence. I could tell the weather was getting closer and closer. I lined up with Runway 8 of Grand Forks and started my descent on the glideslope. This was also on my own except for some help from my instructor to compensate for the wind. This landing was smooth and I was glad because anyone at the airport looking towards the runway was able to see it. I turned off the runway, contacted Ground Control and taxied back to the parking ramp.

I parked the aircraft, turned everything off, and got out. When I put that first foot down on the ground, I turned to look back at the aircraft and I smiled. I had just completed the first flight of my career.

Walking back to UND Dispatch I could only smile. During that walk my instructor was asking if I liked that flight and had fun. It was pilot to pilot talk and I enjoyed it because until this point in my life it wasn't often that I could talk to someone else who holds a passion for flight, an understanding of it, and loves it as much as I do.

Here at UND Aerospace, I am surrounded by people just like me. They all hold a passion for and love aviation as much as I do.

My journey through flight is only beginning.