By Mike & Sally Harris

Friday, November 11, 2011

Sally is ready to go

Learning how to fly has never been on our Bucket List. But it’s the kind of opportunity that you grab when given the chance. An d we did. Mike and I spent a few hours on Veteran’s Day learning how to fly a plane at Performance Flight located opposite the Westchester Airport terminal in Hangar M.

If someone were interested in learning to fly – one would probably shop around for the right place to take lessons, so Performance Flight offers a two-hour Experience for $299. The first part of the Experience is the preflight – learning about the plane and how it works as well as deciding where to go on the short flight. During the flight, the student actually taxis, takes off, flies the plane and lands. For our Experience I was the student, Mike was the photographer.

The first 30 minutes were spent with Performance Flight General Manager Kevin Cregan who gave us the run down on what to expect from our experience.

We flew a Cirrus SR 22. Performance Flight operates 13 aircraft – all Cirrus SR 20s or 22s.

Chad, our pilot and instructor

Our pilot instructor Chad Kerland made us feel like we were in extremely competent hands. He showed us how the wings, the propeller, the rudder and the flaps all work together to make the plane fly where you want it to go. It was comforting to know that these small planes are equipped with airbags in the seat belts and a plane parachute that would open from the tail and allow the plane to “gently” float to the ground in the event of something going terribly wrong. But Chad assured us that wouldn’t happen. And I’m happy to report he was absolutely right.

It was windy – 40 mph gusty winds -- in fact if it had been a little windier we wouldn’t have been able to go up. But we weren’t going to let that bother us.

The three of us strapped in to the plane and donned our earphones. Roger that.

Learning how to taxi a plane is unlike anything I’ve tried. It’s nothing like sailing a boat, or driving a car. You use pedals to guide the plane on the runway. There were a few other planes anxious to take off behind us – and when they saw our plane with me at the helm slowly zig zagging down the runway you could almost hear the sighs from the other cockpits. So Chad took over and pulled us aside allowing them to take off ahead of us.

Initial view down at the Westchester Terminal

Then it was my turn. We went over the take off instructions: full speed ahead on the throttle, steer down the runway, and when we hit 70 mph, Chad would prompt me to pull back and bring the nose of the plane up for our ascent. Ready set go. Smooth as silk. Easy as pie. And I did it all by myself!

Horse farm

We opted to fly over to Danbury and back. Below us we could see estates, golf courses, horse farms, reservoirs and more estates -- even Danbury Prison – all on a blanket of fading fall foliage. Once you’re in the air flying is not so hard especially when Chad is the one keeping an eye on the instrument panel and responding to air traffic control. Mike and I just took in the view and the thrill of seeing Fairfield and Westchester Counties from 3500 feet at about 145 mph.

Local estate

Then it was time to bank right and head back to White Plains. We flew toward the New York City skyline straight ahead lit by the sun’s rays streaming through the clouds. It was a magnificent view.

A final check of the plane

Reports from the tower described gustier winds, so Chad took over the controls for the landing. We flew parallel to the runway, out toward the water, and when the tower gave the word we turned back and headed in for the landing. Despite the windy conditions, the landing was remarkably smooth.

Back at Hangar M we stopped in to thank Kevin and were shown the simulator room where they have an exact replica of the Cirrus cockpit with a screen showing what you would see if you were piloting the plane. It’s a state-of-the-art piece of equipment and an incredibly valuable teaching tool. Here you can practice take offs, landings, banking, and safely handling the plane in adverse conditions or emergency situations.

Inside the simulator

Kevin explained that when someone considers flying lessons after this Experience, he would walk them through some decisions: Why learn to fly a plane? Are they willing and able to commit enough time to get a pilot’s license? What would they do once they had a license?

One of many golf courses

For us, the answer is that we won’t pursue a license. But was it worth it? Yes. In fact, if you are looking for a great Christmas present for the person who has everything – including an interest in flying – why not try a Performance Flight Experience? We relish new experiences. And this was a winner.

By the way – in addition to flight instruction, Performance Flight also is a charter broker with access to a fleet of nearly 20,000 aircraft enabling them to help you find the right plane for your specific needs.

Performance Flight is located at 136 Tower Lane, Hangar M, West Harrison NY 10604. (914) 397-1444
www.performanceflight.com
Kevin Cregan, General Manager
E-mail: kcregan@performanceflight.com