“HEY! YOU WANNA TRY TO FLY THIS THING?”

If someone presents you with that question over the roar of a small engine as you coast above frozen lakes at 115 miles per hour, I hope you know how to answer.

I mean – let’s not be stupid here. Why don’t we take a minute and think this through?

You’re at 6500 feet and there are grizzlies running wild in the country below. The two moose you just gave a buzz cut with your 100-foot flyover are easily 1200 pounds apiece and could crush you just by huffing at you. Frozen lakes and rivers dot the horizon. And the temperature on the ground is no more than 0º Fahrenheit.

You’ve never flown a plane. The two-seater you’re in feels about as substantial as a couple Prius mufflers superglued together. Your pilot’s a young Officer in the Air Force, and he just bought this Super Cub to up his flight hours. You hear the guy’s had a couple tense airborne moments in the last few weeks, but you don’t feel like asking about them.

You’re headed SSW, toward the mountains in the distance. The wind moving NNE pulls and bounces the plane haphazardly. Your hands have been clammy since takeoff. Now you’re being asked if you want to fly this thing.

Seriously? You’re being coaxed to operate a machine blazing across the sky at more than a hundred miles an hour? …..… Awesome.

“ABSOLUTELY!” you shriek, in a tone completely new to you.

“You don’t have to yell,” the pilot replies. “Your mic goes straight to my headset.”

“Sorry…. I just…..uh……. this is EXCITING!”

“Glad to hear it! Let’s get you flying.”

The pilot walks you through a few seemingly simple steps about reading the altimeter, guiding the plane, and correcting for winds that could blow you off course. You’re just beginning to wrap your brain around the concepts when:

“All right!” the pilot announces. “My hands are off the stick! You steering yet?”

Hang on, Officer! This kid’s barely stepped foot in Drivers Ed!

“Go ahead. Grab the control,” comes the voice from the front of the plane. You wonder why this guy sounds so cool and collected. You begin to question whether he’s really a trusted friend of a friend. Maybe he’s actually some unproven acquaintance with alterior motives. Maybe he thinks it’s funny to scare the bejesus out of passengers and make them wiz their pants. Or worse, maybe….

“It’ll be easy. Just do what I taught you.”

Fine, you think. I’ll show him. I ain’t gonna pee myself in front of the other kids. You take hold of the stick, suck in a deep breath, and give a little tug. VRRRRRRRRRRRR the engine roars, as you dip violently to the left and quickly start losing altitude.

“Whoa… hang on now! Be gentle!” the pilot laughs. “You don’t need to give much love for this thing to react! See?” he asks as he pushes the nose further sideways and the plane barrels toward the earth at a 45-degree angle.

“Hey… Whoa! Okay, I got it!” you scream, trying to hide the fear in your voice. “I’ll be gentler!”

The pilot laughs again and calmly puts the plane back on course, heading once more toward the Alaska Range.

You realize it’s weird, this thing you’re doing. It seems unnatural for a hunk of metal to glide above the earth this way. But the pilot makes it look very easy.

And, you. You’ve got a newfound sense of resolve. The balls-to-the-wall Alaskan thing must be rubbing off on you, because you’ve decided you aren’t getting out of this machine ‘til you’ve got the hang of flying it.

“All right – here goes,” you say, hands slightly less tense upon the stick. You give a little push – barely noticeable, but still a push – keeping the altimeter and destination in sight. And this time your chariot vrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrs optimistically like a sexy little model plane, smooth and flying steady.

“Nice!” comes the voice from the front. “That’s more like it! Now, let’s see if I can’t mix it up a bit and land on that frozen lake……”

And there you have it, Cap’n. You’ve just flown your first plane.

Enjoy having your wings.

——-

Note from the author:

My name’s Rachel and I make a living finding adventure. I came to Alaska to shoot TV shows like Deadliest Catch and Ice Road Truckers and ended up landing some of my biggest adventures yet. Read on, and see me work to earn my wings…

Tweet this: “Earning Your Wings” how newest contributor @rarudwall took the wheel for first time in #Alaskan Bush Plane http://ow.ly/3VkS9