Yesterday was truly one of the highlights of my life — I began my career as a flight instructor by teaching my daughter Mary some of the basics of flying an airplane.
We started by having her taxi the plane around on the ground for a while, getting used to adjusting the throttle and the counterintuitive nature of steering by feet rather than by hands on the yoke.
Seeing as how she talks on the phone with the best of them, I wasn't at all surprised when Mary talked to the controller on the radio like it was second nature . . .
After takeoff, we played roller-coaster and wow did she ever enjoy that — no problem pointing the nose at the ground for her! Then she laughed with delight as we turned, climbed, went over the top and our stomachs sort of floated for a bit.
After a number of fun ups and downs, we did some actual work, and it was just such a blast to see her concentrate so intently on making her turns and trying to maintain altitude!
How very different from the somewhat absent-minded 14-year-old that usually calls me daddy! I am so proud of how well she did — I think she'll make an excellent pilot.
That is, if she isn't distracted by school, soccer, or boys . . . and probably not in that order!
02 January 2008
Teaching My Daughter To Fly
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2 comments:
That is so cool! I think kids can do amazing things (like concentrate) on flying an airplane-when it is something they are interested in. What a neat father/daughter time as well. She'll always remember these times. :-)
Wow! I bet Mary will be an excellent pilot...and speaking from a "daughters" point of view, what a cool time for her. She'll always remember that her dad loved her enough to take that time with her. Sounds like tons of fun!
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