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Your Crazy Ass Can

Fly A Plane

words by Devoe Yates, photo by Robert Todd Williamson

At some point or another, I think everyone’s imagined how awesome it would be to fly a plane, whether it’s to Vegas for a weekend or in a desperate effort to escape a zombie holocaust. And I think for most, it seems like an unobtainable bit of Godly fruit, a daydream fantasy: The view from the cockpit as you take off from the runway, the view of the clouds shifting slowly before you, the ability to pilot your craft as close to the land below as you like, so as to make out the weird details of intricate cityscapes or antlike traffic patterns.

But luckily for you and me both, courtesy of Rainbow Air Academy, you can put yourself in the co-pilot seat for a measly first time fee of $125 and pilot the small form of a Cessna four-seater into the heavens above. With a fair share of nervous butterflies in our bellies, we at h ventured down to the Academy in Long Beach to see if we really could experience the agony and the ecstasy of flying a plane with our very own appendages.

After a pre-flight sit down with our instructor, Anthony, in which he lays out our plan for the next hour or two, we walk out onto the tarmac and untie our plane from the ropes that keep it from floating away at the discretion of a burst of wind. For the next 15 minutes or so, we assist Anthony in all the check-ups on the plane, making sure that everything is in working order. That task completed, we take our seats, don our headphones, turn the key, start the propeller, and taxi down the runway. Immediately, Anthony gives me control of the plane, directing me as I drive the plane to the take-off strip. At my feet are both the brake and rudder controls that are used to guide the plane to the left or right at whatever speed is desired, and there’s also a pull and twist knob that allows you to control the amount of gas going into the engine. And just as a side note, the gas tank holds about 40 gallons of gas - probably enough juice to get you to Vegas and back.

Having followed the little yellow lines to the take-off area, I resign control of the plane back to Anthony, who okays our take off with the control tower, kicks in the gas, and sends us rocketing down the runway. When our speed is where it should be, he pulls back on the hand controls, and we’re off, rising closer and closer to the clouds. I notice that the only thing keeping me from hurling out into free-fall is a thin metal door to my left that’s controlled by a little metal lever that is hopefully my friend. Now you don’t actually make it to the clouds because that airspace is reserved for bigger and more important planes, so your altitude remains fairly low for the duration of the flight. It takes Anthony a few minutes to get us out over the ocean, just beyond the shore, and it’s here that the lesson begins. I take the controls, and with his guidance, steer the plane in 180 and 360 degree turns, always keeping an eye out for nearby air traffic, though supposedly a giant brain back at the control tower is keeping track of the coordinates of all nearby aircraft, making sure that we play nice together.

Amidst further ensuing piloting trials, I find myself feeling roller-coaster pains as I, yes me, tilt the plane at a 45 degree angle for a quick turn, feeling close to 2Gs. I later assist Anthony in pulling the plane out of a 10 second stall just before the craft begins its un-engined descent into the waters below. That part, I will not lie, gave me a short burst of bubble guts. There are tiny holes in the wings that measure the air flow, and if they detect that your plane is about to stall, a whistling alarm goes off that is rather prominent in your audioscape, since due to the nature of a stall, the engine is barely humming or it’s even silent. But, just as I think that it might be a good time to check around for parachutes, Anthony kicks the gas back in and we’re soaring once again, and this time, back to the airport, where Anthony slyly adjusts to a windy afternoon and smoothly sets the plane down on the quickly approaching landing strip. Once back on the ground, I’m again at the controls, piloting our ship back to its assigned parking spot.

All in all, the whole trip didn’t end up being nearly as scary or doomed as I’d imagined, and flying itself didn’t seem to be all that difficult, though there is a good amount of multi-tasking from time to time that must be carefully executed. As our lesson came to an end, it seemed that more weekend trips down to the Rainbow Air Academy might be a wise investment of time, money, and adrenaline.

For those of you interested in obtaining a pilot’s license, it’s something that can be achieved at the Academy, though it can be an extensive and time-consuming process that requires at least 40 hours of flight time with you as the captain of the plane and the completion of a slew of other tests and interviews.
That being said, I can’t recommend the experience enough, no amusement park ride comes close to the thrill of piloting a plane about the skies above. And then of course, being able to fly a plane might come in handy one day. I mean, in that worst case scenario when the zombie holocaust does happen, you’ll be an MVP among your traveling band of survivors that can pilot your friends and family to that faraway island of coconuts and peace.

To get more info, go to: www.letsgoflying.com

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