Throttle back, point the nose slightly down, tune the radio to listen to the recorded weather information for the airport. Down the plane comes, wind whistling loudly past the cockpit. Down toward the airport. Where is the airport, anyway? The needle on the navigational instrument points directly to it, but you still can't spot the runway through the haze. Look for a large, empty field with wide roads cutting through it. It's next to the river, close to the city. Is that it? Down points the nose, down toward the field. That must be it. Yes, there's a hangar.
Down, down the plane floats. It's determined to land as you hurry to complete the landing checklist in time. Extend flaps and throw out the landing gear to slow the speed, announce the airplane's position over the radio. The ground rushes up and its details become distinct again -- a house, individual trees, a boat on the river. Up comes the runway, and you can read the numbers painted at the end: runway 22, pointed toward a heading of 220 degrees.
Careful now. The plane's flying very slowly, almost at the edge of its ability. Don't make that turn to final approach too steep or you might lose the airflow over the high wing, stalling the plane so that it falls out of the sky. Gently coax the beast toward the runway, keeping the nose pointed straight ahead, gliding down at just the right angle ... gently ... and now the flare, lifting the nose just enough to bleed off the last of the airspeed and touch down on the main wheels. Pull back on the yoke and hold the plane off the runway. It's down there somewhere, not quite yet, and then -- squeak -- the wheels touch the asphalt. Perfect.
An anticlimactic rollout, after the drama of landing, and then you taxi to the tie-down spot. The world starts to crowd into the cockpit as you look at your watch, wondering if you'll have time to stop at Kinko's on the way back to the office for the sales meeting. You shut the engine down and pop open the door. Maybe you'd better call from the car and say you'll be a few minutes late.
As you walk to the parking lot, you turn and glance back at the clean lines of the white wings and the black blades of the propeller standing proudly at the nose. The tires are full, the wings level and smooth. The whole plane sparkles, ready to fly again. And you grin.
Phaedra Hise is a pilot, freelance journalist, and author of the forthcoming book Pilot Error: The Anatomy of an Airplane Crash (Brassey's, May). She lives in Richmond, Va.
Copyright © 2002 Phaedra Hise
So, You Want to Get Your License ...
Be prepared to commit both time and money. It takes, on average, a year of training to earn a pilot's license, according to an October 2001 survey from the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA).
Before taking the practical flight test to earn a license, a student must pass a written exam and log at least 40 hours of flight time (20 of them with an instructor). Students typically surpass that flight-time requirement. According to the AOPA, the 2,145 pilots surveyed logged an average of 63 hours before passing their flight test.
Hourly costs for using an aircraft range from $60 to $85, depending on the location of the airport and the type of plane. Instructors cost an additional $28 to $40 an hour. Estimates for the total cost of getting a license, not including supplies, manuals, and other equipment, range from $4,000 to $6,000.
Private Flight, Post-September
In the months after the September 11 attacks, busy executives turned to charter flights to avoid long lines and increased security hassles at commercial-airline counters. In late October, Air Charters, in Teterboro, N.J., was already booked solid for November. "Usually," says company president Susan Bopp, "we're only booked days in advance." The trend is confirmed by the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, which reports that business-oriented flights in small planes are on the rise because charter flights have fewer delays, executives feel safer, and they can reach the airport closest to their destination and return within the day.
At flight schools, however, short-term changes were not for the better. The weeks-long flying ban after the September attacks wreaked havoc on their financials. Even now that flights have resumed, "our business is down at least 50%," reports Greg Saccardo at East Coast Aero Club, in Bedford, Mass.
Although business is bad, don't expect a discount on flight training. Insurance rates are skyrocketing, so flight schools will have to raise prices. And if other states follow Florida's lead by passing proposed legislation that would make flight schools assume responsibility for student background checks, expect the cost for such checks to be passed along as well.
The AOPA predicts the downturn won't last long. "This will push some people into flying," says Keith Mordoff, a spokesperson with the trade association. "The security of flying your own plane when and where you want to go -- that's a reason for people who have been considering it to start now."
The Inc Life
I'd Rather Be Flying (Myself)
Middays of Thunder
Pat Croce's Bottom Line
Ken Burns's Jeffersonian Pavilion
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