Here's Kevin soaking it alllllll in! Dad looks pretty interested too! Dave worked hard in college and got his pilot's license in addition to his business degree. Soon after we were married, the busyness of life and having small children took over and he wasn't able to keep "current" (pilot speak). Also I might add, that he didn't have a big cheerleader of a wife... just a few twinges of fear left over from the tragedy that consumed our lives in 1985. So anyway, I could really see Father and Son taking this new adventure and "flying with it"! :)
After a thorough pre-flight check, Kevin climbed into the pilot's seat with his awesome instructor, Roger, taking his place in the co-pilot's seat. We know Roger well, as his kids went to Bethany and his daughter played volleyball with Alli. Roger owns and manages the flight school at the Goshen Airport, but also flies with a major airline out of O'Hare. So we felt very comfortable putting our son in his very capable hands.
Taxiing to the runway. Kevin used the rudder pedals to get the plane to the runway. Roger had said that he would have Kevin do as much of the flying as he felt capable of. Kevin even had the controls during take-off! He also did radio communications - "Diamond Four One Zero Alpha Mike on final ..." (yup, Kevin's looking over my shoulder and telling me everything I should write) :)
Here they go ... Cleared for Take Off! They flew over our farm and the red & white roofed hangar that my Dad had built for his small plane. Then checked out the RV inventory at Jayco. Continued north and made sure our lake house was still standing!
One happy guy! Only two more years until he can get his pilot's license! This 1/2 hour flight was definitely the best birthday present Kevin has ever received!
