It was Labor Day September 5, 2011. I officially had my Pilot license for 4 days and I was determined take my first passenger somewhere. Kim, with a brave face, agreed to go along with me. I did my pre-flight planning and a trip to Baraboo/Wisconsin Dells was the perfect destination. I was comfortable with the distance, ground reference landmarks and the weather could not have been nicer. I had booked the airplane for the entire afternoon and the plan was to eat and play at the Ho Chunk Casino for a few hours.
I think I spend almost 3 hours planning that 90 minute round trip flight. The Check ride was over but any married pilot will tell you, the first flight with your spouse is probably even more nerve racking. What if they have a bad flight experience? Will I have put in all this effort to complete flight training only to have a hobby that my spouse is not interested in? Fortunately that was not the case. Shortly after liftoff I saw her look of anxiousness turn to a big smile when she shouted into the headset. “I can see our house! and there’s the car.” Somehow seeing your home from the air is always exciting.
We continued from West Bend, past Horicon Marsh, Beaver Dam, And finally Portage. the Wisconsin River was one of the landmarks I choose to signal I was close to Baraboo. The river makes a nice U shape and if on course, we should pass right thru the middle of it. Trying to overcompensate for my lack of experience, I had gone a little overboard on Navigation for this short 72 nautical mile flight. I had plans on using the West Bend VOR outbound and picking up the Baraboo/Dells VOR inbound to Wisconsin Dells using the GPS as a backup and noting a few landmarks.
Every flight provides the opportunity to learn something new or reinforce a lesson from flight training. I had reviewed the NOTAMs for my route and listened to a Standard Briefing from 800-WXBRIEF. The excitement of the event along with the volume of preparation data caused information overload without letting all the information really sink in, and I missed the important part. The Baraboo/Dells VOR was out of service for the weekend and had I not had backup navigation, it could have been an issue. The moral of the story… Read and Understand what is presented during your pre-flight briefings.
With one rookie mistake behind me we continued thru the horseshoe shape of the Wisconsin River near portage and I prepared the airplane for decent and started looking for the airport. Taking a few moments to look at the scenery was a poor decision and Baraboo airport snuck up on me so we flew past the field to circle down to pattern altitude. Thankfully there was only one other aircraft in the pattern and I had them in sight. After putting my second mistake behind me It was time to focus on the landing. Runway 19 was preferred but would still offer a some challenge with about a 7 knot crosswind component from the left side. I really wanted to make this a good landing and while a direct headwind would have been nice, this is the real world. I glanced over at Kim and she was watching intently out the window. I can only image how another person sizes up the potential of a landing working out safely.
Kim was so excited she cheered “Wooo- Hoo”. I think it might have been more of an “I’m alive” kind of cheer but I like to pretend it was for a good landing. We parked the airplane on the ramp and I closed our flight plan.
A quick call to the Casino and they were happy to send a shuttle to pick us up. It is not far to walk but the fence around the airport would force you to walk down the highway with ample traffic so we opted for a ride. After all the excitement of our first flight, we were both hungry and it was time for our first $100 Hamburger (actually hot dogs and nachos) and yes, It tasted great! The Casino offered some entertainment for us while we let the food settle in our stomach. After about an hour of playing, I was actually ahead over $100 and knew it was time to quit. We walked out of the Casino with more money than we went in with and had enjoyed lunch to boot.
We hopped a ride back to the airport and enjoyed the scenery and walked around the airport to explore. I noticed a bench that had been dedicated to the memory of Lloyd and Evelyn Bell. The plaque read “Dedicated to those of embrace the sky.” I had to sit and enjoy the moment. I didn’t know who Lloyd and Evelyn were but I think I understood what they were trying to tell me, and a lot of cool people are named Lloyd 😉 . The bench was a great place to watch all the activity at the airport and stay cool in the shade.
The return flight home was bittersweet. I could not wait to fly the airplane again but I did not want the day to be over. Maybe we could just keep the airplane for a few more days and no one would notice? Yea, Right!
I did another full pre-flight check just to be sure everything was correct with the airplane and I was ready to fly. One successful leg was behind us and I could tell my passenger was much more relaxed for this departure.
A non-eventful return flight gave us both plenty of time to appreciate the days events. With a Pilot license, suddenly the places you can go and things you can do in a half of a day change drastically. My view of the world had been elevated, literally and my childhood dreams came true. I could not be more grateful that my spouse supports my aviation habit and even better, she likes it also.
