Introductory flight number 2 is in the books. It was a great experience too, but it felt different than the first one. For both flights I wanted the full 1 hour intro, not the shortened 20 min flight. This flight I did book the full 1 hour and was expecting about $230. I was told to arrive 30 minutes before the flight to take care of the paperwork.
When I arrived at the desk, again, not a pleasant greeting, but not a bad one. I would say it was a quiet and distracted greeting, then I was sent to another person. This person seemed confused as to why I was sent to him, but a third person stepped in and knew exactly what to do.
He took my ID and came by 10 minutes later with a photocopy. He wrote $113 on it. I inquired about the charge and said i was expecting $230 for the 1 hour. He said I may have been looking at something else on the website. In the end what i got was OK and if that was the $230 it would have been a disappointment. After I did review the website and it does have a 1 hour for $230 (non-sightseeing).
I then sat outside to wait for my pilot and watch the activity. A guy came back from his lesson and went to get someone who was also waiting outside. On their way past me his friend asked which plane he was in, was he in the good take off, or the really shaky awkward one? I felt for him at that moment, he said nothing until he got out of earshot. Shortly that will be me in his shoes.
My pilot came up and greeted me and we were off to the plane. We did a bit of a pre-check, he mentioned several times that normally there is a bit longer of a check but he just landed and we are going right back up. We walked around looking for dents on the propeller, looking to see the hinges were free form obstructions, the wired nuts were still wired. This was a much more immersive intro than the first.
We got in the plane, a 1980s Cessna 172, and did the passenger briefing: Exits, fire extinguisher, how to put on the seat belt and then into the checklists. Engine start and taxi to the run up area, Paul was explaining the why behind what he was doing and the checklists all the time. Off to the end of the runway to wait to take off.
We took off and he was explaining that we had to climb to 1900′ before a turn could be made, mostly to do with people buying houses near the airport and then forgetting they bought a house near an airport. That is my commentary not my instructor.
The trip was short, maybe 20 to 25 minutes, just out 10 to 12 minutes a 180 and headed back to the airport. On the way back I saw a stunning, very traditional English looking estate with full English garden. We turned to land, touched down and taxied back to parking.
This time the instructor came inside and started to go over the ground school, pricing and flight instruction. Then, unexpectedly to him, he had to go back up. Someone cancelled on him but someone else slipped in that spot and he said goodbye and he was off. I took the papers he gave me and I headed home.
When I got home I built a short list of questions for both schools to help with the decision process. That will be the next entry is the questions and answers from the schools.
What do you think is better? The longer flight with less info for pre-flight and walk-around or a much shorter flight with more details. Let me know.