I’m not sure how this is possible, but we have an honest-to-goodness teenager now! That’s right, our little girl is 13 years old! Her interests have become more focused over the last 12 months and currently include: history, geography, drawing, and reading.
We were fortunate to be able to celebrate her birthday with both sets of grandparents this year. In early October, my parents took her (and Nick and I, thankfully!) to Mexico for a week of early celebrations. We had a marvelous time and I know it’s something she’ll remember forever.
On her actual birthday (Tuesday, October 22nd), we got together with Nick’s parents to celebrate with her favorite meal, grilled sockeye salmon (such fancy tastes for a 13 year old!). After dinner we opened presents and she teared up when she realized her grandparents had gotten her a “Discovery Flight” to help her explore her desire of becoming a pilot (more on that later). Isn’t that a cool gift? Here she is pictured with her new flight magazine subscription and very own pilot’s log book to record her hours in the air.
Presents was followed by cake, of course, and Nick built on the ‘flying’ theme with Nia’s very own airplane cake.
I was impressed that he attempted such a challenging feat, and even though it didn’t come out quite as hoped, Nia absolutely loved it and was touched that he’d gone to extra lengths to craft something special.
Nia availed of her birthday flight just five days after receiving her gift. At 10:30 AM last Saturday she reported to the Bend Municipal Airport to meet her flight instructor. Her grandparents had specifically requested a female flight instructor, which I thought was a brilliant idea. After getting acquainted, Nia and her instructor performed the preflight check together, during which the instructor explained each of the steps and even had Nia help complete them.
Here Nia is checking the fuel level of the Cessna 172. To my surprise, the fuel is kept in the wing above the cockpit!
Here she’s putting down the flaps and turning on the lights.
And finally, here she is checking the oil with her instructor’s help.
Once the preflight check was complete, it was time to climb into the cockpit! I don’t know how she had the courage to climb into such an itty-bitty plane, but she wasn’t nervous at all.
Once inside the plane, the instructor went over the control panel, explaining what each indicator, button, or lever was for. Once that was complete, it was time for takeoff. They turned on the plane and began the taxi to the runway. Nia was delighted when the instructor told her she could take the yoke and steer the plane for the taxi. A few minutes later they were off for their 30 minute flight over Bend. None of us accompanied her (per her request), but after the fact she told us that at several points during the flight, the instructor gave her control and had her practice steering and turning the plane.
Nia was absolutely euphoric when they landed and couldn’t stop talking about how incredible it was. She’s already busy exploring what she can do at 13 to begin down the path to getting her pilot’s license. Like I said earlier, the girl sure has expensive tastes! :) But what a goal! Very curious to see if she’ll stick with it or if this will be a passing fad. For those who want to see all the photos and a few videos, CLICK HERE.
