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KLMNO SUNDAY, APRIL 14, 2013 EZ EE F9 Escapes Up and away! A flying leap for womankind BY MELANIE D.G. KAPLAN IF YOU GO I once went on a road trip with a pilot. GETTING THERE My inability to see faraway highway signs GT Aviation and Potomac Airfield are — compared with his eagle eye — never about seven miles outside the Beltway. failed to amuse him. But later, at dinner, I Take Exit 3/Maryland 210 and merge used my laser vision to read the tiny print onto Indian Head Highway. Turn left onto on the back of his FAA license, which he Old Fort Road, make another left onto could barely detect as a blur. Combined, Allentown Road, then turn right onto Old our eyesight was perfect. Allentown Road. Make a slight right onto After that trip, we each felt a renewed Airport Drive, then right onto Glen Way. confidence about our respective profes- Follow the green signs for the airfield, a sions. Surely a writer needn’t worry half-mile on your left at 10300 Glen Way. about seeing specks on the horizon, I WHERE TO LEARN TO FLY thought, when her chief concern is mind- GT Aviation ing words on a laptop screen. Potomac Airfield And then, last weekend, I played hooky 10300 Glen Way, Fort Washington from the screen and found myself in the 301-248-1711 cockpit of a Cessna 172 Skyhawk. But by www.gt-aviation.com the time I was flying over the Potomac One-hour introductory flight in a Cessna River, concern about my vision had sub- 172 for $119. sided. At an altitude of 2,000 feet, eyes fixed on the horizon, all I could think NAFC — Flight Center about was my stomach. Lee Airport Most flight schools offer what’s called 3090 Solomons Island Rd., Edgewater a discovery or introductory flight. It’s a 410-956-8751 good way to check flying off your bucket www.nafcflying.org list, but it’s also the start of training for One-hour introductory flight in a Cessna students working toward a private pilot’s 172 for $180 or a Piper Warrior for $160. license (a project that costs around Washington International Flight $10,000). There are more than 3,500 Academy schools nationwide, which means your Montgomery County Airpark view from the cockpit could be coastal or 7940 Airpark Rd., Gaithersburg mountainous, or anything in between. TIMOTHY POOLE 240-246-7529 A friend had given me a gift certificate www.learntoflydc.com for an introductory flight at GT Aviation Taking off: You can try an Introductory flight lesson at Potomac Airfield in Fort Washington. Discovery flight in a Cessna 172 for $99; in Fort Washington, not far from An- 30 minutes on the ground, 30 minutes in drews Air Force Base. It’s at Potomac the air. Airfield, one of three general aviation and we were in the wide-open sky. airports — airports for private planes — I peered over my left shoulder and saw Aviation Adventures within Washington’s Flight Restricted little green squares, a snaking river, Ton- Manassas Regional Airport Zone. (The others are Washington Execu- ka trucks at a construction site and black 10600 Harry Parrish Blvd., Manassas tive Airpark and College Park Airport.) To lines of highway. A few jets crossed our Leesburg Executive Airport get there, I drove through a residential path, far above us, heading toward Rea- 1001 Sycolin Rd. SE, Leesburg neighborhood, over several speed gan National. I was terrified and thrilled, Warrenton-Fauquier Airport bumps, and parked my car in a small lot and I would have screamed with delight if 5075 Airport Rd., Midland near the runway. I hadn’t been worried about how it would www.aviationadventures.com In the flight school office, I met my upset my equilibrium. Because just then, Adventure flights available at all three instructor, Chris Totten, who grabbed a red the little bag was working its way back locations average $100 for 30 minutes phone on the wall. “5477 Kilo,” he said, into my consciousness. and $170 for 60 minutes in a Cessna 172 followed by more pilot-speak, picking up The fact is, I’ve been known to experi- (prices increase with different models). clearance for our flight. We walked outside ence motion sickness in anything from a Light-sport aircraft flights are $90 for 30 to a sunny, slightly hazy day, and he intro- flight simulator to a minor earthquake. minutes, $150 for 60 minutes. duced me to the Cessna 172 — the all-time But from everything I’ve experienced, Brett Aviation best-selling aircraft and one of the top once I get behind the controls of a vehicle Martin State Airport planes for training. — on land or in water — I’m in good 701 Wilson Point Rd., Middle River, Md. I peered inside my little single-engine shape. I’d expected the same in the 410-391-0210 four-seater. There were dual controls for friendly skies. My stomach, however, had MELANIE D.G. KAPLAN FOR THE WASHINGTON POST www.brettaviation.com instructor and student, and Chris ex- other ideas. Thirty-minute discovery flight in a Cessna plained that he’d handle takeoff, landing We flew across Interstate 95, and Chris 172 for $129. and taxiing. “You’ll do everything in followed a rectangular path to land at between.” Stafford Regional Airport, just south of Chesapeake Sport Pilot Before we got in, he asked me whether Quantico. The landing was so smooth, I Bay Bridge Airport I was susceptible to air sickness. “Umm barely knew that we were on the ground. 210 Airport Rd., Stevensville, Md. ,” I hesitated a moment too long. Chris As we taxied, I began to appreciate what 410-604-1717 ran off, returned with a little bag, and we pilots refer to as the $100 hamburger — www.chesapeakesportpilot.com climbed in. they take a short flight, grab lunch, then Introductory flights in light-sport aircraft, I sat on the left, scooted my seat head home. Thirsty and a bit unsettled, I such as the Sky Arrow (one hour) or forward and assured myself that this was probably would have paid $100 right AutoGyro Calidus (30 minutes), for $99. nothing more than a flying car. My then for a ginger ale. surroundings were familiar: door with a But I would have to settle for some WHERE TO CELEBRATE FLIGHT handle; window with a latch; control fresh air. We opened the vents, checked Virginia Regional Festival of Flight column, or yoke, that resembled a steer- the air sock along the runway for wind www.virginiaflyin.org ing wheel; sun visors and dashboard. A direction and took off, heading north- Annual festival May 4-5, at Virginia’s key turned the ignition, and the machine east. Twenty minutes later, we’d crossed Suffolk Executive Airport. Includes free rumbled to life. Easy-peasy. Until Chris over the sparkling Potomac and landed at Young Eagles flights for kids 8 to 17 on pointed out the fire extinguisher and our home runway. Chris parked the plane Sunday after the air show. See dozens of explained what to do should we need to on the grass and turned the key, and the aircraft, demonstrations, workshops and make an emergency exit after landing. propeller came to a stop. The fate of the vendor displays. Entrance fee $10; He offered a cursory introduction to TIMOTHY POOLE little bag? Top-secret. younger than 13 free. ($5 if you fly in.) the controls. “Here’s our basic six-pack,” Ready for liftoff: Top, GT Aviation instructor Chris Totten prepares the Outside the office, I met Tim Poole, Women Can Fly he said, pointing out round instruments cockpit for a student flight lesson. Above, Potomac Airfield from the air. president of the flight school. We sat at a www.womencanfly.com such as the altimeter (indicating height picnic table, and he assured me that nau- The inaugural flying events of this above sea level) and the vertical speed sea is common for beginners but that it national volunteer organization will be indicator (rate of climb or descent; when usually lessens with training. “It’s all about held in Virginia and will educate girls and the needle’s on zero, the aircraft is hold- fully closed. We slammed it shut, and means that we’re descending. that third dimension,” he said. “Flying is women about aviation through free ing steady). The throttle, a large black with that, I became a checklist believer. My hands grasped the yoke, turning, different from other types of motion.” flights, simulation experiences and knob, adjusts engine speed; the foot Before I knew it, we were taxiing down pushing and pulling it to adjust the plane I sat in the sun and watched a few classroom presentations. Each event is pedals serve as brakes and rudder con- the runway. Through my headset, I lis- in its various dimensions. At Chris’s flights take off before I got into my car. from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., rain or shine. June trols (moving the nose side to side, called tened to radio chatter between Chris and urging, I even experimented as we And then I drove back through the 8, Warrenton-Fauquier Airport; June 22, yaw); and the yoke moves left, right, front the control center that handles Washing- banked a tad left and right. neighborhood and rolled over the speed Hampton Roads Executive Airport; June and back to control the roll (wings side to ton air traffic. And then we were up, After a few minutes, I realized that I bumps, which were — for the moment — 29, Lynchburg Regional Airport.