Flying With Dave

I find that people enjoy the flights more if they understand what's going on, and if they participate in the flight. I will occasionally ask you to help out with certain parts of the flight. I can do it all myself, but it always helps to have an extra set of eyes on everything, and I'll never ask you to do anything that I'm not sure you'd be able to do. That said, if you ever have any questions about how something works, or if you don't feel comfortable at any point, just ask. I'm happy to answer any questions that may come up.

Before you leave home...

Bring sunglasses and/or a hat - There's lots of windows in these small planes, and the sun will be bright, especially if there's snow on the ground. You will be wearing an aviation headset, so a baseball cap is pretty much the only type of hat you can wear.

Bring a camera - We won't be flying nearly as high as the commercial airliners, so you can see the ground a lot easier. Bring your camera or camcorder with you. We might even be able to fly over your house if you'd like. The rules on electronic devices are much more lax in the small planes. Here are the rules that do apply: Cell-phones and 2-way pagers still must be off anytime in the air Any pictures or videos you take, you must share with me. :)

University of Michigan Stadium

Do you get airsick easily? Although airsickness in the little planes is rare, it does happen (it's happened to me once) - if you're prone to motion sickness, you may wish to take whatever you take beforehand... If something does happen, I have airsickness-bags and we're always just a few minutes from an airport we can land at. Nothing to be embarrassed about... no big deal.

Eating/drinking Don't fly on a hungry stomach, and don't fly on a recently filled stomach. You'll also want to be hydrated, but remember there's no bathrooms on these planes.

Get to the airport on time or early The plane may not be back from its previous flight, but if it is, we'd rather spend our reserved time in the air than on the ground.

Think about where you want to go - Here are a few suggestions (some can be combined depending on how much time we have):
Fly over the city of Ann Arbor, including campus (Pictured at right) Fly a bit west (toward Jackson) - pretty in the summertime Fly south over Toledo (can land there too) Fly to Pontiac (can land there too) Land at Willow Run if you want to land on huge runways Fly to Detroit Metro - but only if it's after 11pm at night Fly north over Whitmore Lake Fly to Lansing (Pictured below) Anywhere else within about a 45 mile radius of Ann Arbor	Downtown Ann Arbor
Michigan Capitol, Lansing	(I generally avoid the area surrounding Detroit Metro in the daytime. Air Traffic Control generally isn't too hospitible to little planes when they're busy) Let me know what you'd like to do so I can plan a bit ahead of time.

At the airport...

Ann Arbor Airport

Getting there... Your flight will probably originate at Ann Arbor Municipal Airport (ARB). Ann Arbor Airport is located in the southwest corner of State and Ellsworth. Enter off Ellsworth Rd. At the end of the road is the brick terminal building. Park in any of the spaces not marked as car rental spots. If there's no parking left in the lot, you can park on the grass just across the street from the terminal building. Once you're there, just walk into the terminal building and take a seat in the chairs. Here's a map. Watch out for those spinny things...As part of your new airport experience, you'll be walking around the tarmac of the airport. Be extra cautious of the propellers on all of those planes. If you see a flashing red light on a plane, it's probably about to start up. Usually pilots yell "Clear!" or "Clear prop!" out the window before turning the key, so if you hear these words, be sure you're well clear of any props or the soon-to-be windy area behind them. Use the restroom - better to go before you're in the plane than to need to up in the air. There is no bathroom on the airplane, but there are bathrooms in the airport terminal building.

In the plane... I'll go over these again when we're both sitting in the plane, but wanted to list them here also since they're pretty important. Checklists - You'll see me using checklists extensively before, during, and after flight. Yes, I know how to fly the plane - the checklists just ensure that not a single step is missed in a procedure. Even the professional pilots use them. I'll probably ask if you want to help with them. If you don't, that's OK too. Preflight Checks - Before every flight, I do a brief inspection of the entire airplane. This is a matter of normal procedure to triple-check that everything is in working order. Examples of things I'll be checking with this is to make sure the registration is current, the tires are properly inflated, the fuel tanks are topped off, and none of the lightbulbs are burned out. Your involvement in this process could range from not seeing it happen at all (I would do it before you arrive at the airport), to watching me do everything, to you reading the items on the checklist while I perform the check and explain what I'm doing - it's up to you.

Headsets - You'll be wearing an aviation headset. This will keep the engine noise down, and will allow us to talk to each other easily. You'll probably also be able to hear air traffic control (ATC). Don't worry, they won't hear what you're saying unless the push-to-talk button on the yoke (steering wheel) is pushed. The correct microphone placement is right in front of your mouth so the microphone is just barely not touching your lips. I'll be particularly busy during takeoff and landing - please try to keep conversation at a minimum during these times.

Seatbelts - You'll have a seatbelt just like any other airplane. Please wear it all the time. There's no aisle to walk around in, so you have no excuse to take it off.

Don't touch the yoke - You will have a yoke (steering wheel) in front of you. Don't touch it, and by all means, if the plane hits a pocket of rough air, don't grab on to it to stabalize yourself. If you have long legs, you'll also need to make a conscious effort to keep your knees clear. Don't touch the pedals - there are pedals on the floor in front of you. These aren't footrests, they help to steer the plane. Please keep your feet off them. Don't push the buttons - You'll be just as close to all the buttons, knobs, and gauges as I will be. Please don't touch them. If you accidentally tap something, please tell me. You won't get in trouble and the plane won't fall out of the sky - I'll just want to make sure everything is set the way it should be. If you have a question about what something does or what a gauge means, ask! I'm happy to share the experience of flying with you, and if you'd like to help out, there are some things in the cockpit you can do - just ask, and I'll walk you through what to do. Want to know about all the gauges and buttons now? Take a look at my Guide to the Cockpit, just don't forget to finish reading this page.

Lights, and horns, and buzzers, oh my! - There are a number of indicator lights and warning horns in the cockpit. Most of these are just for navigating, while a couple of them are genuine warnings. If you see a light come on, don't be afraid to ask what it is. In most cases, it's just an indicator that we're flying over a navigation antenna on the ground. When we're landing, you will hear a buzzer/horn indicating that we're flying too slow - that's expected since we're in the process of landing the plane and making it not fly.

The run-up... - just prior to taking off, I'll be testing all of the airplane's systems by increasing the power on the engine while still on the ground. Things will shake and rattle a bit since the airplane is in a flying configuration while still on the ground. Again, this is all normal. Also, don't be surprised if there are a number of other planes nearby doing the same checks we are.

Emergency Procedures - just like with the big planes, I'll need to go over the emergency procedures. Although this is never a fun topic to talk about, it's better to know about things before you need to know about them. The key thing to remember is that the plane won't ever just fall out of the sky like a rock. Those wings generate a lot of lift, and you can actually glide for miles without an engine. (how do you think the glider pilots do it?) When we do a normal landing, it's done with the engine at idle anyway.

The radio... - if you hear air traffic control (ATC) talking on the radio, stop talking for a moment. I need to be able to hear (and respond) to ATC calls.

The takeoff - as the airplane takes off, it's possible your seat might slide back a few notches (they're adjustable just like your car seats). It normally doesn't happen, but sometimes it does - don't worry, you're not going to slide out the back of the airplane - just remember, don't grab the yoke to hold on. It's also possible the door or side window could become unlocked and open a crack. Again, don't worry - you can't fall out of the plane. You're wearing a seatbelt and the wind going past the door will keep it closed - it'll just be a little extra drafty. Once we're up far enough in the sky, we'll get the door closed and latched.

Traffic watch - it's in everyone's best interest to help look for other airplanes in the sky. Since we'll be primarily doing sight seeing, there are times when air traffic control won't be watching us. It's a big sky, and it's likely you'll never see another plane while we're up there. But if one happens to be out there, point it out to me.

Turbulence - The "bumps in the sky" are what everyone always thinks about when in an airplane. You may feel them a bit more in this small airplane than you would in a commercial airliner. Some things to remember: the airplane is built to handle them. It'll upset your stomach a lot sooner than it'll hurt the airplane. The airplane is actually remaining stationary in the chunk of air we're in - it's the whole block of air that's moving around. Think of it like an ice-cube in a glass of water. You can't break the ice cube by shaking the glass. A larger being is just shaking the glass of water that we're floating in.

This isn't a roller coaster... - Don't worry - I won't do any aerobatics in the plane. If you want a crazy ride, go to Cedar Point (we could fly there too!). When I'm flying the plane, my goal is for you to be comfortable and to enjoy the flight, not be gripping for your life. I pride myself in being a safe pilot and want you to feel that way in the plane. We can land... - If you start feeling queasy, or need to pee, tell me right away so we can get back on the ground before it becomes a problem. It's nothing to be embarrassed about. Having gotten sick once in a plane, trust me when I say, you'll feel less guilty shortening the flight than you will if you wished you had. I do carry airsickness bags. If you think you might need one, ask for it before you do need it. Only safe landings... - I won't do anything dangerous in the plane. This includes a landing that isn't up to my standards. It's possible when we're landing that if things don't look just right, I may "go around" (try again). This will involve adding power to the engine and pulling up while on final approach. If this happens, don't be alarmed - nothing is wrong, it's just that things weren't quite as smooth as I'd like them.

University of Michigan North Campus

Landing at Ann Arbor Airport

Look out the windows! You'll see a lot more on this flight than you usually see on commercial flights. If you see something interesting that you'd like to look at, let me know. I can probably descend to get a closer look or can circle around it a few times if you'd like to get some pictures.

After the flight...

Interested in becoming a pilot? If this flight peaked your interest to learn how to fly a plane yourself, please tell me! I'll be happy to talk with you about what's required, where you can do it, and what it'll cost. I'm also happy to act as a mentor for you through the course of your flight lessons.