Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Savage Tribesmen


Yesterday I got the chance to go hang out at New Tribes Mission Aviation for the day. I got a really great tour of the facilities from Doug (the other guy in the picture), a New Tribes guy who goes to our church. Doug was patient enough to answer all of my many questions about the aircraft and aircraft parts that we saw on our tour. Doug also surprised me with a flight in a Piper Super Cub, which was a really great experience. It was my first time in a tailwheel airplane, my first time in a fabric-covered plane, my first time taking off from a gravel strip, my first time flying with a stick instead of a control yoke, and my first time using an ANR headset (I'm glad I didn't know about the flight before I left the house, because I would've brought my own headset and missed a really great experience using ANR). I had a really, really great time, and I'm enormously grateful for the opportunity.
The picture is of Doug and me in front of the Super Cub, right after our flight. That's not any sort of camera trick or optical illusion, either; the cockpit really is as narrow as it seems. I felt like I was wearing it, instead of riding in it. But it was a fantastic time, nonetheless!