Journey to a Private Pilot's License: First Lesson: Straight and Level / Turns / Climbing and Descending

Well I went through with it...I had my first lesson. It took me 5 minutes to commute from my office cubicle to the flight schools office. Upon arriving I was greeted by Kam, who would be my instructor. My first impression of my him was that he would be too old, and his personality too rigid for me to be able to relate too, but that wasn't the case at all. I found him to be funny, personable, and a great teacher. I felt like he really enjoys teaching, and wants me to learn...and isn't there for any other reasons besides that.

We started the lesson by going through the pre-flight checklist on the Cessna 152 I was renting. He showed me what I was looking for, and had me check the fuel levels on my own. After that we taxi'd for take off. Kam had me get a feel for the rudders while taxing to see how the plane reacted. We waited for a small jet plane and another Cessna to take off, and then it was our turn.

Once in the air Kam had me fly the plane straight and level. He then had me make 30 degree turns to the right and the left. After that we climbed, and then climbed while turning. We then descended by pulling the throttle all the way out, and he told me about when to use the carburetor heat. We made some turns while descending, and then headed back to the airport. He had me control the plane for the final approach to the runway, and then took over for landing.

On the ground he once again had me control the rudders while taxiing. He took over the controls once we got near some parked airplanes...man what a tight squeeze... that's going to be a bit tricky for me to handle I think. We tied down the airplane, and went inside. Kam filled out my logbook, which I purchased there...my first entree...how exciting! We put exactly one hour on the hobbs meter, and Kam only charged me 1.5 hours of instruction, even though he spent over 2.5 hours with me this day. Awesome! The cost was definitely not as high as I thought it was going to be, a grand total of $172.04 (includes logbook), and the experience was better than I had expected. All in all a fantastic experience.