Into the wild blue yonder

My boys had their first flight in a personal airplane today and they LOVED it. It was such a big treat for them. sponsored by the local Experimental Aircraft Association for its Young Eagles program and the flights were FREE!!! That was the best part for me. The boys were a little scared, but very excited. Army of Dad flew often as a kid in his grandpa's airplane and knew the boys would love it. They flew in a Cessna 172 with a pilot who works on the Joint Strike Fighter at Lockheed Martin in Fort Worth. Accompanying them in the plane was 14-year-old Akash, who wants to be a commercial pilot. I was okay and only a little nervous, but putting on my game face with the boys to reassure them. I thought about asking that they go up in different planes so I wouldn't lose both of them if it crashed, but decided against that.

Here they are taking with the pilot before taking off.

a little more pre-flight instructions about the seatbelts and headsets.
Then, they were buckled up and ready to go.

I was doing okay up until the point where the plane sputtered and had to be pushed to get a good start. Reminds me of a car my high school beau had. Those were great dates out pushing the car to get it started. I did say a little prayer and bless the plane with the sign of the cross before they took off. I think it helped.

Taxiing out to take off.

And, up into the great blue yonder.

The skies were beautiful today for the first day this week. Only a little windy.

and, a giant fist raised in the air by Pickled upon his return. "I can't wait to do that again!" Then, the enormous double thumbs up!

The flight crew.

Many thanks to these pilots who contribute their time, aircraft and money for fuel to take these boys over Joe Poole Lake and give them 15 minutes they will never forget. What a generous thing to do! Another daate is set for October and my boys are already begging to go. Maybe we can make soccer work. We'll see.