Copyright 1999Pedaling across the airport
Learning to fly From the Ground Up, I’m Tony Seton.
Flying embraces a whole new dimension, literally. With a car, you go right and left, forward and back. With a plane, you also go up and down, which means a whole new way of controlling the vehicle. Acclimating to the foot pedals presents a real challenge. Push the bottom of the pedal for steering and the top of the pedal for braking.
It’s my first time in the pilot’s seat of a Cessna Skyhawk, my first time with my feet on the pedals...and that’s gotta be pretty obvious to even the casual observer. Let alone to the Redding control tower. They’ve given us permission to taxi to a position next to the runway. Now Redding Airport isn’t very busy, so my instructor and co-pilot Robert Scott isn’t worried. He’s giving me a lot of rein, not pushing his pedals to override me. Rather he’s coaching me.
Yes, he said, I could slow down a little. I had thought we were going a little fast. I slide my feet up to the brake portions of the pedals and all but stand on them. We stop on a dime.
I take my feet off of the top of the pedals and slide my heels back down to the floor. Robert points to the markings at the edge of the runway where he wants me to stop. This time I ease us to a comfortable stop where he indicates. He radios the tower for permission to depart, and we roll out onto the runway. Under his direction, with my feet on the brakes, I open up the throttle. The plane is throbbing with excitement. I take my feet off of the brakes and we are quickly roaring down the runaway. In a matter of seconds, Robert pulls back on the wheel and the nose rises into the air.
I am flying.
From the Ground Up, I’m Tony Seton.