Colin Papenhagen
First Flight Lesson
A future corporate pilot’s first step into his dream.
After proving to my parents that this wasn't just an obsession that people have, they took the bait.
So this is about two years ago in the summer and I was really getting into aviation. I was building my flight simulator cockpits and I got quite a few simulators like Prepar3d. And my parents were finally realizing that after two years that now it's not just an obsession over aviation. They finally went ahead and bought me a flight lesson with my instructor. So, I was skiing up Purgatory on the ski lift with my friend and my dad texted me and he said I have a flight booked next week. I was so stoked. I didn't even hit the terrain parks, I just went down the ski hill met up with my dad. I heard a few whistles behind me- probably ski patrol. And then we got down and I met with my father and we went straight to the airport after that. I just wanted to see what I was going to be up for and just wanted to check out the airport.
Once we arrived there, we met up with this one flight instructor, his name was Mike and there's another flight instructor there, Ron Johnson. And there is Mike. He's a cool guy, but he seemed too “cool” that he wouldn't really be that pushing like, “it's okay… you'll do next time you'll do it correctly.” He was a really quiet guy, but I thought for sure that that was my flight instructor.
So, a week has passed and I was studying up a lot- like a lot- where I went through a whole textbook. It was finally the weekend and it was my first instruction flight. We drive to the airport and I was excited for my first flight with my flight instructor but also nervous. So I went there and just as when we were pulling and we heard a plane arriving. It was a Cessna 172N, so I knew that's the trainer plane- that's me and so they stopped, they shut down the engine, and I saw two people in there. I saw the student because he was in the left seat and I see in the right seat the flight instructor and I was looking for Mike because I thought for sure he was going to be mine. I was looking and I was like this does not look like Mike, because when he got out he was a complete Texan. He had cowboy boots on, mostly everything was was farm related, he had an N.R.A. hat on, and right when he got out of the plane, he spat a giant piece of tobacco that looked like a cat turd. It was big. It was right there on the tarmac and I was like, ohh that's grody. After he spat out that, I don't know why but people who chew that kind of stuff are scary. So, he came inside and with this student and he was signing his logbook and here he's like, “Hi my name's Ron Johnson” in a deeper voice. But I was like, “I'm Colin” in a shaky but excited voice and he had the he had the strongest grip. I felt my middle finger pop.
He told us to go in the lobby room so that's where my father and I went. Of course my dad had to go with me for the first time. We went in there and we sat down and he asked me all these questions, but first question he asked me who am I and I was like, I just told you my name back there. I didn't say that.
So, he asked me the all these questions and he asked me do I know my airspaces and I was like- “no?.” He asked me all these hard questions, which I didn't know at the time, and I was thinking to myself like, “Colin, shut up,” because I'd be giving him these weird complicated answers that made him look at me like, “what you say Boy?” He’d call me Boy, Junior, Sport, all other kinds of names.
So, I completed that painful hour and a half of questions and we went to the tarmac and he gave me this giant textbook. He flipped to the right page and shows the checklist for the aircraft and it was how to do it preflight. I was basically making sure the aircraft is in good condition and we were not going to fall out of the sky, checking the fuel, and other basics. He told me the basics of what to look for and set me off and he went to talk to my dad about twenty yards away and I heard them laugh and they're getting along and I thought, that’s a start. I felt so official out there. I felt like a real certified pilot because I was out there by myself touching the aircraft and I was like OH YES, this is it. I was looking up in the ailerons and a car drove by and they were looking at me. I thought to myself, “Ya that's right, I'm a pilot training.” After the preflight we got inside the aircraft and I waved my dad goodbye. Finally, he left, but he just drove down a few couple hundred yards down the runway and watched us take off.
I thought this flight was this was going to be him talking to me about the basics and mostly him flying the aircraft, but no, I started the engine by myself, I did the radios, and the went and taxied. Then, at the edge of the taxiway, I had to get on to the radio and tell everyone that I was back taxiing and so it was my first time being on the real radio with my voice being shaky, “Animas traffic, Cessna 739 JU, back taxing 19er Animas.” My flight instructor looked at me and he was like “you little shaky Boy.” So we back taxied and I was using the rudder and he taught me about how to taxi with the rudder and my first time ever taxiing, I was everywhere.
We went to the end of the runway and pulled around and lined up. Before we got into the aircraft, we were in the waiting room he told me about P Factor. And that's the torque of the a propeller making the airplane yaw to the left so I'd have to step on the right rudder a little to keep it straightened out on the runway. And so I put in the power but I was that going to the left, so right away I slammed right away on to the left rudder but then I was like- “No!” That's the wrong one.! So, I press that right rudder so hard and I was going everywhere. Clocking 58 knots, and I was going down the runway. You could hear the wheels screeching and I smacked my head against the wall quite a bit. And I got a lot headache after that. We went to the practicing area and he taught me the basics.
So, we're flying back and we talked a little and he gave me the whole shpeal to me all about how to land but obviously I didn't land. He taught me the basics and I was with him with the flight controls and we landed. But it was really good experience. When we landed the plane he buttered that “Italian bread,” like all pilots say when you make that good landing. We landed and I taxied back and shut down the aircraft, but he told me to put a control lock in. I did not know what that was but he said the control lock is metal stick-like rod you put in the yoke and makes the ailerons lock in place so the winds don't move them around and destroy them. I was like, cool secure the aircraft. But I forgot to put the control lock in! It was about twelve o'clock when the winds were about to start picking up from the southwest and he was signing my logbook. It was the best feeling ever getting those hours logged in my logbook for the first time. He looked at me and he was like, “Look at that windsock”. “Yeah”, I said but he looked at me and asked if I put in the control lock in and I was like, “no”. So I went out there and did that- he gave me heck for that a lot- he's a pretty straightforward guy and a hard ass, but he is the coolest guy you’ll ever meet.
I think that after that whole experience it has helped me now my parents have really stepped forward to my future because that's what I want to do and they are very supportive. Obviously flight lessons and flight instructions are not really the cheapest thing ever, but they knew that I was into it and it's not just a quick obsession. I'm really thankful for my parents being there for me.
So this is about two years ago in the summer and I was really getting into aviation. I was building my flight simulator cockpits and I got quite a few simulators like Prepar3d. And my parents were finally realizing that after two years that now it's not just an obsession over aviation. They finally went ahead and bought me a flight lesson with my instructor. So, I was skiing up Purgatory on the ski lift with my friend and my dad texted me and he said I have a flight booked next week. I was so stoked. I didn't even hit the terrain parks, I just went down the ski hill met up with my dad. I heard a few whistles behind me- probably ski patrol. And then we got down and I met with my father and we went straight to the airport after that. I just wanted to see what I was going to be up for and just wanted to check out the airport.
Once we arrived there, we met up with this one flight instructor, his name was Mike and there's another flight instructor there, Ron Johnson. And there is Mike. He's a cool guy, but he seemed too “cool” that he wouldn't really be that pushing like, “it's okay… you'll do next time you'll do it correctly.” He was a really quiet guy, but I thought for sure that that was my flight instructor.
So, a week has passed and I was studying up a lot- like a lot- where I went through a whole textbook. It was finally the weekend and it was my first instruction flight. We drive to the airport and I was excited for my first flight with my flight instructor but also nervous. So I went there and just as when we were pulling and we heard a plane arriving. It was a Cessna 172N, so I knew that's the trainer plane- that's me and so they stopped, they shut down the engine, and I saw two people in there. I saw the student because he was in the left seat and I see in the right seat the flight instructor and I was looking for Mike because I thought for sure he was going to be mine. I was looking and I was like this does not look like Mike, because when he got out he was a complete Texan. He had cowboy boots on, mostly everything was was farm related, he had an N.R.A. hat on, and right when he got out of the plane, he spat a giant piece of tobacco that looked like a cat turd. It was big. It was right there on the tarmac and I was like, ohh that's grody. After he spat out that, I don't know why but people who chew that kind of stuff are scary. So, he came inside and with this student and he was signing his logbook and here he's like, “Hi my name's Ron Johnson” in a deeper voice. But I was like, “I'm Colin” in a shaky but excited voice and he had the he had the strongest grip. I felt my middle finger pop.
He told us to go in the lobby room so that's where my father and I went. Of course my dad had to go with me for the first time. We went in there and we sat down and he asked me all these questions, but first question he asked me who am I and I was like, I just told you my name back there. I didn't say that.
So, he asked me the all these questions and he asked me do I know my airspaces and I was like- “no?.” He asked me all these hard questions, which I didn't know at the time, and I was thinking to myself like, “Colin, shut up,” because I'd be giving him these weird complicated answers that made him look at me like, “what you say Boy?” He’d call me Boy, Junior, Sport, all other kinds of names.
So, I completed that painful hour and a half of questions and we went to the tarmac and he gave me this giant textbook. He flipped to the right page and shows the checklist for the aircraft and it was how to do it preflight. I was basically making sure the aircraft is in good condition and we were not going to fall out of the sky, checking the fuel, and other basics. He told me the basics of what to look for and set me off and he went to talk to my dad about twenty yards away and I heard them laugh and they're getting along and I thought, that’s a start. I felt so official out there. I felt like a real certified pilot because I was out there by myself touching the aircraft and I was like OH YES, this is it. I was looking up in the ailerons and a car drove by and they were looking at me. I thought to myself, “Ya that's right, I'm a pilot training.” After the preflight we got inside the aircraft and I waved my dad goodbye. Finally, he left, but he just drove down a few couple hundred yards down the runway and watched us take off.
I thought this flight was this was going to be him talking to me about the basics and mostly him flying the aircraft, but no, I started the engine by myself, I did the radios, and the went and taxied. Then, at the edge of the taxiway, I had to get on to the radio and tell everyone that I was back taxiing and so it was my first time being on the real radio with my voice being shaky, “Animas traffic, Cessna 739 JU, back taxing 19er Animas.” My flight instructor looked at me and he was like “you little shaky Boy.” So we back taxied and I was using the rudder and he taught me about how to taxi with the rudder and my first time ever taxiing, I was everywhere.
We went to the end of the runway and pulled around and lined up. Before we got into the aircraft, we were in the waiting room he told me about P Factor. And that's the torque of the a propeller making the airplane yaw to the left so I'd have to step on the right rudder a little to keep it straightened out on the runway. And so I put in the power but I was that going to the left, so right away I slammed right away on to the left rudder but then I was like- “No!” That's the wrong one.! So, I press that right rudder so hard and I was going everywhere. Clocking 58 knots, and I was going down the runway. You could hear the wheels screeching and I smacked my head against the wall quite a bit. And I got a lot headache after that. We went to the practicing area and he taught me the basics.
So, we're flying back and we talked a little and he gave me the whole shpeal to me all about how to land but obviously I didn't land. He taught me the basics and I was with him with the flight controls and we landed. But it was really good experience. When we landed the plane he buttered that “Italian bread,” like all pilots say when you make that good landing. We landed and I taxied back and shut down the aircraft, but he told me to put a control lock in. I did not know what that was but he said the control lock is metal stick-like rod you put in the yoke and makes the ailerons lock in place so the winds don't move them around and destroy them. I was like, cool secure the aircraft. But I forgot to put the control lock in! It was about twelve o'clock when the winds were about to start picking up from the southwest and he was signing my logbook. It was the best feeling ever getting those hours logged in my logbook for the first time. He looked at me and he was like, “Look at that windsock”. “Yeah”, I said but he looked at me and asked if I put in the control lock in and I was like, “no”. So I went out there and did that- he gave me heck for that a lot- he's a pretty straightforward guy and a hard ass, but he is the coolest guy you’ll ever meet.
I think that after that whole experience it has helped me now my parents have really stepped forward to my future because that's what I want to do and they are very supportive. Obviously flight lessons and flight instructions are not really the cheapest thing ever, but they knew that I was into it and it's not just a quick obsession. I'm really thankful for my parents being there for me.