Hour 77 - Oceano with Shelby

I met Shelby on a previous adventure, as we rode with her to and from the Bay Area.  Melch can be trusted to fall asleep in the car in 10 minutes or less, so that left me to keep our fearless driver awake.

One of the things we talked about was flying and she seemed to be pretty interested in giving it a try.  The weekend after the SF trip was warm but clear so I was looking to go up so I figured I'd see if she was still excited about it.

She was, so we went.  We opted to take the two-seater 152, which is cheaper and a fun plane to learn in.  The plan was for her to have as much behind-the-yoke time as possible, though I did handle the takeoffs and landings and demonstrate a few things along the way.

For a destination we selected Oceano as it's a nearby airport with a pretty ride and a long enough journey to count as a cross-country for my log book.

The 152 isn't too powerful and the day was warm, so I was joking with some pilot buddies about how our climb rate might not be so good.  I told one friend that if we got better than 500FPM, I'd text him a photo.  We did it!

I must have lost weight in the morning frisbee game

The flight is one that I've done several times, but I never get bored of it.  You get to overfly Santa Maria airport along the way...

...and come in over the dunes...

...and of course get dinner at the Rock N' Roll Diner!

Shelby got her behind-the-yoke time...

...and seemed to enjoy it...

...and we got to see a sunset from 3500 feet on the return.

It was the sort of fun little trip that really makes all of the work that goes into getting a pilot's license feel worth it.