Rosalie Willis after taking a trial flight with the Kāpiti Districts Aero Club.
Rosalie Willis embarks on a trial flight with Kāpiti Districts Aero Club.
From the beach it looked as though Kāpiti Island was surrounded by cloud.
Great puffy, white ones with an ominous tinge of grey.
The weather wasn't bad but it wasn't great either, I was informed by my pilot from Kāpiti Districts Aero Club, Josh Hay.
Spontaneously embarking on my first ever trial flight, I didn't have much time to get nervous about suddenly going from enjoying a scenic flight to taking the controls myself.
I never imagined myself being someone who would learn to fly. I'm adventurous on land and water, but adventuring by air had never occurred to me as an option.
But suddenly a Cessna 152 is going through its final pre-flight check ready for me to take the wheel.
The C-152 is a fixed wing, two-seater aircraft known for its reliability which makes it ideal for pilot training.
They are the club's workhorses, solid and dependable, an ideal training aircraft as they are tough, safe, and perform predictably.
Before we head out we study a mock dashboard very similar to the instrument panel we will see in the C-152 when up in the air.
When driving a car, something that I regularly do, you've got just one steering wheel and an accelerator to worry about. There's a lot more to think about when flying a plane.
Three main things are pointed out to me - the elevator, ailerons and rudder which are the primary flight controls.
The elevator causes the aircraft to pitch up or down, changing the position of the aircraft's nose in relation to the horizon.
Ailerons bank the aircraft left or right, causing one wing to go up while the other goes down.
The rudder, controlled by foot pedals, is used to make the nose of the aircraft move left or right.
Also pointed out were the ancillary controls which I would not have to worry about on my first flight, the power lever, altitude indicator and airspeed gauge.
Taking off into the wind, we head north before circling around to Kāpiti Island.
Flying up, over the cloud, we glide through to the western side of the island with the cloud making for an atmospheric flight.
Content taking pictures from my seat, after we get over the cloud, I'm offered the chance to take the controls for myself.
Slowly I'm given more and more control as Josh talks me through what I'm doing. At first it's feeling the movements he's making the aircraft do before he lightens his grip on the wheel and lets me take control.
And with that, I'm flying. The adrenaline is like nothing else.
We head south around Kāpiti Island before turning around and head back towards the airport.
All too soon we're coming into land and suddenly it's over.
There's nothing quite like the experience of flying. You're going to have to try it for yourself.
To try it yourself visit Kāpiti Districts Aero Club for more information.
