I spent an hour flying a Cessna 150 — and I have an official logbook to prove it.
On Sunday I arrived at the Van Nuys airport for a “discovery flight” lesson with Sean from California Flight School. When I arrived it was pretty cloudy, but fortunately by the time we went inside and had gone over all the basics, the worst of it had burned away.
The airplane itself was a bit cramped, though after bumbling around a little I managed to get comfortable. Takeoff and landing are the two most technical parts of flying, so Sean handled those. Despite the size of the airport, Van Nuys gets a lot of private jets and is so close to the Burbank and LAX airports that it requires knowledge of the vicinity to get safely to the practice area.
After that, Sean said the phrase “your controls” which was my indication to take over the yoke and pedals. He continued monitoring the airspeed and adjusting the engine accordingly. It’s pretty intuitive once you get used to having to fight with the wind. He had me flying level at first to get used to it before trying a few turns. As with any single engine propeller plane, it tends to want to bank to the left — but it’s easy enough to adapt with only a little practice.
Time flew by in the cockpit, if you’ll pardon the pun, and soon it was time to head back. The vibration and stench of fuel became easy to ignore as I focused on flying. As we approached the airport Sean took the controls again and landed incredibly smoothly.
Before departing, Sean recorded our time in a logbook and handed it to me as an official keepsake.
This is actually something I’d wanted to do for a while, ever since I flew as a passenger in a similarly tiny airplane in Salt Lake City. I’m not really interested in becoming a pilot — but I always enjoy learning new skills from firsthand experience.
My recommendation: At $200 this was a bargain; I’d strongly encourage anyone with an interest in aviation to give it a shot. Do be aware that this is for the tiny Cessna 150 — the big and tall among us might need to splurge for a larger aircraft, as this is the airplane equivalent of a small Honda motorcycle. You’ll leave with a logbook, a sense of adventure, and a wild story.
