Chapter 4

Kyle began his actual flying lessons immediately, as per the agreed upon schedule. After several weeks, even though he was capable and confident enough to solo, Gary denied him that opportunity.

"You just don't have enough experience in flying in lousy weather, and I 'm not going to let you get up there by yourself and suddenly discover what a thunderstorm is."

"I hear you. I'm in no hurry. I know that I can fly this plane, but you're correct. I can fly it in nice weather. Now I need some bad weather experience. How do we get that?"

"I spoke with a friend who has a service up at an airport near Tacoma. I can fly us up there in a little faster plane and then we can use one of his for training. Couple of days of flying in that stuff will do you a world of good."

"How long will it take to get there?"

"If we take the Citation, about half an hour, but that's going to cost you a bit more in fees."

"When can we do this?"

"Watch the weather for Tacoma. When the forecast is lousy for a couple days, we'll shoot up there."

Three days later Gary and Kyle headed for Tacoma. A moderate cold front was on its way and Gary knew that the layers of warm and cold air would change how the airplane handled. On the way, Gary allowed Kyle to have the controls of the Citation jet. It was a small business jet, two engines and plenty of speed. It was obvious to Kyle that the plane handled differently than one with a propeller. It responded to his touch, gently moving to his commands.

"Oh Gary, this is the way to fly. You have got to teach me how to get to fly this."

"First things first, Young Man; license, then experience, then a few other things and then maybe two engine jets. Not next week!"

"I hear you, but we are going to get there."

Gary landed at Sanderson Field, a little to the southwest of the large Seattle -Tacoma air complex. After introductions and a pre-flight inspection, Kyle and Gary headed out to the runway. This would be Kyle's first experience with real crosswinds. He knew what the book said; crosswinds like to steer airplanes off of runways. He had no idea just how much force they could bring to bear. When they broke for lunch, Kyle had made eight crosswind landings onto two different runways, the worst of which had winds blowing directly into the side of the plane. By mid afternoon, he had experienced headwinds, tailwinds, updrafts and downdrafts and even flown for twenty minutes through a mixture of rain and sleet. That was enough and Gary called it quits for lessons that day.

Two days later, Kyle appeared for his lesson and, following his pre-flight check, climbed into the left seat of the plane. Expecting Gary to follow, he was surprised when Gary shut the door instead, stepped off the wing and wished him good luck. For most student pilots, their first 'solo' is an exciting time for them; for Kyle it was a non-event. He was off, down the runway, and into the air without hesitation. He circled the field twice and then flew out to the house. Flying lower than normal, he 'wagged' his wings as he flew past and then returned to the field to do three practice landings before finally settling down for the morning.

"You are a most unusual student, Kyle. Your coordination is incredible! Hand to eye, hand to foot, everything; I've never had a student do so well so quickly."

"Well, what's next, instruments?"

"That would be next, but you can't start that until you have your license, and you need about twenty more hours of solo time first. And, I'll bet you've figured out that with your level of inexperience, even as good as you are, about three hours of flying is all you can handle before you start to get weary."

One week later, Kyle scheduled his official pilot's exam from the FAA in Tacoma. Two hours later, he was officially a pilot.

"That's quite a birthday present, Kyle," Gary said after Kyle had come back into the office holding his license and beaming from ear to ear.