Nina's Adventures in Aviation
As part of a coming-home celebration, the family took a trip to Atlantic City for a weekend in the Cirrus SR22-G6. Ms. Nina walked the ramp to check out all of the airplanes and even got some flight time at the controls.
Nina turned two years old this week, so it was time to start preparing her for her airplane single-engine land (ASEL) ratings. She learned about flight controls like the side-stick (yoke) and throttle. She can’t reach the pedals yet. She also learned where the mixture, fuel pump, ICS, autopilot, and FMS are in a Cirrus SR22-G6.
Ms. Nina took a trip to Savannah. Thanks to the gate agent and crew, on the flight down, she got to enjoy her own seat in first class on a CRJ-701, operated by PSA Airlines. On the return flight, she got to ride on Mommy’s lap on a CRJ-200, also operated by PSA Airlines.
Ms. Nina is now an expert passenger. She did want to review the safety information just in case.
Ms. Nina fell asleep before we even taxied for takeoff. She stayed asleep most of the flight and only woke up the last ten minutes to each lots and lots of goldfish.
Advice to other parents: mount the car seat facing forward, not backwards. That way when the pilots accelerate for takeoff, their heads don’t flop down onto their chest.
On January 18, 2020, Ms. Nina got a very special airplane ride in a 1961 Dehavilland Otter (DHC-3). The flight was from Key West International Airport (EYW) to Dry Tortugas National Park. Ms. Nina was great on the 40 minute flight out, but was a little tired and cranky on the flight back.
Ms. Nina and Abba sat back in coach on an E-175 while Mommy got to enjoy first class en route to Key West. Nina was an excellent passenger.
Captain Nina had her first chance to sit in the left seat of a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737. As you can probably see from the tears, she wasn’t quite ready to take the controls by herself, but rather, preferred sitting on Mommy’s lap. Maybe next time. Or maybe she’ll start off with a Schweizer SGS 2-33 instead.
Ms. Nina is already an expert passenger on one of her regular flights to Tampa. She was very happy to have her own seat on the flight. We luv Southwest Airlines!
At 16 months, Ms. Nina took her first international flight from IAD to FRA. The flight lasted approximately 8 hours on an Luftansa Airbus A-330. While she wanted to get a flight-deck seat and log some SIC flight time, she fell asleep in the back instead. Oh well, next time Airbus.