Nina's Adventures in Aviation
She was just sitting in the chairs waiting for her flight at SRQ, when Ms. Nina heard the sound of two CFMI turbine engines spooling up as the B-737 was taxiing into the gate. She rushed over to the window to see the airplane and try to identify all of the rainbow hearts on it.
Abba and Nina take a trip to Florida for Veteran’s Day Weekend. She was very excited to fly in a 737, but wanted to know why it wasn’t a 747. Ms. Nina was a great passenger for the entire flight. She found all of the rainbow hearts throughout the airport and the airplane. She was still too scared to go visit the cockpit at the end of the flight.
Ms. Nina went to a Halloween party with her friends. She dressed up like a princess, but as soon as she found an airplane, she jumped into pilot-mode. She made a perfect landing. Next year’s costume: Princess Pilot.
Ms. Nina knows all the rules about properly fastening her seatbelt when the Captain turns on the fasten seatbelt sign. “Ding!” Time to buckle up! Florida-baby needs to buckle up too.
Ms. Nina got to experience what will likely be one of many trips to an airplane boneyard while visiting her father currently stationed in Arizona. While she had to see it from behind fences, she was able to see multiple different types of Boeing 747s, including the DreamLifter, 777s, 737s, E-145s, E-175s and helicopters such at the Bell AH-1 Cobra and Bell OH-58A. She was most excited to see the airplane missing parts. “I want to see the airplane with no wheels!”
It’s been several months since Ms. Nina’s last commercial flight, but that didn’t make her anything less of a great passenger. This time she traveled out to Arizona to visit her father who is stationed out there with the US Army National Guard. Several times in the days leading up to the flight, and even after she arrived, Ms. Nina asked, “Why are we taking the 737? Why aren’t we taking my yellow Cub?” We had to explain to Ms. Nina that it would probably be quicker to drive a car to Arizona than it would to fly the Cub.
Ms. Nina takes a brief lesson in basic flight controls – learning about how the yoke controls the ailerons and elevator in a Cirrus SR22. Then she takes a nap. She was a great passenger and co-pilot for the entire 6.6 hour flight.
This flight is en route from Venice, FL (VNC) to St. Petersburg, FL (PIE) to Claxton, GA (CWV) to Gaithersburg, MD (GAI).
Ms. Nina was supposed to co-pilot the SR22 to Albert Whitted Field (SPG) in St. Petersburg, FL to have dinner with Grampa Henry. Unfortunately typical Florida afternoon thunderstorms were rolling in so she decided to drive instead. When she arrived, Ms. Nina pretended she was an airplane and wanted to practice her “crash landings”. She made Mommy join in too.
Ms. Nina was a great passenger on a family trip to Florida. She didn’t spend any time up front, but she was still a pleasure to have on board. We stopped for fuel in Maxton, NC (MEB) and then in Gainsville, FL (GNV) to drop off Lori’s friend, before reaching our final destination of Venice, FL (VNC). The aircraft is a Cirrus SR22, N523RS.
Today, Ms. Nina had the opportunity to fly round-trip in a Cirrus Vision Jet (SF50) from Gaithersburg, MD (GAI) to Owensboro, KY (OWB) and back. It included a stop-over in Knoxville, TN (TYS) – home of the Cirrus Vision Center. Unfortunately, last night, Ms. Nina was bitten up by many mosquito bites and subsequently spent the entire night scratching them and not sleeping. She was not a happy passenger today. The flight to OWB was in N10RS. The return flight was in N99CV.
