This year, I totally outdid myself for Robby’s Father’s Day gift. After years of him talking about taking flying lessons, I arranged a short, introductory flight with Jefferson City Flying Services.

I contacted the Flight School via e-mail and received a call back within a couple hours. Since Robby has a fear of heights (Yeah I know, and he wants to fly a plane. I don’t get him either so don’t ask me……), the flight school coordinator, AJ, suggested we take the shorter 30 minute flight so that we’re fairly close to the airport in case we need to land quickly.

The plane was small; that’s all I can tell you for I am not a plane connoisseur. There were 4 seats and entry to the cockpit is simply done by climbing up on the wing and sliding yourself right in.

Once you get settled into your seat, you are provided with your very own Top Gun-style headphones and attached microphone. This is how you communicate with the others in the plane during the flight.

And of course there is the extensive pre-flight check that must be done before takeoff. Robby listened intently and AJ was kind enough to show him the ropes and explain what each step was and why it had to be done.

The views of our hometown were breathtaking at this perspective. The pilot kindly offered to fly over our home and he even came around a second time so we could get some good pictures. He was also friendly and talkative and he made our first flight interesting and fun.

We were surprised to find that both the takeoff and the landing were smooth as butter; the landing felt like nothing more than gently sliding yourself down on a beanbag.

The flight, whilst short, was a huge hit with Robby. He was on Cloud 9 for the rest of the day and treasured this gift much more than he would have any material possession I could have given him.

Making your appointment for an introductory flight is easy, just contact Jefferson City Flying Services via their website here to get further details.

Tell me, if you had your pilot’s license, where would you go with it?