Up, Up and Away

I have been checking the newspaper to see if there are any fun family things to do around Spokane, especially since it is a bigger city than Billings, I thought they have a lot more to do. Well, I found something that was a surprise for Josh and Caite. Josh does not like surprises and I was not going to let him know until we got to our destination.

At Felts Airfield, which I swear is located right in the middle of Spokane...but I guess it isn't, they had "free airplane rides" for kids ages 7-17. The whole experience was to get kids interested in aviation...like our kids are not already into this kind of thing. Anyways. They got a choice to either go up solo with a pilot OR up with a group of 4. They wanted to go together and I talked them into going solo, that way they had one on one time with the pilot.

We are going to do what?? Fly?

pre-flight check with the pilot. Josh's pilot had a prosthetic leg...I thought it would have freaked him out, but it didn't. The plane was homemade by his pilot (Ted) and his son. It was really neat...boy was Mike jealous!!Caite and her pre-flight check. Her pilots name was Marion. Getting strapped in for safetyIt's a go!! This is way to cool!

Getting a quick lesson in flying. Ted told Josh that the "joystick" was like the playstation, but it was very touchy and to be careful when making maneuvers. Believe or not, Josh did not want to try and fly it...because it wasn't his airplane...yeah right!!!
Ready for take off
There they go!
Josh on return

Ted asking if Josh liked the flight... Here comes Caite
That was AWESOME....
Can I do it again??

The kids name were listed in the "worlds largest log book" and got a certificate of flight.
This airplane was designed for racing by Marion's husband. He was a pilot during the Vietnam war and helped get reporters out of Laos during the war and had gone all over the world. The plane was part done when he died and was donated to Spokane Community College to the fabrication shop to work on WITH the intent that the airplane would not fly. Once done...they donated back to the airfield and now it is posted there and rotates on the pole. It was really neat.

Well, I think it was a wonderful surprise for Josh and Caite...even though Josh doesn't like surprises!! They asked if they could do it again today...well...as Mike puts it "we'll see". They have a program for kids to get interested in flying and have a flight simulator to practice on. They said that you can get your pilots license at the age of 15. Imagine that...flying an airplane before you can drive a car!!! I guess Josh will want an airplane instead of a car when he gets that age...Geez, look what I got to look forward too!!

What a fun time. Mike and my cheeks were hurting from smiling a lot with them on this wonderful experience.