Maria Carmen, the teacher from Maureen's school who is inexplicably nice to us, took us to La Mancha, where her brother flies small planes. We stopped first in Tembleque, a small little manchegan town, which was very cute.
Mo's teacher asked her to come watch her brother fly a plane (and after a subsequent translational blunder) we were flying planes in the sky!
After a brief explanation of the plane's machinations in Spanish, we were off!
Maureen took off into the sunny sky in a two enginer, whilst I took off in an engineless "glider." The only question they asked me was my name and my weight and that was the extent of my training. Fortunately, there was a parachute in the case of catastrophe. Unfortunately, I didn't actually ask how to use it, thus making it only extra weight that would propel me to the ground even faster. Luckily, I didn't need it. The small planes are actually incredibly safe, much safer than a commercial flight, and Maria Carmen's brother's job is to do safety inspections on airplanes at the Barcelona airport, so we were in good hands.
The plane that I flew had to be towed into the air by a plane with an engine, which then cut loose from us once we were at a safe height. Though I was in the front and theoretically in control of the plane, I'm pretty sure the instructor in the back had some kind of master control panel in case anything happened. Controlling the plane simple consisted of manuevering a clutch and pushing two pedals up and down. Once I got the handle of turning left and right, we did a few tricks, including letting the plane hang still in the air until it quivers and drops, which is pretty cool. (Again, I'm pretty sure the pilot guy was actually in control this whole time). Landing was a bit of a harrowing experience as the engineless plane cannot land on the paved landing strip so you have to cruise as low above the ground as possible without actually touching it before scraping down on the rough earth.
Maureen went up with Maria Carmen's brother in a plane that did have an engine, so she got to go much higher and farther. Both of us got an amazing view of the manchegan countryside, which, though very flat and relatively barren, is also quite beautiful with its olive trees and rich green and brown coloring. Though by the end of the day we still found ourselves wondering how we'd ended up on an airstrip in the middle of Spain, it was definitely a pretty unforgettable experience!
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| En un lugar de La Mancha... |
This is the kind of information that makes a parent lose sleep. Gen, you know how carefully I read the emergency instructions on each commercial flight -- the thought of flying an engineless plane without a thorough understanding of emergency procedures is unthinkable! Don't let your Farrell blood (extremely cautious) get diluted by the environment in Madrid!
ReplyDeleteSounds like you flew a glider and stalled it, to boot! I'm jealous!
ReplyDeleteHope all is well.