Reach for the skies with a beginner’s flight at Leading Edge
Jessica Eyre, left, is shown an aerobatic Pitss S-2b plane by Leading Edge Aviation's assistant chief flight instructor, Aryan Mashayekhi prior to a discovery flight at South Valley Regional Airport in West Jordan on Wednesday, April 4, 2012. Leading Edge Aviation offers flight instruction programs. JAMES ROH/Daily Herald
Leading Edge Aviation's assistant chief flight instructor, Aryan Mashayekhi, teaches Jessica Eyre how to fly a Cessna 172 during a discovery flight at South Valley Regional Airport in West Jordan on Wednesday, April 4, 2012. Leading Edge Aviation offers flight instruction programs. JAMES ROH/Daily Herald
A view of the Salt Lake Valley during a discovery flight with Leading Edge Aviation on Wednesday, April 4, 2012. Leading Edge Aviation offers flight instruction programs. JAMES ROH/Daily Herald
Leading Edge Aviation's assistant chief flight instructor, Aryan Mashayekhi, right, and Jessica Eyre watch as battery floats in the air upon reaching zero gravity during a discovery flight at South Valley Regional Airport in West Jordan on Wednesday, April 4, 2012. Leading Edge Aviation offers flight instruction programs. JAMES ROH/Daily Herald
Jessica Eyre exits a Cessna 172 plane following a discovery flight with Leading Edge Aviation's assistant chief flight instructor, Aryan Mashayekhi at South Valley Regional Airport in West Jordan on Wednesday, April 4, 2012. Leading Edge Aviation offers flight instruction programs. JAMES ROH/Daily Herald
What can you get for around a hundred bucks?
A nice steak dinner. A pair (or two) of shoes. A tank, maybe a tank and a half, of gasoline.
What about an opportunity to pilot a plane?
I got that opportunity a few weeks ago through Leading Edge Aviation, which operates out of the South Valley Regional Airport in West Jordan.
Leading Edge is a one-stop shop of sorts for pilots: You can buy fuel and gear (headphones, etc.) in its shop, private pilots can relax in the lounge while they wait for their clients, and students take classes there.
Instructor Aryan Mashayekhi, the assistant chief flight instructor at Leading Edge, took us on a tour of the hangars, with various kinds of airplanes — including an open cockpit aerobatics bi-plane and a Husky, which is a common plane flown in Alaska because it can land in tight places, like in a small bare spot of a forest to deliver supplies to outlying towns.
As we walked through, there were planes coming and going, mechanics working on engines and other employees working on the hangar itself.
We went through the safety inspection with Mashayekhi, checking that the wings were shifting properly, that there weren’t any missing rivets or dings; we checked the fuel lines to ensure that the fuel gauges were reading properly, and that there wasn’t any contaminants in the fuel itself. Then we checked the instrument panel to ensure they were working properly.
Then it was time to buckle in. I sat in the driver’s seat, so to speak, and Mashayekhi next to me. It was like driver’s ed again, only this time, I had an encouraging instructor who was excited to introduce me to the wide blue yonder, rather than a tired football coach yelling at me from the passenger seat, doing his best to scare me into a parallel parking space.
Mashayekhi gave me a few instructions: Push the throttle in for speed, pull out to slow down, sort of like a choke. The yoke doesn’t do anything for you on the ground. Steering is all in your feet. Right and left pedals turn panels on the wings that turn you right and left, respectively. I actually ended up sitting on my hands to keep from using the stick — which looks remarkably like a car’s steering wheel — to steer us as we taxied along the runway.
I was wishing for a booster seat, which Mashayekhi said was a fairly common piece of equipment for pilots, especially new ones, so I could comfortably see over the nose of the Cessna 172, a basic trainer and most common aircraft. The four-seater hasn’t had much design change in the last 30-40 years, according to Mashayekhi. But I just sat up tall and I could see well enough.
As we taxied down the runway, guiding the plane with the white directional lines, we lined up to take off. Mashayekhi announced our plans and we picked up speed. It’s a bit of multi-tasking, keeping the throttle and the yoke in harmony so you keep a steady line into the air, then keeping steady as you fly.
But, oh, once we were airborne, it was hard to believe that I was piloting us over the south end of the Salt Lake Valley. We made our way over familiar shopping centers and thoroughfares, and as a resident of Herriman, we flew over my house, my daughter’s elementary school and then headed over Kennecott Copper Mine, which is quite a sight.
As a child, I loved the end of the film “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” when they crash through the ceiling in the Wonkavator, and fly over whatever mysterious land Charlie lives in; flying in this Cessna is the closest thing to the Wonkavator in my reality.
And just like the Wonkavator, the Cessna can go “sideways and slantways and longways and backways and frontways and squareways” (well I’m not sure about that last one, but either way, it’s pretty awesome).
Mashayekhi did warn us — and reminded us multiple times during the flight — that he had sick bags at the ready in case we felt queasy. But thankfully, no one’s breakfast came up, even after Mashayekhi was kind enough to take control and do a few maneuvers for me and the photographer sitting in the back seat. This, of course, was better than any amusement park ride I had ever been on. I can’t even imagine the rush if I was actually the one doing it.
For one “trick,” I held out an AA battery in the palm of my hand. As Mashayekhi dropped the plane suddenly, the battery floated in mid-air for a few seconds as we reached zero gravity, quite possibly the coolest physics lesson I’ve ever received in my life.
We cruised around for about a half-hour, enjoying the scenery and the bright sunshine of spring. I got a little more assistance in the landing — the hardest part of learning to fly — but we were on the ground fairly smoothly, and I was back to sitting on my hands so I could focus on my feet to taxi back to the hangar.
Back on solid ground, I couldn’t believe how liberating it was to fly. In fact, Mashayekhi says he has a hard time driving a car on a trip, because flying is so much faster, and let’s face it, a lot more fun. He said that he hasn’t had many people decide that it’s not for them. A large majority can’t get enough after their Discovery Flight.
As a hobby or a career, learning to fly is very accessible. The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association has a program, Let’s Go Flying, that offers free information on what it takes to become a pilot, and, of course, Leading Edge Aviation has information as well.
Students can start their training at any time, and complete it at their own pace. Mashayekhi said it’s a misnomer that flying is only for the elite. For more information, visit www.letsgoflying.com or Leading Edge Aviation at leaviation.com.
Leading Edge Aviation
What: Discovery Flight, pilot your own plane with the assistance of a trained instructor
Where: South Valley Regional Airport, 7365 S. 4450 West, West Jordan
Cost: $99
Information: (801) 858-0042, www.leaviation.com, email info@leaviation.com