After lunch Dad drove all four of us to the local airport where his plane was. I was going to get a ride in a two-seater Piper Cub. I’d been on lots of planes before, but never a small propeller-driven plane like this. As we drove through the airport Dad gave us a tour of the planes we passed. He would name them and tell us who owned them and even a history of the planes and their owners. The owners of several of the small private planes were executives from the auto industry that Dad knew well.

We pulled up next to a school bus orange plane on what looked three spindly legs with wheels. It was tied down at the wings and tail and it seemed tiny compared to the commercial planes I’d been on. I had never been up close to a private plane before, so this was a brand-new experience. The skin was fabric and the floor looked like balsa wood. The plane looked as if it would be crushed by the weight of a child, let alone two adults. Dad said he could fly three, but the third person would not have a window; he laughed at that comment, but I didn’t get the joke. The tail looked like a coffin, which made me understand now that a third person could lay down in the tail while the pilot and passenger sat in the two seats. Both seats had controls to fly the plane. I was told this was because the pilot would sit in the front or the back, depending upon how the weight in the plane was distributed.

I had honor of being first to be given a ride in the Piper Cub; often just called, “the cub.”

Dad motioned me to the back seat and showed me how to buckle in. He also pointed out the controls and told me that he would be flying the plane from the front and that the controls would be moving and not to stop the movement of the controls. Preventing him from operating the controls of the plane was something I had no intention of doing. I was excited to fly with him and tried hard to take it all in.

I was strapped into the back seat and about to take off on my first small plane ride. Dad said we would make a short loop around town and then land so that Ann could get some flying time in, too. Then he revved the engine while Mom and Ann waved us off to the runway. There was no tower at this little airport so pilots worked on visual flying rules. So Dad looked up down and to the side and cleared himself for takeoff. The engines made a tremendous noise as we proceeded down the runway. I realized that I had taken off many times, but never with a view in front of me. What was in front of me was trees and that was scary. We were heading directly for a stand of tall and very solid-looking trees. Dad seemed unconcerned, and well before the end of the runway, we picked up altitude and cleared the trees by a wide margin. We turned around and dipped our wings as we passed over Ann and Mom. Once we were cruising at a constant altitude the engine noise subsided and we had a beautiful view of the surrounding countryside. The day was mild and extremely clear—I could see for miles. There were factories in the distance and when we flew by Ann’s parent’s house, I could see Ann’s car in the driveway and the dogs outside playing. With my own set of controls, I could see what Dad was doing as he flew and anticipate what was going to be happening as the controls moved. I was actually in the cockpit of an airplane!

The landing was very different from the takeoff, but it went very smoothly. There was a mild cross breeze and we almost seemed to be flying sideways as we headed for the runway. As we landed the plane turned to the direction of the runway and we quickly came to a stop. Dad explained to me that the cross breeze made it necessary to ”crab” or fly sideways on the approach. On larger planes passengers may not feel or see how much “crabbing” a plane is doing, but in a small plane it was obvious.

Ann and Dad took off now with Ann at the controls (Ann couldn’t solo yet). They flew off out of sight and Mom and I stayed on the ground talking about my flight. She mentioned how good a pilot their son Clay was in the cub and that it was not flown as much since he died. I asked her if she would be going for a ride, and she said no. One or two planes took off and landed as we chatted, but it was not a busy airport. Mom waved at some people she knew and I kept an eye out for the orange Piper Cub.

Suddenly I saw it approaching the airport. I couldn’t tell if Ann or Dad was at the controls, but I felt some apprehension as it came in with its nose pointing to the runway. It glided in gently and quietly and the nose pulled up just as the three wheels hit the ground. Ann and Dad were smiling at us as the Piper Cub wheeled its way towards us. Ann waved as Dad steered it to its spot beside us.

Ann got out and announced that she had taken off and flown most of the flight except for the landing. With the cross wind, she didn’t feel comfortable crabbing for a landing. Dad tied down the plane and we piled into the car to head back home. We got back to Ann’s parents’ house and immediately started saying goodbyes. I petted the dogs goodbye, hugged Mom and Dad, and Ann and I walked to the car and headed home.

After a visit of only a few hours, I felt a real connection with her parents and a deeper connection with Ann.