First Passengers!

Today was just gorgeous out! Calm winds (~5 kts), just barely a crosswind, blue skies, unlimited visibility, and a comfortable 75 degrees. What a great late afternoon for flying, and perfect conditions to take Laura on her first flight ever in a small airplane! After getting out of work a bit later than I wanted to, got to the airport around 5:20. I called ahead of time and the lineman Eric had the plane out, fueled, and ready to go! We had some coordination ahead of time, Evie hurt her finger so we were distracted for a bit getting her bandaged up. After a thorough preflight, got Laura in the plane, I did the passenger briefing (hehe, now I know what a stewardess feels like showing people how to buckle their safety belt), taxi to runway 32, and off we went around 6:15 pm. I have to say, Laura took the whole flight in stride, she really seemed to enjoy it and wasn't phased at all by the occasional bump. We headed for Tainter Lake, circled the lake a bit and saw our house. Then onto Menomonie, Laura wanted to see the UW Stout campus and town. Finally, back to Eau Claire. We were gone about 45 minutes, and touched down again on 32 for what I thought was a pretty smooth landing. We taxied back to the Heartland ramp, it was now about 7:00 pm. The evening was still pretty early and Evie was still in good spirits, so Carol came up with me for a couple trips around the pattern. This is the first time she has been in a small airplane for many years, and she did great too! Mother like daughter! We came around for a touch and go, and then just a full stop landing on 32. Carol also seemed to really enjoy the flight, she was another great passenger, maybe we can go for a longer one in the future!

The first 1.2 hours in the logbook carrying passengers and a private pilot, what a great time!