It was a decently clear day as Jeff and I drove thru the valley on the way to Van Nuys airport. We pulled up to His hanger at about 3 PM and began prepping his plane for our trip to San Diego. I was there to help him setup his emergency O2 tank and then to be his photographer for the flight. After finishing all the prep and meeting up with Martina, his flight instructor/Co Pilot/Austrian Hell Raiser we boarded the plane.

Armed with a Canon GL2 and Cannon D1 SLR we boarded the plane and began taxing out to the runway. This was my first time in a Cessna, or any private class plane for that matter. My only experience with flying before yesterday was much the same as anyone else, book a ticket, arrive at the airport, buy some magazine that I normally wouldn’t read, wait in the boarding line, get crammed into a seat, get handed a tiny bottle of liquor, try to sleep, land and get the heck out of the airport…..this was all together different.

After manually removing the plane from the hanger, Martina moved her seat forward and I hopped in the backseat, much like getting into my mom’s old mustang as a child.   After being cleared by air traffic control we headed down the runway and off into the blue southern California Sky.  Minutes later we were soaring over LA County, climbing higher and higher into the sky. We entered the clouds for what I assumed would be a few minutes of low visibility and then break thru to the skyline. I was wrong, for most of the flight Jeff navigated through IMC (instrument weather) via the control panel and contact with various traffic control towers. Even with little to look at it was an amazing experience. Being able to see firsthand what goes on in a cockpit was an exciting experience for me.

We landed in San Diego safe and sound and had a good dinner at a local Mexican Joint. Afterward it was back in the plane for our return voyage. We followed the coast line all the way from San Diego thru Orange County and back to the valley making a gorgeous night landing back at Van Nuys. I was able to capture some pretty Interesting pictures and a lot of good video. Hopefully in the next few days we will be able to upload them so everyone can see how incredible the experience was.

Always Breezy,

Kenny