Birthday flight for Braman

July 1st, 2008

Well, my time away from flying paid off. I had the opportunity to give a ride to a young man who was celebrating his 13th today. His name is Braman, and he has always loved airplanes and flying. I had the chance to give Braman a ride when he was about 8 years old, and at that time, his dad was suffering from a brain tumor. We went flying to try and cheer him up a bit, and his dad wanted him to fly…he was a pilot as well, and owned a Cessna 337 Skymaster. His dad passed away not long after that, and Braman never lost his passion for flying. He “flew” on Microsoft Flight Simulator every day after that. Fast forward five years, and his mom contacted me about getting Bramen in an airplane for his 13th birthday. You can bet I was more than happy to oblige.

When Braman and his mom showed up at the airport today, he had no idea that he was going to fly. He said “Mom, we’ve been here before, and I just want to go home.” I said, “You sure you don’t want to go fly?” His eyes sorta lit up, and his mom said “Surprise!”

With his spirits lifted (he had just been to the orthodontist), we walked out the ramp door to the waiting Diamond DA20. Braman and I did a full preflight of the airplane, and I explained things to him as we walked around, and answered his questions. After preflight, I had Braman hop in the left seat, and I strapped in to the right seat. We went over everything in the cockpit, and walked thru the engine start.

Engine running, ATIS in hand, and a taxi clearance from ground control, and we were on our way to runway 29. The winds were 260 at 8, and the skies were clear. We taxied out behind a CRJ, which I think Braman thought was pretty cool. Out at the runway, we did a runup, and called the tower for a takeoff clearance. “Diamond 409AM, runway 29, you’re cleared for takeoff, left turnout to the southwest is approved.” Here we go!

I did the takeoff, and maneuvered us to the southwest side of town where I handed the airplane over to Braman. He has no prior training, other than Flight Sim, but I wanted to see if he could hold altitude at 2,500′ to start. To my surprise (perhaps I shouldn’t have been), he was able to keep the airplane within +200, -50 of our target altitude, and he did that for the entire flight!! Set up at 2,500′ we loitered around the area about 15-18 miles from Bloomington, and then flew on over to Clinton Lake to fly around that were he and his mom still go to take the boat out, just like they did when dad was still alive. He knew exactly where we were over the lake. He pointed out the marina, the launch, the powerplant cooling channel, and the cove they always go to…he’s 13!!! While over the lake, I took a couple pictures of Braman flying the airplane…

After we flew around the lake, I said it was time to head back to Bloomington, but that we could fly over his house first. I told him the general direction to head back to the airport. He made the turn, and flew us to about ten miles out when he said “I see it.” Good eyes. His house is about five miles from the airport, and at that point, I took the airplane back so we could circle over his house, and school.

It was time to head back in, and it all went by WAY to fast for him. I called the tower from five miles out to let them know we were done with our circle, and were inbound. They told us to report a two mile left base for runway 29. At 2 miles, I was about to call when they called us to tell us we were in sight, and were cleared to land runway 29. Winds were the same as when we departed, and I made a not-so-sensational landing, but two very soft touchdowns. )

As we taxied in, we talked a little more about learning to fly. While I am not an instructor, and this time can’t be logged for him, I told him I feel he will make an excellent pilot very soon, and he got a big smile on his face. After we shut down, we met back up with mom, and we talked a little about lessons. She agreed, and we’ll have a new student pilot very soon!

This was one of those very special flights for me, and while I’m positive it made his day, it made mine as well.

Happy 13th Birthday Braman!!

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