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NCWG Cadet Shares Her First O-Flight Experience

cadet on plane wing
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C/Amn Emily Worth learns how to check the fuel for contaminants. Photo credit: 2d Lt Liz Dunster, CAP (click image to view full size)
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Tar River Composite Squadron cadet has exciting first flight

By C/Amn Emily Worth, CAP
Tar River Composite Squadron

3/8/2018–ELM CITY, NC–I joined Civil Air Patrol in December of 2017, about a year after my sister. I went on my first orientation flight with Lt Col Dion Viventi and my sister, C/TSgt Kyra Worth, on 25 February 2018. I think that my mother was a little worried that only one of us would make it back in one piece. We went up in Cessna 182 Skylane N9930E from the Rocky Mount-Wilson Regional Airport and flew out to Washington-Warren airport in Washington County.

In January, my squadron let us use a flight simulator where we flew around the airport where we hold our meetings. I can safely say that Lt Col Viventi’s landing with the Cessna was smoother than my landing in the simulator. It was neat though, with the simulator, because it gave me an idea of what to expect when going up for real. I had not really thought about flying or much of anything related to it, but the orientation flight was a lot of fun and it made me think a little more towards flying something. My mother keeps trying to convince me otherwise though, she wants me to jump out of airplanes with a parachute like she did when she was in the Army. Whenever we have this conversation, our squadron commander, Maj Hess, always says that, "there’s no point in jumping out of a perfectly good airplane."
 
Going back to the flight, it really was eye-opening. I have been on large commercial planes before, flying out to visit family and such, but you can’t really see much from one of those. In the little Cessna, we were flying at about 3,000 feet and you could see everything. It was a completely new experience for me. My sister had told me that the flight would be different and that you could see practically everything, but I didn’t really understand quite how much until I was up there myself. The smallness of the plane was a little nerve-wracking at first, and I was slightly skeptical of it. It looked like it would flip over in the slightest bit of wind. However, it was completely fine and my worry was unfounded. 
 
Lt Col Viventi showed me all of the dials and switches that are used when flying the plane. I have heard some people say that flying a plane is pretty easy and, while it doesn’t take a lot of physical prowess, I think that it does take quite a bit of mental capacity. You have to watch everything and be able to adapt and react quickly when the slightest thing happens and causes changes. As it was being explained to me, I realized that it truly takes a lot of focus and attention to detail.
 
I had a lot of fun on my first orientation flight and am excited for the next one. C/TSgt Worth has flown out to the Wright Brothers Memorial and says that it is absolutely awesome to see. That is where I hope to go on my next flight. I am still unsure as to whether I will ultimately fly airplanes or jump out of them; maybe I can do both. However, I think that the Civil Air Patrol orientation flights are an amazing opportunity and I plan to make the most of them!