Pilot Life: Taking My Friend, Katy Flying!

Well, today's plan for a flight changed drastically, but I still got to take up Katy, a first-time passenger! I was originally planning on taking the Piper Cherokee up for a late-afternoon flight; that did not happen as I ended up taking a Katana for a late-morning/early afternoon flight due to a tight schedule on my passenger's part. It all worked out as I was planning a shorter outing anyways. After we arrived at the airport, we went over to the airplane and I conducted the pre-flight. After pre-flight inspections showed no concerning areas, we hopped in and I got the engine started.

A quick hop around the valley in N992CT!

I taxied the plane a short ways and did the engine run-ups. Nothing abnormal resulted, so I taxied a short distance again toward the runway. I held short while some traffic (namely another Katana!) cleared out. While we were waiting, we took a selfie!

Obligatory selfie before takeoff!
(Photo credit: Katy Pratt, my lovely passenger!)

Once Runway 30 was clear, I taxied onto to the runway, lined up and throttled forward to begin takeoff roll. I got us airborne and we headed to the south part of Utah Valley. Needless to say, my passenger was enjoying the experience, a first for her! I pointed the plane towards Payson and descended until we were a thousand feet off the ground. I then positioned the plane so we could circle the Payson LDS Temple, which we did twice. Afterwards, we headed back to Spanish Fork where I entered the pattern and executed one touch-and-go landing.

After getting back in the air, I elected to make the second landing a full-stop since my passenger had classes to get back to and it was a good time to call it quits with time being a limiting factor in today's flight. During the pattern, I had to deal a couple of birds, which I had to avoid, and warn other aircraft about! After landing and the rollout, I cleared the runway at the next available taxiway and headed back to the ramp, where I shut the engine down and called another successful flight.

Another fun outing, another ecstatic first-time passenger!