Taking a new coworker Cubbin'

Plane: Cub, 65 hp
Route: 40I, Local 
Weather: Few clouds, 87 degrees, wind 040 degrees at 5 knots

I've known Roberto for a little while now; through a nice little small-world coincidence, his wife took Gina's amazing maternity and newborn photos and then I realized he worked at the same company I joined back in December. Unsurprisingly, it didn't take much chatting to realize he's a fellow aviation nut. So much so he's even started his own flying lessons at Stewart!

It's not often I end up with a photo of myself fueling a Cub

Even without his student pilot status, we've been talking flying together for a while. Having finally gotten Cub current again, I asked if he wanted to up with me this morning. I know he's so busy learning as a student that he probably doesn't have much time to just enjoy the view from above. The goal today was to give him that opportunity!

I'd say he enjoyed the front seat nearly as much as the pilot's perch

We left the pattern and flew south along the valley towards I-71 at about 2,000 feet. I pointed out the bridges over the interstate then turned southwest towards Mason. As I often do with passengers, we circled King's Island - it never disappoints. Then I turned north towards Dayton.

It's always fun to see an amusement park from the air

Originally I planned to fly around downtown Dayton but I didn't want to have to hurry to get back. Instead, we flew over Wright Brothers and Roberto's house at about 3,000 feet to remain clear of the traffic pattern. Then, seeing some widely scattered, puffy clouds in between us and Stewart, I climbed up to 5,000 feet so he could enjoy that always-amazing pilot's-eye view.

Passing just west of Wright Brothers Airport

Always enjoyable - seeing your house from the sky

It was much cooler a few thousand feet up, which was most appreciated on this very muggy morning. I handed the controls over for a few minutes after we leveled off; Roberto did an expert job making noticeably coordinated turns around the blue sky. You'd never know he's only had a few lessons!

Relaxing in back while Roberto navigates through the morning sky

It was a very beautiful morning over southwest Ohio

Widely scattered clouds made for a perfect Cub experience

Flying around the puffy white clouds

I did a couple steep turns then showed him a semi-steep spiral to quickly lose altitude and return to the airport. As we descended the few thousand feet, it almost instantly warmed back up. Before long, we were on our way back into the traffic pattern.

Approaching Stewart on a 45 to a left downwind for Runway 8

As I did throughout the flight, I talked through what I was doing. I reduced the throttle abeam the numbers on downwind and set up for a normal landing. He was apparently interested enough in my approach that he filmed the entire thing - which I've posted below. It's really neat to see one of my landings from a (pilot) passenger's perspective!

Landing on Runway 8 from Roberto's perspective

I touched down reasonably softly and we taxied back to the hangar. Roberto was all grins; I'm really glad we finally got to fly together and especially happy he enjoyed it so much. As he continues with his training, I very much hope to do my part to keep him motivated and be as helpful as possible - including more flights together.

Flight Track: Google Earth KMZ File 
Today's Flight: 1.2 hours
Total Time: 396.5 hours