Dave Yoder

I laugh every time I think of this. It was many years ago when I was taking lessons from a coworker with my trainer plane. He was a big guy, I mean really big. He taught me how to fly, turn, figure 8's, etc. and land before he taught me how to take off. That way I wouldn't be tempted to fly in his absence. So today he feels confident enough to teach me to take off. He said this will be much easier than landing, just give it full throttle and when you gain some speed pull back on the elevator. So, that's exactly what I did, but he failed to tell me I needed to climb out gradually. I was taking off straight up! He shouted "drop the nose....drop the nose". In the excitement of the moment, I cut the throttle. I can still see that big guy pirouetting on his tippie toes like Michael Jackson shouting "NO....NO!!!" I panicked and threw full throttle while I still had the elevator pulled on full. Well, my trainer flopped over backwards and did a low altitude loop missing the ground my maybe a foot or two. I climbed out and flew away from it. I looked at my buddy and said "You were right, that was easier than landing." We were both laughing so hard, tears were running out of our eyes and our sides were aching.

mzanzirc