Anthropomorph Aircraft?

I thought I was the only one who did this.

I had kept contact with my flight instructor from California, and very dear friend, Holly, about a number of things. Work, love, aviation... I mentioned to her in making a point at the difficulty of understanding love, that I could understand an airplanes actions and language better than that of love.

Turns out, she also speaks my language.

To put it better, I can feel if an airplane is happy, uncomfortable, saddened, and even upset. It sounds odd, but I can feel the aircraft's personality. It also sympathizes with me. I'll give you two examples. When I last flew over Los Angeles on 21 May 2004, the airplane that I was flying, a Cessna 152, I was sad, since it was going to mark the end of my flying over my beautiful hometown. The airplane felt sad. The wings sagged, and the controls felt slow.

Return to flight, five years later, December of 2008. In a Cessna 172, the airplane felt a little upset at the beginning, just a few seconds after takeoff, the airplane felt happy again. It was almost as if the airplane didn't recognize me in the beginning, but felt that she was in the hands of a capable pilot (if I can say so myself). The airplane felt happy that I was back. The airplane felt that my heart was flying in absolute happiness. That morning, it was me. I was flying. I was back in the saddle.

I felt the language of the airplane again after five years. I apparently, am still fluent, and the airplane still understands me. So I guess all hope is not lost. I will try once again to get back in teh saddle, but then again, that's all you have been hearing since the inception of this blog. But this is not a fight to finish quickly. This is a fight to win over time. I will win the battle over money, and fly once again.