First flight in the copilot seat

My second flight in a small plane was to Wilmington, DE on business. We took our company pilot's 2 engine Aztec down and back (the company plane was still in the shop from our first trip). I got to ride in the co-pilot's seat and observe the IFR flight down and back. I was hooked!

My view out the front window on the return flight.












My boss Rick and my co-worker Denise were in the back (Denise looks a little queasy :) )












Mountains in southern NY on the way back. A little bit of chop from the afternoon updrafts.












The control panel on the Aztec. The left side are the navigation instruments like the altimeter, airspeed indicator, turn coordinator, and heading indicator. The center section is the radios and VOR radios. The right side in front of me has the engine performance indicators.








Coming up on Stewart AFB (just below the horizon in the distance)












Stewart AFB (Newburgh, NY) on the right as we approach Poughkeepsie. They were friendly and let us take a shortcut and fly through the landing pattern.











The Newburg-Beacon Bridge (I-84 crosses the Hudson River)












Another shot of the bridge. The city of Beacon and Mt. Beacon are on the far side of the Hudson River.











That's our home field - Dutchess County Airport - Poughkeepise NY (KPOU) . The water in the foreground is Wappingers Creek where Rt. 9 crosses it.










Tried to take a picture off toward my house...













Close up of Wappingers Creek as we flew past it. You can just make out our office in the bottom left corner of the picture.











Another try to take a picture of my house... that's the houses in the field leading up the hill on All Angels Hill Rd.











View across the cockpit towards Poughkeepsie.













Shot out the front window on final approach. A bit of a crosswind but smooth landing. Bob is an excellent pilot as I'm sure my story about my first flight with him bears out.








After we landed, I helped Bob push the plane back in the hangar and talked with him about the flight details some more. He told me that he was a licensed instructor and offered to teach me to fly! More details in my next post...