On the street

Next Generation Aircraft Expo

I'm not a fly by the seat of my pants kind of gal. I like lists, order and knowing what's coming down the pike. Impulsive, I'm not. That's why my husband was surprised to hear that I was going to go up in the air with pilots offering free flights Saturday at the Next Generation Air Expo at the Eastern Iowa Aiport. "It just doesn't seem like the kind of thing you'd do," he said.

He's right and that's exactly why I decided to do it. After a morning of cajoling on the part of the pilots, I decided to take them  up on their offer.

So, you'd think the rest of this blog would be about the exhilerating experience of the flight. But, it's not going to be, because I waited too long and by the time I'd made up my mind, the airplane had a flat tire and wasn't going to go up again. I should have seized the opportunity while I had it.

Flight or no flight, the expo was still interesting even for me, someone who's not a would-be pilot or really all that into airplanes to begin with. The planes were a lot different than any I've flown in commercially. First of all, they're smaller. All were single engine aircrafts with the exception of one twin engine. And, each sat four or two people in the cockpit. But, I was surprised by their cush-factor. All were a lot more ooh la la than the old-school Cessnas that I'd ever flown in or had reason to be around.

As I learned Saturday that's because these are the new generation of airplanes. Pardon me for attempting to distill the history of recent flight down to what I'm about to say. But, essentially I was told that there was a period of time from the mid 1980s to 1990s when industry mainstays like Cessna, Beech and Piper (think Ford, Chevy and Chrysler) took a break from building planes and improving on technology for small aircrafts. In the interim companies like the ones displaying planes Saturday, Champion, Cirrus and Diamond, started building planes using innovative technology. For example, these are made of fiberglass and have GPS technology in the cockpit. One of the ones I sat in felt like the Ferrari of planes, leather seats, wood accents, room for four and a set of golf clubs.

Granted this isn't how I travel. But, it's tempting to dream. Want to go to dinner in Chicago. Just hop in the Champion 400 and you'll be there in an hour. Just like that. If I had the world at my fingertips like that. I'd be able to visit my family a lot more often. I'd also be able to go to Greece, Italy, Ireland, Austrailia, Hawaii -- all places I've always wanted to visit.

Read Monday's paper to see what far-flung locales were on expo-goers lists. And next week find Molly at the bowling alley, asking people about the key to bowling that perfect game.

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