A/N: Hey everyone! Sorry for the delay, but I have been out of the country for a bit and I wasn't able to update. This chapter will require another tutorial in aviation knowledge. Most of it will be explained in the text, but for the things that aren't, I'll cover them below and try to keep it as basic as I can. If any of you have questions, please don't hesitate to ask.
1) An uncontrolled airport means that there is no air traffic control presence at the airport. Pilots will take off and land on their own at these airports.
2) VFR means Visual Flight Rules, and a pilot can fly on their own without talking to air traffic control as long as they stay clear of airspace that requires them to talk to a controller and they fly in weather conditions that is specified for VFR flight. Generally, three miles of visibility and cloud clearance of 1,000 feet above, 500 feet below, and 2,000 feet horizontally is the minimum requirements for VFR flight. A pilot flying VFR is also responsible for their own separation from other aircraft.
3)'Wilco' is part of Pilot/Controller phraseology and when it is said, it means the person saying it understands the instruction and will comply.
4) A traffic pattern is a standard (usually rectangular) track followed by aircraft when taking off or landing at an airport.
5) Typically, wind direction is used to determine which runway to use. Takeoff and Landing is usually (but not always in certain circumstances) into the wind because it allows the pilot use less distance.
6) FBO means Fixed Based operator, and it's a place on the airport that provides a range of services including fueling and aircraft parking.
7) Knots is a typical unit of speed used in aviation. For your reference, one knot is equal to 1.15 miles per hour.
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Chapter 3
Mid-May 2026
Santana woke up one Friday morning, rolling over and expecting to find Brittany beside her, but when she found an empty spot, she realized that Brittany was already awake and out of bed, and she must have been up for a little while since the sheets on her side were cool.
She yawned and stretched as she sat up in the bed. She noticed that the sun was shining brightly through the window and it made her smile. Living in the Cleveland area, they didn't get as much sun as she would like. She had heard on the news not too long ago that they had only had sixty-six mostly sunny days the year before and that was close to the yearly average. She loved sunny days and always tried to take advantage of them.
She looked at the clock and noticed that it was around nine o'clock. She flipped the blanket off, not wanting to waste what was sure to be a pretty day in bed. She went into the bathroom to relieve her bladder and then went downstairs. When she came into the living room, she found Brittany, already showered and wearing a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, but laying on the couch looking at something on her laptop.
"Hey." Santana said rounding the couch and tapped Brittany's socked feet so she would move them back so she had room to sit.
"Hey." Brittany said with a smile before she closed her laptop and sat it on the coffee table. She opened her arms, inviting Santana to lay down on top of her, and when she did, she wrapped her arm around her tightly and gave her a morning kiss. "How'd you sleep?"
"Pretty good. You?"
"Like a baby."
"What time did you get up?"
"Around six-thirty."
Santana pouted. "Why were you up so early? I missed my Brittany cuddles this morning."
"Aww, I'm sorry." Brittany said and kissed Santana on the top of her head. "I had to run out and do a few things."
"Like what?" Santana asked. She didn't remember Brittany saying that she had anything to do.
"Like plan a surprise for you." Brittany said with a knowing smile and tightened her hold on Santana.
"Britt!" Santana yelped excitedly and sat up as much as Brittany would let her. "What is it?"
"Santana, I think you don't know the meaning of the word 'surprise'." Brittany teased.
"So you're not going to tell me?"
"Nope." Brittany said with a smirk. Santana huffed and Brittany giggled at her. "Hey, don't pout. I'll tell you what, you go get showered and dressed and when we get into the car, I'll give you a hint."
Santana studied Brittany's face to see how serious she was, but she could see that there was no hope at getting any more information out of Brittany until she wanted to tell her, so she nodded. "Okay."
"Oh, and put on long pants and closed toed shoes."
"Whyyyy?" Santana whined. "The sun's out, Britt. I wanna wear shorts and sandals."
"I know, but I promise you'll love it."
"Fine, it better be awesome." Santana grumbled getting up from the couch.
"It will be." Brittany said and then playfully smacked Santana's butt. "Go get ready."
"Okay, okay. I'm going." Santana said, and quickly disappeared up the stairs. She didn't even know what they were doing, but she was excited anyways.
About forty-five minutes later, Santana came back into the living room wearing a pair of jeans, a red t-shirt, and sneakers.
"Aww, don't you look cute." Brittany said closing her laptop again. "Are you ready to go?"
"Seeing as I have no idea what we're doing, I'm guessing I'm good." Santana said.
"Do you have a hair tie, just in case?"
Santana nodded. She was starting to think with the way that Brittany wanted her dressed that they were going for a walk or a hike or something, which she didn't mind. At least they would be able to enjoy the good weather.
"Then you're good." Brittany said and quickly put on her own sneakers. She went into the kitchen and came out holding two bottles of water and two breakfast bars. "These will hold us over in case we get hungry before we get there."
"Hold us over for what and where are we going?" Santana asked with a smile as she took the water and breakfast bar from Brittany. She was still trying to get Brittany to spill the details.
Brittany just shook her head in amusement and grabbed her keys, phone, and wallet. "Get in the car, Miss Nosey."
"Fine." Santana fake pouted and grabbed her purse. When they went out to the garage, Santana assumed that Brittany wanted to take her own car, so she went to the passenger side of the mustang and got in. "Okay, I'm in the car, what's my hint?" She asked excitedly and with a little bounce as she put on her seatbelt.
"We're going to lunch." Brittany said vaguely as she put on her sunglasses.
"That's it?"
"Sure." Brittany said with a teasing smirk.
Santana sighed. "Okay, fine, be all mysterious in your sexy aviators." She loved it when Brittany wore those sunglasses.
"I will." Brittany said handing Santana her own sunglasses before she backed the car out of the garage.
They hadn't been on the road for too long before Santana noticed that they were driving away from town. She thought her hike theory was becoming more of a reality, but she couldn't quite figure how lunch fit into a hike. The thought that Britany had planned a picnic crossed her mind too, but then that didn't explain the water bottles and breakfast bars.
"You're not going to guess it." Brittany finally said with a little laugh when she saw Santana's eyebrow quirk when she made a turn to an even more rural area. Santana playfully stuck her tongue out at Brittany and Brittany laughed again. She took Santana's hand into her own and kissed it. "We're almost there. I promise that you'll love it."
"I'm sure I will." Santana said.
She looked out the window, taking in the scenery around her as she absentmindedly ran her fingers over Brittany's hand until Brittany turned into the Lorain County Regional Airport.
"Umm…okay?" She said, waiting for Brittany to tell her why they were there. Brittany pulled up to a row of hangars and parked the car.
"I thought since the weather's perfect, and we're both off, that I would take you flying today."
"Really?" Santana asked excitedly, sitting up in her seat.
They had been together for four and half months and this would be the first time that their schedules and the weather worked out for Brittany to take Santana flying.
"Mm-hmm." Brittany said with a wide smile. She was happy that Santana seemed excited about her surprise. "I thought we could take a scenic flight to Port Clinton and have lunch at the Tin Goose Diner. It was on Flying Magazine's list of one of the best places to fly-in to eat, and it's at an aviation museum, so if you want to, we can check it out."
Santana threw her arms around Brittany's neck and hugged her tightly. "This is the best idea ever!"
Brittany chuckled. "I'm glad you think so."
Santana released Brittany from the embrace and quickly unbuckled her seatbelt. "Well come on." She said and opened the car door to get out. She didn't want to waste any time. "I've wanted to go flying with you for a while."
"I'm coming." Brittany said getting out of the car before she went to the trunk to get a small bag that had been her flight bag during her flight training. She slipped her wallet and cellphone into one of the pockets and then took Santana by the hand and led her to a hangar that had the number four on the door. "Just hang out here for a few seconds until I can get the doors open."
"Okay." Santana said.
Brittany unlocked the small door and then stepped into the dark hangar. She lifted a few latches to unlock the door and then she pushed the big door open.
When the door was open all the way, Santana looked into the hangar and saw a small single engine, white and green airplane.
"Help me push it out." Brittany said as she removed the chocks from around the wheels.
"Okay, how?" Santana asked because she had never pushed an airplane before.
Brittany walked under the right wing and put her hands on the wing strut. "Just put your hands on the struts and push it forward. It's not too heavy."
Santana came around the left wing and they pushed the small plane out of the hanger.
"Do you need to go to the bathroom before we leave?" Brittany asked.
"No, I'm good." Santana said with a shake of her head.
"Okay, hold on a second." Brittany said and went back into the hangar and closed the sliding door. She came out of the small door that she went in at first and locked it before she walked up to the left side of the plane.
"Whose plane is this?" Santana asked, because as far as she knew, Brittany didn't own a plane.
"Kevin's. I've told you about him. He's one of the mechanics at work." Brittany said unlocking and opening the plane's doors and window. She set her bag in the right seat. She pulled out two green David Clark headsets and plugged them into the headset jacks. "I had to run out this morning to get the keys from him."
"Oh yeah? He owns a plane?"
"Yep. He bought it and rebuilt it with his son a few years ago. It's a Cessna 172. I learned how to fly in one of these." Brittany said, reaching over the seats to open the right window and door as well.
"Really?"
"Mm-hmm. It's a popular trainer, but they aren't bad for bouncing around the sky for a few hours either."
"So Kevin doesn't mind if you use his airplane?"
"Nope. He knows I'm more than capable of flying it, so he's not worried."
"That's nice of him."
"So are you ready for your first flight in a small airplane?" Brittany asked with a wide smile.
Santana's own smile mirrored Brittany's and she nodded. "Mm-hmm."
"Great. You can help me with the pre-flight. Put your purse in the back seat and then hop into the left seat." Brittany said and patted the seat before she rounded the plane and went to the other side to get into the right seat.
Santana did as she was told and she just looked wide eyed at the panel full of instruments, gauges, and switches that she had no idea what any of them were for, but she was eager to learn. Once Brittany was in her seat, she introduced Santana to different things in the cockpit by pointing to them and giving Santana a brief description as to what they were for.
Some things were easily understandable for Santana. She could correlate her experience as an air traffic controller to their use, such as the altimeter showed the altitude of the aircraft, the airspeed indicator showed the speed of the aircraft, the vertical speed indicator showed the climb or descent rate, the heading indicator and mag compass showed the direction and specific heading that the aircraft was flying, and of course the transponder was how the aircraft and air traffic control's system communicated with each other to be able to tell the location and identity of the aircraft.
There were some things in the cockpit that she couldn't relate to her own experience. Some were self-explanatory once she was told what they were; such as the fuel and oil gauges, throttle, and yoke (aka the flight controls) but there were others, such as the elevator trim wheel, mixture control, rudders, flaps, pitot heat, etc. that weren't so easily discernable, so Brittany gave her a basic explanation of their purpose.
Once they were finished with the intro, Brittany handed Santana the pre-flight checklist and they went through every item together, Santana reading the list aloud, and then hesitantly doing as it said. She was tripped up at times, trying to remember what and where everything was, but Brittany just smiled encouragingly and pointed to where it was when she needed a little help.
After the cockpit was ready, they did the walk around on the outside of the aircraft. Brittany showed Santana how to inspect the fuselage, wings, landing gear, tail, propeller, lights, and engine to make sure that they were free from damage and ready for flight. They checked the fuel quantity to visually make sure that what the gauge in the cockpit said was correct and they drained a small sample from the wings and engine so they could check for contaminants in the fuel.
"You caught on quick, good job." Brittany said with a smile and gave Santana a kiss on her lips. "I think we're ready to go."
After almost thirty minutes of pre-flight checks and learning what different things on the plane were, Santana was ready to get in the air. "I can't wait."
"Then let's go. You take the left seat." Brittany said.
"I thought the pilot in command sat in the left seat." Santana asked. Most of the instruments and gauges were on the left side of the flight panel, so Santana thought it would be easier for Brittany to fly if she was on the left side. "Shouldn't you sit there?"
Brittany just shook her head. "I can see just fine from the right side to monitor everything, but I'm not going to be the one flying today, you are."
"What?" Santana squeaked. "I don't know the first thing about flying a plane."
Brittany just chuckled, pulled Santana into a hug, and kissed her softly on her lips. "Okay, first of all, that isn't true. You know more than you think you do. You surprised me with how much you understood so quickly, and secondly, I'm going to be there the whole time to show you. You'll do great."
Santana trusted Brittany completely, so she just nodded.
"Don't worry; we'll be safe the whole time."
"I'm not worried about that. I know you'll keep us safe."
Brittany nodded and smiled. She was happy that Santana trusted her. "So let's have a quick chat before we go." She said.
Santana nodded, giving Brittany her full attention because she could tell that whatever Brittany wanted to say, was going to be important.
"We're going to have a positive transfer of control at all times, so when you want the controls, you say 'my flight controls'. When I'm ready to give them to you, I'll say 'your flight controls' to let you know that I've given control over to you, and when you take control, you verify that you have control by saying 'my flight controls'. When you want to give them back to me, you let me know and I'll take them back, but we'll have the same positive transfer. That way there is no confusion as to who is in control."
"Okay."
"And while I don't think we'll need it, but better safe than sorry, the emergency checklists are in the back of the checklist book. In the unlikely event that we have an emergency, don't panic. I'll take over flying the aircraft and try to troubleshoot the problem, but I want you to read the checklist items to me, just to make sure that I haven't missed anything."
"Okay." Santana nodded. She didn't like the idea of having an emergency, but Brittany didn't seem that concerned or even nervous, so she wasn't going to worry.
"One last thing, when moving around the surface area of the airport, and in the air, it's so important that we keep our eyes out of the aircraft and look for other traffic and obstacles. It's easy to get distracted by something in the cockpit. I'm not saying don't look inside at the instruments or radios or checklist when needed. I'm just saying try not to get fixated on them and remember to look outside. You may already know this, but this airport and the one at Port Clinton is uncontrolled. We're going to be flying VFR today, so I guess I really don't have to tell you that that means that we won't be filing a flight plan or talking to an air traffic controller, so we need to be extra vigilant for traffic. Plus it's such a nice day and the view outside is a lot nicer than on the inside, so enjoy the bird's eye view."
Santana chuckled and nodded. "Eyes out of the plane. Got it."
"Okay, then. Get your cute little butt in the plane." Brittany said playfully and pecked Santana's lips before she released her from her hold. "You're flying today!"
"Yay!" Santana chirped. While she was a little nervous, she was excited, and quickly hopped into the left seat and closed the door, but left the window open. She put on her seatbelt and waited for Brittany to tell her what to do next.
"The seat is just like a car, so pull it forward so your feet comfortably touch the rudders pedals. You'll need to be able to press them because that is how you steer the plane on the ground and how to help keep the plane coordinated in the air. The brakes are at the top of the rudders, so make sure you can press down on them with your feet without having to stretch too much." Brittany said adjusting her own seat and resting her feet against the pedals.
"You good?" Brittany asked after a few moments.
Santana pressed on both rudders and Brittany felt them move.
"I think so." Santana said.
"Great!" She chirped before she handed Santana the checklist again. "Okay, flip to the 'Before Start' checklist and go through it and the 'Engine Start' checklist. I'll help you through it."
Santana turned the pages until she found the correct checklist. She followed the checklist, slowly, line item by line item, Brittany assisting when she needed help to find a certain switch or knob. Once they primed the engine, they were ready to start the engine.
"Even though the parking brake is set, be sure to hold the brakes, and before you start the engine yell 'Clear Prop', loudly and clearly out the window and wait a few moments before you turn the key just in case somebody yells for you not to start it." Brittany said. "It's just a safety precaution to make sure that anyone walking around knows that the propeller is about to start turning."
"Okay." Santana said with a nod. She didn't even think about that being an issue.
"When the engine starts, check the oil pressure gauge to make sure there is an increase in pressure and then pull the throttle back so the engine is running at 1,200 RPM. Then lean the fuel-air mixture by slowly turning the mixture control counterclockwise. The RPM will increase a little until the engine isn't getting enough air and then the RPM will drop. When that happens, turn the mixture control clockwise to add more air until the RPM is back to 1,200, then pull the throttle back a little more and set it at 1,000 RPM. It's going to be loud when the engine starts and we won't be able to talk without screaming so after you set the throttle, turn on the avionics master switch so the radio and intercom will turn on and then put on your headset. We can talk normally after that."
"Okay." Santana said, but she sounded nervous. Brittany had just told her a lot of stuff that she didn't really understand, but she really wanted to do well and not forget anything and mess everything up.
"You'll do fine." Brittany encouraged with a sweet smile. She knew that Santana had a good memory.
"Alright, here it goes." Santana said and put her left hand on the key and Brittany picked up Santana's right hand off her lap and set it on the throttle.
"Oops." Santana said sheepishly.
"It's okay, you didn't know." Brittany said. "Go ahead."
Santana nodded and yelled, "CLEAR PROP" and then after a pause she turned the key. A moment later the engine and propeller roared to a start and Santana hesitantly pulled the throttle back, being cautious not to pull it too far back, and below the 1,200 RPM that Brittany told her to keep. Then she turned the red mixture knob until the RPM decreased. She immediately started to turn it back, but she accidently enriched it a bit too much, so Brittany reached down and leaned it just a smidge.
At first when Santana realized that she had turned the mixture too much, she felt her stomach drop, and she thought that she had messed it up, but Brittany just winked and smiled at her to let her know that she had done a great job.
Santana smiled and pulled the throttle back to 1,000 RPM and then turned on the avionics switch. The radios and navigation equipment came to life and they both put on their headsets.
"Awesome! You did well." Brittany cheered into the mic.
"Thanks." Santana said proudly. She was happy that she had done well.
"Let's finish the checklist and then we'll listen to the automated weather before we taxi out so we know which runway to use."
Santana finished the checklist, and then Brittany tuned in the frequency for the automated weather. While they were listening, Brittany reached behind her into her bag and pulled out a small spiral bound book. She opened the book and Santana could see plastic sleeves with papers in them. She flipped it until she found the paper that she was looking for.
When they were finished with the weather, Brittany tuned in the common traffic advisory frequency for the airport so she could hear any transmissions that were being made. It was a little busy at the airport. One aircraft had just announced their departure and there were two others that were in the traffic pattern doing practice take off and landings.
Brittany showed Santana the paper that she had been looking for in her book and Santana immediately saw that it was the Lorain County Airport diagram. She was thankful that she was already able to read one, so she wasn't lost when Brittany started pointing out their taxi route.
"The wind is light and coming from heading 260, so that means that we are going to take off on Runway 25. We're going to taxi to the end of the ramp to the taxiway and follow it all the way down to the end of Runway 25. I'm going to start the taxi, but I want you to put your feet on the rudders so you can feel how it's done and then when you're ready, let me know and I'll let you take over."
"Okay." Santana said.
"I have the brakes; you can release the parking brake."
Santana pulled the lever below her flight control and released the brake. Brittany put her hand on the throttle, added a little power, and let off the brakes and the plane started to move. After a few moments of shadowing Brittany's feet, Santana thought she was starting to figure out how to steer the plane. The right rudder turned the plane right, the left turned the plane to the left, which seemed self-explanatory, but she also noticed that there was a delicate balance between pressure put on the rudders and throttle control. She noted that Brittany would gently press on the rudders, and make small corrections to keep them moving straight. She didn't have to press them all the way to the ground either when she wanted to turn. She just needed a little more pressure and she increased and reduced the power as needed to help with turning.
When they reached the end of the ramp, Brittany looked both ways on the taxiway for any traffic before she turned on the taxiway and started taxiing the plane towards the departure end of Runway 25.
"Are you ready?" Brittany asked, glancing at Santana.
"I think so." Santana said.
"I'm going to give you the controls when you're ready. Be sure to keep your right hand on the throttle and your other hand on the yoke. All you need is small inputs with the rudders and throttle. Don't do anything drastic. Just try to keep the nose on the centerline of the taxiway and remember to keep an eye out for any traffic."
"Got it." Santana said with a little nod. "My flight controls." She said, putting her hand under Brittany's hand on the throttle, but she didn't touch it until Brittany told her to.
"Your flight controls." Brittany said and she moved her hand from the throttle so Santana could take it.
"My flight controls." Santana said taking over, well as much as Brittany would let her.
Brittany kept her feet on the rudders so she could feel what Santana was doing, but she didn't add any pressure unless she felt Santana was being a little timid and need a little encouragement to add more. She kept her hands in her lap so if she needed to take over the controls quickly, she could. Thankfully, she didn't have to. Santana, while a little wobbly at first, managed to keep the nose close to the centerline.
As they neared the end of the taxiway, Brittany told Santana to pull in to a small area off to the side so they could do the engine run up and test the flight controls one more time. Brittany walked Santana through the process and once that was completed, they transferred control of the aircraft to Brittany.
"I'm going to do this takeoff, but I want you to keep your feet on the rudders and your hand on the yoke, so you can see how it feels, okay?"
"Yeah, sounds good." Santana said with a nod.
"Close your window." Brittany instructed as she closed her own window.
Brittany taxied the plane from the run-up area, back to the taxiway, and up to the hold short line separating the taxiway and the runway, keeping clear of the active runway. She looked down the length of the runway to make sure it was clear, and then looked at the approach end of the runway for landing traffic. When she didn't see any traffic, she reached over to Santana's side and flipped on the lights and fuel pump, pushed the mixture control all the way in to rich, and turned on the transponder as she taxied the airplane on the runway.
Santana was impressed with how quickly and effortlessly Brittany did everything.
"Lorain County traffic, November-Six-Four-Niner-Bravo-Sierra taking off Runway 25, departing the pattern straight out to the west." Brittany called over the radio to announce their departure as she lined up the airplane with the runway centerline, and advanced the throttle all the way forward to full power.
The airplane started to move down the runway and when it had generated enough speed and lift, Brittany smoothly and expertly pulled back on the yoke so the plane would lift off the ground. As they climbed higher and higher, Santana felt her excitement grow.
"This is like the coolest thing ever." She chirped looking around her.
Brittany chuckled at Santana's giddiness. She loved that she was enjoying herself. "I told you my surprise would be awesome, but you didn't believe me."
"I'll never doubt you again." Santana said glancing at Brittany and flashing her a smile before she returned her gaze out the window.
Brittany climbed the airplane west to clear the airport and then she made a turn to the north towards Lake Erie.
"Are you ready to fly?"
"Yes!" Santana chirped and she bounced a little in her seat. She was ready to do the actual flying instead of just watching.
Brittany chuckled. "Alright. When we get close to three thousand feet, I'll help you level it out. Your flight controls."
"My flight controls." Santana said putting her right hand below Brittany's on the throttle. Her feet and left hand were already on the rudder pedals and yoke from shadowing Brittany.
"Your flight controls." Brittany said and took her hands off the throttle and yoke and put them on her lap.
When Santana took over the controls she was excited, but at first, it didn't feel as if she was doing anything. It was as if the plane was flying itself because Brittany had the plane perfectly set for the climb.
"So when we get ready to level at three thousand feet we have to lead the aircraft-"
"What's that mean?" Santana asked, accidently cutting Brittany off, but Brittany didn't mind. She was just happy that Santana was eager to learn.
"It means that the plane is in motion, so if we try to stop the climb when we get to three-thousand feet, we're going to climb through our altitude because we have the power and the pitch still set for the climb. So to keep that from happening we 'lead the aircraft' or start to level out before we get to our target altitude.
"That makes sense." Santana said.
"It's the same for descents and turning. The plane doesn't stop on a dime and if you don't lead it, you'll be constantly chasing your target, and if you're talking to air traffic control, they're going to get mad because you'll blow through their restrictions. Well, you know what I mean." Brittany said with a chuckle. For a second she forgot she was talking to an air traffic controller.
"Yeah." Santana said with a chuckle, because she knew all too well what Brittany was talking about.
Santana hated to do it, but there were times that she had had to violate a pilot for missing a restriction she had given them. Most of the time she called the pilot out on their deviation and if there was no loss of separation with another aircraft or another controller's airspace, she let it go, but over the years she had a few pilots that she had no choice but to turn them in for a pilot deviation. Thankfully, things like that didn't happen often.
When they got about fifty feet from three thousand feet, Brittany helped Santana level out the airplane and then she gave her a quick lesson on how to turn the airplane by showing her that while it wasn't a difficult maneuver, aerodynamics had to be taken into consideration. It took more than just turning the ailerons on the wings with the yoke. Doing that started the turn, but Santana would need to pull back on the yoke to maintain altitude, the rudders would be needed to coordinate the movement of the nose of the plane, and she would have to use the throttle to manage the thrust.
"Can we fly around for a little bit before we go to eat?" Santana asked briefly turning her attention to Brittany. She knew that Port Clinton wasn't that far away, maybe about fifty miles or so, but she was having so much fun just being in the air, she wasn't quite ready to land.
"Sure." Brittany chirped. "Why don't you turn us south, away from the lake for now. We can mess around for a little bit and then when you're ready to eat, we can head towards the airport."
"Wilco." Santana said with a wide smile and then she lifted the left wing, just like Brittany taught her, so she could look for traffic before the turned the airplane to the left.
They flew around for another hour, before they flew along the shore of Lake Erie towards Port Clinton's Erie-Ottawa International Airport. As they neared the airport, Brittany tuned in the automated weather and then the airport's common advisory frequency to determine which runway was in use. Brittany took control of the aircraft when it came time to enter the traffic pattern and again Santana found herself in awe as she watched Brittany fly. It just seemed to come so natural to her.
After landing, Brittany pulled the airplane off the runway and once she cleaned it up from its landing configuration, she transferred control back to Santana so she could do the taxi. Brittany read the airport diagram and gave Santana directions on how to taxi to the FBO.
When they parked the airplane in an open spot, Brittany showed Santana how to shut down the airplane properly.
"That was one of the coolest things I have ever done. I had as so much fun!" Santana cheered as she took off her headset and undid her seatbelt. She leaned into Brittany, kissing her enthusiastically.
When they parted from the kiss, Brittany smiled. "I'm glad you liked it."
"I can't wait to fly home." Santana said with a little bounce in her seat and Brittany just giggled at her.
"Well let's have lunch first. The food is supposed to be pretty good." Brittany said.
"That's good, I'm starving." Santana said. It was almost two o'clock and the only thing that she had had to eat that day was the breakfast bar that Brittany had given her that morning.
"Me too." Brittany said getting out of the plane. "Let's tie down the plane and have the FBO fuel it, before we ask them to shuttle us over to the Tin Goose."
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After lunch and a walk through the museum, they called the FBO and asked for a ride back to the plane. It was close to five o'clock and they still had a thirty to forty minute flight ahead of them.
This time, Santana felt a little more confident when going through the Pre-flight, Before Start, and Engine Start checklists. She still needed some help from Brittany to find a few things and she needed help during the engine start because she couldn't remember all the steps to start the engine since they weren't spelled out in the checklist, but considering it was only her second time in the plane, she did very well. When they were ready to go, Santana taxied to the runway on her own and then Brittany helped her though the engine run up.
"So do you think you're ready to do the take off?" Brittany asked as they were in the lineup. There were three airplanes in front of them waiting for takeoff.
"I think so." Santana said timidly.
"You'll do fine." Brittany said with a smile and rubbed Santana's right thigh for encouragement. "It's just like you've been doing. You only need smooth inputs. When you rotate, you don't have to yank the yoke all the way back. I'll keep my hand on the yoke and my feet on the rudders so I can help you with it if I need to, okay?"
Santana nodded. "Okay."
When they were next in line for takeoff, Santana followed the Before Takeoff Checklist, carefully turning on the lights and fuel pump, setting the mixture control, and turning on the transponder.
As the airplane in front of them began their takeoff, Santana and Brittany checked for traffic on the approach end of the runway and when the departing airplane cleared the end of the runway, Brittany told Santana she could go, so Santana taxied the airplane onto the runway, lining it up with the centerline.
"Erie-Ottawa traffic, November-Six-Four-Niner-Bravo-Sierra taking off Runway 27, departing to the south." Brittany said over the frequency, announcing their departure
Santana sighed, partly in nervousness and partly in excitement as she pushed the throttle all the way forward. As the airplane accelerated down the runway, Santana's excitement increased, but so did her nervousness because she was afraid her inexperience would cause her to put in too much input with the rudders and possibly run the airplane off the side of the runway.
Her fears were irrational, of course, because Brittany was on top of everything she was doing, and was ready to step in if needed, but Brittany wasn't nervous or even worried about Santana over steering. Santana was actually pretty good at taxiing. Sure, that was at a much slower speed, but Brittany had confidence that she would adjust to the increased speed.
When they reached fifty-five knots, Brittany said, "Rotate," and Santana pulled back on the yoke and a moment or two later the plane's wheels left the ground.
"Good." Brittany beamed and the concentrated look on Santana face softened a bit because she was happy that Brittany was pleased with her.
A few moments later, Brittany said, "Lower the nose a bit to try to hold seventy-four knots on the airspeed indicator and then when you reach five hundred feet, hold eighty-five knots. If the back pressure on the yoke seems to get heavy, roll the trim wheel back until that pressure goes away and you're able to hold the yoke normally."
Santana climbed the plane, following Brittany's instruction, and when they reached pattern altitude at a thousand feet above ground level, Brittany told Santana to make a forty-five degree turn to the south to depart the pattern.
Their flight home wasn't as long as their first flight, because they didn't fly around as they had before. They just flew back to the airport. Brittany had a navigational chart for reference, but instead of having Santana worry about diverting her attention from flying to look at the map, she made it easy and put in a direct route into the aircraft's GPS so Santana could just briefly look down at the screen to make sure they were still on course.
As they neared Lorain County Airport, Brittany listened to the weather and the advisory frequencies.
"You wanna land?" Brittany asked after she determined that they were still using Runway 25.
"Umm…I don't know." Santana said nervously. Out of everything that she had done in the plane that day, landing seemed like the most difficult and daunting task.
"You don't have to if you don't want to, but I'm not going to let anything bad happen." Brittany said.
"I know you won't, it's just…a little scary."
"Landing is always the scariest thing at first." Brittany said. "I was nervous on my first couple of landings too. I'm not going to push you. If you want me to, I'll do the landing."
Santana hesitated for a moment before saying, "Alright, I'll do it."
Brittany smiled widely and leaned over to kiss Santana on her cheek. "That's my girl." She said proudly and briefly nuzzled Santana's cheek with her nose. Santana giggled at Brittany's reaction. She was proud of herself too for not shying away from something that scared her.
They entered the traffic pattern and Brittany helped Santana get everything set for landing. Throughout the landing, Santana was nervous, but the sound of Brittany's voice talking her though the process, and the fact that Brittany had her hands on the controls helped to calm Santana a little bit.
When they pulled off of the runway and stopped to clean the aircraft up from it's landing configuration, Santana let out a breath that she didn't even know she was holding and then she started to laugh. "Oh my god, that was so cool, but I was so nervous! My heart is practically pounding in my chest."
"You did well." Brittany said looking at her with another proud smile. "You should be proud of yourself."
"I'm not even sure I did anything. You had the controls the whole time." Santana reasoned.
"Trust me, I only helped a little." Brittany assured her. "It was all you. All I did was add a little more rudder to keep it coordinated and I helped you pulled back on the yoke a little more at the very end to keep the nose wheel up so you didn't land flat. You did so well!" Brittany said and leaned over to give Santana a peck on her lips.
"So, I really did all that?" Santana marveled, because she could hardly believe it.
"Mm-hmm." Brittany nodded. "You take instruction well."
"Well I had a good instructor." Santana said, because while Brittany insisted that she had done most of the work, she knew there was no way that she could have done anything that she had that day without Brittany telling her what to do.
Brittany just nodded and smiled. "Well, let's taxi over to the fuel pumps and fill it up, and then I think we should go out to dinner to celebrate your first flights."
"Breadstix?" Santana asked. "Because I could tear up some breadsticks right now."
Brittany just laughed at Santana and her obsession with Breadstix. "You're going to turn into a stick, but if that's what you want, then sure."
"Yes!" Santana said and pumped her fist.
"Okay Miss Lopez, let's taxi."
-()-()-()-()-
Later that night, when Santana came out of the bathroom from her shower, she saw Brittany sitting on their bed writing in a small brown book.
"What's that?" Santana asked, sitting on the bed.
"I bought you something this morning while I was out." Brittany said and turned the book to Santana so she could see. "It's a logbook. Since I'm a flight instructor, you can log today's flight as instruction. I filled everything out and signed it for you too, so you now officially have two hours and fifty minutes of flight time and instruction under your belt."
"Really?" Santana said taking the book from Brittany's hand so she could get a better look at it.
"Yep."
"So we can go flying again and I can log more hours?" Santana chirped. She had had so much fun that day that she couldn't wait to go flying with Brittany again.
Brittany nodded. "Sure. We'll have to get you a student pilot and medical certificate, but that isn't hard."
"Wow, maybe one day I'll be good enough to get my private pilot license." Santana mused and set her logbook on her nightstand.
"You could be, but if you're serious about getting your private, it might be best if we find you another flight instructor for your training.
"Why?" Santana asked. "You're a great instructor. I only did so well today because you were there showing and telling me what to do."
"That's not true. You did well because you're smart and you have an aptitude for flying. I can easily tell that, but there is a big difference between you and me flying for fun and doing flight instruction in the pursuit of a license. There is a lot that goes into flight training and it isn't always fun. Sometimes it's stressful and frustrating and I don't think it would be a good thing for us if that frustration was brought into our relationship."
Santana considered Brittany's words before she nodded. "I guess you're right, but I really liked flying with you today, and I loved that you were able to teach me all that stuff." She said with a little pout.
Brittany smiled and leaned over, kissing Santana's lips softly. "I loved flying with you today too. We can still go flying together and I'll definitely teach you how to do things in the plane. I'll sign your logbook too so you can log the hours, but I think it would just be best if we kept it light and fun between us."
"Yeah, okay. Maybe if I do decide to go all the way and get my license, you will have taught me how to do enough that I already know how to fly the plane pretty well."
"Definitely. I don't mind teaching you how to fly. Actually I'm looking forward to it, but let's leave the serious flight training to another instructor that you aren't dating and can't withhold sex from if you have a bad lesson." She said with a teasing smirk.
Santana gasped and playfully smacked Brittany's arm. "Britt! That's not funny." She said, but she was laughing all the same.
"Yes it is. You will have bad lessons and you will get mad at your instructor from time to time, and I'm not willing to have my sex life affected by it. I like having sex with you."
"I like having sex with you too." Santana said with a giggle.
"So does that mean that we can have sex now; because your boobs look amazing in that shirt and I really, really want to touch them." Brittany said glancing down at Santana's breasts and licking her lips.
Santana giggled again and leaned in, kissing Brittany with her answer.
-()-()-()-()-
A/N: I hope y'all liked this chapter. I know there was a lot of technical aspects to it, so here's hoping it was understandable for you. Thank you so much for reading. If you have time, I would love to see what you thought about this chapter.
A huge thank you to naynay1963 for proof reading, even though she is so busy!
Disclaimer: I don't own 'Glee' or any copyrighted material or products that are mentioned in this story.