My friend Amanda is an avid amateur pilot, so she rented a plane today and flew down from Boston to meet us in New Jersey. While her friend Aaron snoozed in the terminal (which was small, plush, and elegant - mostly servicing high-end corporate jets), Amanda, Jo & I went on a 2 hour sightseeing tour. It was fabulous, we got to fly up and down the Hudson River right by Manhattan, and got great views of the city, including ground zero. Then we went east over Long Island, and swung back north to return home.

The plane was a trainer, with dual controls, and somewhat frighteningly soon after takeoff Amanda let me take over. It was fun, though scary, but a little disappointing. Air doesn't have much bite, and there just wasn't the same degree of maneuverability or control as a boat or car (especially my car :) ). Plus the fear of a horrible kennedy-style death put a little damper on things. It was surprisingly easy to fly: apparently takeoff, landing, equipment failures, and navigation are very challenging, but when you're just up there with nothing around, there isn't much to worry about.

For fun, I'll stick with other craft, but a little plane is clearly a damned fine way of getting to places, as well as seeing some neat views. For me, I think it will be a matter of where I can go, not how I get there, and I have a lot of other skills to learn first, but maybe someday...

Here are some great thumbnails, with links to larger versions. The Lady, the Park, the zero, the palace, all are exhibited here for you.

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