After taking my wife Kelli up for our first-ever Phase 2 ride, next in line was my son Houston who had been my chief build 'partner' through our 4.5 year build. Houston only does well with the smoothest air, but he did alright on today's ride.
It's been many years since the last time I pried him into a small aircraft. Back then, he was in middle school and could barely see over the C-172's glare shield. This time, though, he's staring down the barrel of his 21st birthday and had no trouble seeing the world. Our -7A Tipper's bubble canopy certainly helped.
We flew southwest to Possum Kingdom Lake so he could pick out landmarks from a few years back when he attended Grady Spruce YMCA Camp. I pointed out the ****'s Gate cliff that he sailed through: It's also the site of last year's Red Bull cliff diving competition. It's the gap in the ridge in the top right of this photo:
So here's the funny part: As I'm trying to point out a landmark on the edge of this bend in the river/lake, Houston instead focuses on the big round island/peninsula in the center of the photo. "Oh my gosh, it's the Millennium Falcon!" he yelled. I had never noticed it before, but he's right. For now on, I will call that feature Millennium Falcon Island.
We ran back up northwest to Gainesville to fill up on cheaper gas, then scramble home before it got too dark to see the potholes on my taxiway. Houston said he loved the airplane, but has no intention of going upside down, thank you. Still I figured this face said it all:
Houston's first ride in our -7A
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