In a pretty amazing surprise from my wife, I got to fly a plane yesterday!  She just told me “don’t make any plans for Sunday,” so I had absolutely no idea what was going on until we pulled up to a small local airport.  This airport functions primarily as a flight school and she had bought an “introductory flight” for me on Groupon.  So I got to spend about an hour buzzing around near the Chesapeake Bay in a little Cessna 172.  The instructor obviously did the takeoff and landing parts, and most of the flying, but he let me take the controls a good bit to get a feel for it.  I was surprised at how sensitive the controls were!  It takes very little effort to make the plane turn, climb, or just cruise along, so you can just relax and enjoy the view.  It was awesome.  And absolutely gorgeous weather for it, too.  It was just something she thought I would enjoy, and she was right.  It’s greatly increased my temptation to take lessons and get a pilot’s license.  But I might need to back off on a few of my other zillion hobbies and activities first…