I wasn’t done with flying. I might never be cleared for commercial aviation again, might never fly fighters or be assigned instructor duty at a major base. But this—sharing what I knew, giving someone else the gift I’d been given—this was still possible.
“Want to try the pattern?” I settled back into instructor mode. “We’ll do one circuit and landing.”
“You trust me to land this thing?”
“Trust you with my life. I’ve got the controls if things get exciting.” Though honestly, watching her fly, I doubted we’d have any problems. “Turn left toward the runway—see how it lines up?”
Alex banked into the pattern, setting up for our approach. I talked her through power reduction, pitch attitude for descent, the sight picture she needed for a good approach.
“A little steeper descent,” I said as we came around final. “Reduce power just a touch.”
“Like this?” She pulled the throttle back slightly.
“Exactly like that. Now as we get close to the ground, you’ll gradually reduce power and raise the nose slightly to flare.”
“How close is close?”
“You’ll know. Watch the ground come up—there.” The runway was rushing up toward us, Alex holding a beautiful approach slope. “Easy back pressure, keep it coming.”
She flared at exactly the right moment, the Cub settling onto the grass in a landing that would have made my grandpa proud. We rolled to a stop near the hangar, engine idling.
“Holy shit,” Alex laughed. “Sorry. But holy shit, I just landed an airplane.”
“You did,” I was grinning so hard my face hurt. “First lesson and you greased it on like you’ve been doing this for years.”
“Can we go again?”
The pure excitement in her voice, the way she’d thrown herself completely into learning something entirely outside her expertise—watching her experience what I’d been experiencing since I was fourteen—made everything else fall away. The accident, the aftermath, the uncertainty about what came next. None of it mattered in this moment.
“We can go again,” I nodded. “But maybe we should let myfamily know we’re both still alive first.”
Alex laughed, reaching up to pull off her headset. Her hair was a mess, cheeks flushed with excitement and adrenaline. I pulled out my phone to check the time and found seventeen missed messages in the family group chat.
Mom:Was that the Cub I just saw??
Elowyn:FINN IS THAT YOU FLYING??
Mom:Please tell me you’re not up there alone!
Dom:wait what’s happening?
Enzo:IS FINN FLYING AGAIN??
Luke:Saw them taxi out about an hour ago
Nolan:Both looked pretty confident from here
Mom:BOTH??
Elowyn:Alex is flying??
Dom:ALEX IS FLYING?
Enzo:Does this mean Dom gets a private pilot again???
Dom:enzo that’s not how this works
Enzo:But think of the DATES we could have!!
