It ain't easy gettin' off the ground

Sherman, set the wayback machine to October 29th. I am scheduled for my "demo flight", I'm excited, I'll actually be up front and not facing backwards looking at radar sweeps painting the ground in yellow amorphous blobs or crammed into a seat riding coach feeling like a sardine being shepherded to a cannery (side note: being 6'10" tall is not conducive to comfortable flying in the coach cabin, unless one manages to get an exit row which is becoming increasingly difficult and some airlines now actually charge extra for one).

Well, I'm checking weather reports and it's not looking good for VFR. VFR is marginal at bet, and while the CFI is IFR rated, a demo flight in weather is not anyones idea of a good time. So, the flight is cancelled. No problem, there's next week.

Seven or so days later...

Phone: Answer me, someone's calling.
Me: This is Scott
CFI: Hi, Scott, this is CFI and I was out at the school for another flight and I thought I'd do a quick preflight on our plane.
Me: This isn't good news, is it?
CFI: No, not really. There's pretty bad oil leak, so I squawked the plane (I translated squawk to mean what in the Air Force called a red "X". Not safe to fly, kaput, it's no longer a plane, it's a car with wings, in fact, it's not even that. It's a really pretty ramp decoration until an A&P can get it signed off)"
Me: Right, no problem, we'll reschedule.
CFI: What's your availability like next Monday?
Me: I'm open after 4PM.
CFI: Great, meet me at the school at 4:30.
Me: Will do

Stuff happens, planes are machine, they break, but now I'm thinking maybe somebody is trying to tell me something. So, Monday arrives...

You want me to fit, where!?

The weather is stunning VFR, unlimited visibility, no clouds, winds at 6 knots. Sweet. CFI and I actually meet, we discuss what's going on, he asks me what my goals are and I tell him that I'm pretty much ready to learn to fly. We briefly discuss what I know about flying so I tell him what I did in the Air Force and we walk to the ramp.

I'm looking at this Piper Warrior and thinking "This is going to be festive". We preflight, everything looks good, and it comes time to get into the plane. Now, Warriors only have one door over the starboard wing. After ten minutes of getting into the plane, I situate myself on the seat, slide it all the way back and I'm surprised by the amount of leg room. I'm fairly comfy. Granted, CFI and I are shoulder to shoulder but it's OK.

Preflight checks are going smooth, he's having me run the checklist.

"Flight controls - movement free and clear"

Pull back, yup, push forward, yup. Turn Right, yup, turn left...uh oh. After about 1/4 rotation left, it's hitting me squarely on the left leg. Well, we can't fly all right turns, so, again, it's an abort.

Now, discouragement that started as a little seed has sprouted is now completely formed. But, all is not lost, he suggests a Cessna 172. They have an older one (circa 1966) on the ramp that I noticed and I say "Before we schedule anything, let me sit in that and see if it's even an option." I hate wasting my time and his time, so let's rule this in or out, quickly. I climb into it and it's a much better fit and we have "free and clear movement of flight controls" with a very slight grazing of my left leg.

We're in business. We schedule for Tuesday 11/13 and we're off to the races.