Ladies and Gentlemen, Welcome to Cottage Grove

The propeller rotates sluggishly, as the altimeter winds down during our descent into the Cottage Grove airport. The sky is clear, and the wind is blowing gently out of the east. We are currently descending through 3200 ft, towards our target altitude of 2000 ft, at which we will overfly the airport in order to figure out what direction to land. Our observation determines that we will land to the north (runway 33).

I make a radio call reporting my position to any other airplanes on the frequency for Cottage Grove: " Cottage grove Traffic - Cessna Six Niner Zero One Six is over the field at 2000, to join the 45 for 33 - right traffic - Cottage Grove" This tells other pilots what I am trying to do, and where I am going, so we can try to avoid a mid-air collision.

The approach into Cottage Grove is interesting as the airport is sorrounded by hills on all quadrants - the tallest being to the east and south. There are a couple of times during the approach when you are a mere 200-300 ft from the tree tops, and right before you land, there are trees just about 100 ft to the right. Considering this, I always brief my passengers about this approach so they know ahead of time that this is normal, since most people associate proximity to trees with newspaper headlines, fires, crashes, and the likes. Todays passenger has flown with me before, so he is no longer concerned about his safety - not even when he notices something unusual (more on this later).

At this time, I am rolling out of the last turn of the approach - the one that will get me lined up with the runway. As I come out on the runway heading, I immediately get the feeling of being too high, and my brain performs some of the fastest calculations I have ever done. There are trees at the end of the relatively short runway, and I wanna initiate a go-around if necessary, as soon as possible (go-around is a maneuver in which an approach is dicontinued, and the flight circles around to try to land again under better circumstances - they can be caused by many things, from gusty winds, to a deer crossing the runway).

My mental calculations tell me that if I continue my approach, I will touch down about half the way down the runway, and even though I may still be able to stop in time, it is an uneccesary chance to take. I push the throttle in, and pull back on the yoke to bring the nose up to the take off attitude. The airplane starts climbing - Good. So, we've circled around, and now we are rolling out of the last turn again, and everything loks better. We are about 400 ft closer to the trees, and I remember this is the way its suppossed to look like at this airport! The river slides under the airplane, and 3 seconds later the wheels make contact with the ground. The nose wheel immediately follows, and the flaps come up as I simultaneously apply full breaks. Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to Cottage Grove.

Taking Off - I mean, literally!

CONTROL TOWER: Cessna 46889, Wind 290 at 12, Runway 30, Cleared for Take Off, no delay - traffic on a half-mile final.
CESSNA 46889 (Me): 46889 is rollin'...

The throttle goes all the way in, causing the throttle plate to open. A rush of warm summer air flows into the carburetor, where it marries the 100LL aviation gasoline. The air-fuel mixture penetrates into each of the 4 cylinders, where it is compressed, and then, ignited. This controlled burning of the fuel-mixture causes the engine to produce power, and it provides the force that rotates the propeller.

The airplane starts moving, and wow...what a feeling....we'll be flying in just about 25 seconds!!! Gosh...FLYING...I never thought I could fl...- Wait, I am about to wander off-track again. Ok, so now we are moving down the runway, the engine developing full power, and I focus on steering the airplane with the pedals (that’s right; when an airplane is on the ground, you steer with the pedals). After a few seconds I take a peak at the engine gauges - Temperature and pressure, to be specific. Any engine abnormality would most likely produce an unusual reading on the gauge - such a raise in temperature, or a drop in pressure, or both. Everything looks good, so I have a green light to keep going....

I continue steering straight down the centerline with the pedals, and next, I look at the Airspeed Indicator (that’s pilot talk for speedometer, since it measures the speed of the airplane through the air, rather then the speed at which the wheels are turning). This instrument is key during take off. Every airplane is designed to take off at a designated airspeed, which varies depending on weight, temperature, and other atmospheric factors. In this particular case, I am waiting for Cessna 46689 to reach 50 knots.

I can hear the sound of the air flowing around the cockpit getting louder, and from experience I just know we've reached 50 knots. The airspeed indicator confirms it. I pull gently, but positively on the yoke (flight control wheel), and the airplane's nose comes up about 12-14 degrees, and 2 seconds later the main wheels leave the ground. Gosh, I love the silence of this moment. During the ground roll, there is a lot of rattling, which stops as soon as we are airborne. I love this moment - when sound confirms we are no longer stuck to the ground. Sometimes I feel that when I leave this earth, to go meet the almighty, it will be this way...there is something divine about every take off (the same goes to successful landings too!)

The airplane is beautifully established on the target airspeed of 54 knots indicated airspeed (KIAS). At 50 feet over the runway I lower the nose to about 8-10 degrees and allow Cessna 46889 to accelerate. As we reach 60 KIAS I bring the flaps up, and seconds later we reach our final climb speed of 67 KIAS.

AIRSPEED: 67
POWER: Full
FLAPS: Up
MIXTURE: Rich
ENGINE INSTRUMENTS: Green
CLIMB CHECKLIST COMPLETE

CONTROL TOWER: Cessna 46889, You are leaving my airspace, change to advisory frequency approved - have a good flight...
CESSNA 46689 (Me): Hillsboro Tower, thanks. I am sure I will...