A Ride On A Private Plane

There was a point in time where keeping food cold meant spending a lot of money on ice and storage; meaning, keeping food cold and even ice-cream were very expensive luxuries only few could afford. Today, it’s much easier to own a refrigerator and keep food cold and enjoy a cold beverage whenever you’d like. 

What’s considered a luxury, often becomes accessible and economical later.

Recently, I met up with a few friends in Austin. During our chit-chats, I found out that my friend Thenappan Nachiappan has his own plane — a Cessna parked at the Georgetown airport just north of Austin. Thenappan was generous enough to offer me a ride. At first, I wasn’t sure. I was a little scared to fly with just a friend. But then I thought, why not? It’s an experience, a chance to do something outside my comfort zone, and when someone offers you a chance like this, you should just take it.

I was excited, but it was scary at the same time. I’ve been to the Long Beach, CA airport several times. Around Long Beach you see a lot of private planes parked, so I’d seen them before. But this time, I got up close. I saw what it’s like to take off not from a big commercial airport, but from a small, quieter one. You fly up into the sky, go around, come back, park the plane, and just leave. It was also fun to pull the plane out, fuel it, and just go. It was quite an experience.

We took off from Georgetown, T.X., and had a soft landing at Taylor,T.X. We took off from Taylor again and on the way back, we saw the Samsung facility from above, then returned to Georgetown, landed, parked the plane, and headed out. My friend even let me fly the plane for a bit, though I tried it only briefly.

In many ways, flying a private plane is similar to driving your own car. The plane is parked on the grass; you pull it out and start flying. Then you come back, park it, and go home. One thing I found very interesting was how little it costs to park these planes. It’s just $100 a month.

In business, they say it’s great to get a 30,000-foot view, and I could really feel that on this flight. You’re up at the top, and you see the real big picture. The view was also different from anything you’d experience on a commercial flight. Being in the pilot’s seat makes a difference. I could really see how much it helps to get a full view of things.

The ride also gave me new perspectives on the aviation industry and what’s possible, especially in India. In many ways, aviation in India is very bureaucratic. It isn’t easy to fly or own a plane, and it costs a lot of money. 

When I was talking to Thenappan, he said the U.S. as a country encourages flying and wants more people to fly and use planes like these. I think the same is possible for India. We need better air connectivity and better airports, including many small airports where people could land and do exactly what we did. Of course, there are environmental concerns we need to take care of. Group flying, or “Uber for planes,” will also be a thing soon.

The good thing is that we were able to capture the entire moment on video, and I’m very thankful we did. If you’re interested in seeing what we did, you can check it out here:

முதன்முறையாக விமானத்தை ஓட்டிய அனுபவம்! | Private plane | Thenappan Nachiappan

Thanks, Thenappan Nachiappan. I enjoyed this experience and will cherish it. 

Thank you for reading. 

Karthik Chidambaram.