When I was a girl, I told my mother I wanted to be a flight attendant (stewardess back then), and without batting an eye she replied, “Hmm, what about something else?” I thought about it for a second, knowing what she was getting at, and said, “No. I wanna be a pilot.” I learned something that day at the Dairy Queen: Aim for the sky.

My whole life I’ve loved flying, the feeling of lifting off the earth and taking to the clouds. And now, I don’t want to alarm anyone here, but . . . I flew a plane! Yes, that’s right: I flew a Cessna over the Pacific Ocean. (Yeah man, flew a plane. Flew a friggin’ plane!)

I went to the California Flight Center as part of an introductory pilot program (letsgoflying.com) which, as you might suspect, offers a trial run for people who want to fly planes. For $56-$99 (not bad!), under the assured eye and relaxed comfort of an experienced pilot, you take the controls of a small Cessna and get a taste of the air. Once the pilot turns the plane over to you, you realize in an instant that everything is riding in the air: you, the plane, suspended for an hour away from the planet to which you are normally bound.

The feeling is absolutely indescribable. But let me try: You take your entire life into your hands as you hit the air and feel those wings riding the wind. That plane goes down in the drink? Be ready to swim. It’s odd—we do this every day when we drive cars. But we’re inured to it. We’ve been behind the wheels of cars for so long, we’ve lost the unique feeling of power that comes from knowing that your fragile life (and that of others) is truly in your hands. But the sensation of tires stopping suddenly on asphalt to make a hard left and a rudder shifting to make a banking swoop are also two entirely different feelings.

Flying is not for everyone, but for those who think they might be able to hold their own in a dogfight (the air kind), I will tell you this: Do it. But be prepared: You will be addicted.

Tags: california flight center, let's go flying, Long Beach