I’m lying on the floor of an airplane hangar trying to calm my racing heart. Okay, I think. It’s not that bad. Nothing is going to happen, it’s gonna be fine. My friends Chloe and Sam are sitting beside me, looking equally nervous.
     We are about to go up in an airplane.

     But it’s not just any airplane. It’s a four-seater Cessna. It’s my first time going up in a plane, small or otherwise. Sam has been in a jet, and Chloe has been in a jet and a small plane but never one this small. We are going up in the plane for a summer camp at Grand Valley State University, which is a week long. Today is Thursday, and everyone has been excited all week. I met Chloe and Sam on Monday, and we became friends instantly.
     We are set to fly dead last. Which means we get to (have to?) watch all the other campers go up before us. Is that a good thing or a bad thing? We see what it’s like for the other campers, but the suspense just builds and builds. There are two planes, each flying three flights.
     Right now we are taking a quiz. During the week before the flight, Chloe, Sam, and I have learned about lift, drag, thrust, weight, and aerodynamics. We have built a model airplane out of styrofoam and cardboard that we are going to fly. We have landed (and crashed) flight simulators, and entered a competition for catapult-that-can-throw-a-ping-pong-ball-the-farthest (we won). The quiz doesn’t have a lot of stress to it; our counselors just want to see what we have learned.
     No one in that hangar did very well on the quiz. Everyone was either too nervous, too excited, or just plain scared out of their mind to do well. And to add to our nerves, the other plane’s engine is stalling. What if it does that in the air?
     But I don’t have any time to think about it more because our counselor, Jessi, is walking toward us. Behind her I see the second to last group getting out of their plane. Soon to be our plane.
     “Ready?” Jessi asks, holding out her hand to help me up.
     I lock eyes with Chloe and Sam. Their eyes say the same thing, and I’m sure mine do too; Oh my gosh.
     I take Jessi’s hand. “Let’s do it.”

     My whole body is shaking as we walk to the plane. The wind whips across the runway. Our plane is just sitting there, looking innocent and unassuming.
     We walk up to the plane. I reach it first, and Chloe and Sam are right behind me. The sun glints off the windows of the plane, creating a glare. The pilot is already inside. Sam climbs into the front, and Chloe and I climb over the wing and into the back. The pilot hands us headsets.
     “You can talk to each other through these,” he says.
     We put them on. For a minute I hear only static, but then the pilot’s voice slices through, radioing the control tower.
     We have permission to taxi. The pilot starts the engine and we taxi around the runway. Back in the hangar, I see our team waving at us.
     This is taking forever. We are never going to get up in the air.
     But then, suddenly, the control tower operator sends us a message that would change our point of view. Literally.
     “Roger. Cessna, you are clear to take off.”
     The pilot taxies to a runway. We are at the very beginning of it, leaving plenty of room to get in the air. I know planes usually never use the whole runway, but it’s good to have it there.
     The pilot starts the engine. The plane moves forward, slowly at first but then faster. We are speeding toward the end of the runway now. I start to panic a little. The plane is getting closer to the end, and we are running out of room. We’re gonna die, I think. We’re gonna die in this stupid-
     The plane lurches, and the ground drops away from under us.

     We’re flying. Actually flying!! Chloe glances over at me and I grin like an idiot. Sam is busy staring out the window.
     “This is so cool!” Sam’s voice crackles over the headset. She practically has her nose pressed up against the glass.
     “It’s…” I look over. “Terrifying,” Chloe breathes.  “But totally worth it.”
     I laugh. “It’s amazing up here!”
     “Up here” is absolutely breathtaking. We can see the buildings we’ve been working in, the Grand River, sparkling in the afternoon sun, and even Lake Michigan! It is indescribably beautiful. The buildings look tiny, not to mention the cars. We can see for miles and miles in every direction. Flying is a completely different experience than being on the ground, or even looking at a bird’s-eye view. It’s thrilling.
     We circle slowly around. I don’t even want to blink, afraid I’ll miss something. There’s nothing you want to miss.
     “I love it,” sighs Chloe.
     “It’s awesome,” I marvel.
     “Best. View. Ever,” announces  Sam.
     But too soon the pilot is radioing the tower, getting permission to land. We circle around and bump to a stop on the runway. The pilot taxies us around to our hangar. The plane pulls to a stop and Chloe, Sam, and I climb out, into huge gusts of wind that seem to have gotten even stronger while we were in the air. We laugh when we see each other’s hair, windblown and a mess.
     We walk back into the hangar and join our team and Jessi. The flight was only about half an hour, but it felt like a lifetime. Chloe, Sam, and I are all pretty much speechless. We know we will never forget that flight.

     Flying in a small plane is one of the coolest things I’ve ever done. And I got to do it with my friends. We were all nervous, but we helped each other. Flying in the plane cemented our friendship. I still text them now. That flight helped me learn that even if you are scared to do something, or you think you can’t, you should.
     Because the view is great.