Torben entered the right seat, and forget what I said before about moment of truth; this was my moment of truth. I took a deep breath, and then we went through the aircraft instruments and procedures.  I was presented with a checklist. A laminated piece of paper, and we started to go through it all. Man - everything I should have known by heart, was forgotten. I started to ask the most newbie questions, and Torben answered them with an amazing politeness - (I found out later, that I was his fifth first-time pilot today, and four more was in store... and that he loved those first time-flights as it left people totally awestruck)

After the engine start (I loved the magnetos check - JUST like in the Cessna detail pack, (FSFlyingSchool again…) and I could see the RPM drops and all. Cool) we taxied out.
 I remembered a friends (a pilot - I´m not mentioning any names – cough cough; SL!) told me to steer with my feet, and keep my hands OFF the yoke “you are not driving a car” he had said - so I did. Now - following the darned yellow taxilines - is not as easy as it seems. The speed felt stomach-sickening, and we were merely crawling... but we got to the holding spot. Then Torben and I went through the take-off checklist - and I frowned. Torben (and the checklist) wanted to have the fuel pump ON for takeoff. Never seen that before, but I complied, and we taxied out to runway 11, held shortly, and taxied onto the actual runway. Aircraft on runway and ME in the left seat – please forget all I said about moment of truth – THIS was the ACTUAL moment of truth.

It was not a busy day at the airport, so we got take-off clearance at once. I throttled slowly up to full thank you Mr. Smith - and in no time flat, Torben said - Ok you can start to pull on the yoke.
I did, just a little, and we took off - I saw the earth disappear below us - and then all hell broke loose. 

I am sorry. I have no pictures of the actual flight. My friend (Klaus) has taken some from the ground, but I was busy as hell up there, so the camera was forgotten in 0.37 second.

I was prepared for the torque effect, and still I complied with yoke input, rather than pedal (darn) - Torben never complained. But I was NOT prepared for the shake, rattle and roll the wind caused on the little aircraft. I had to correct up-down-and side to side, constantly. Not at ALL like FSX. It was breathtaking in every sense of the word – good and frustrating. But It´s amazing what you can get used to, so in 2-3 minutes I was so accustomed to the corrections, that I had left-over energy to actually look out the side windows, and see Roskilde and surrounding areas below. Torben pointed here and there, and told me what it was, and I was looking for windmills and chimneys that we wanted me to fly towards, as there was small villages below, that we couldn’t fly over, due to environmental issues.... Where the heck was that big red Chimney? Oh there - thank God.

But soon after, we hit the coast, and Torben told me that now I could fly as I wanted. (I´m sure he meant within some limits - but he didnt say) So I did two barrel rolls, and a loop, then an Immelman turn, and a stall and spin.  - Oh no sorry, that was the darned story I listened to on my MP3 player last night.
In real life, I did the mildest of banks, to follow the coastline, (I love coastlines, and this was what I wanted to do) We flew 000 degrees, at 1400 feet - plus/minus 100-150, as the wind continued to do its best to break my little aircraft, and smash me and Torben to statistics. I was sure we were in a life-threatening situation, and glanced nervously at Torben - who looked like he thought about what was for dinner tonight, and made no effort at all to take the controls, or make any emergency calls on the radio, so it had to be me. I relaxed and tried to remember what Mr. Smith would have said. "Look at all your instruments" is one thing he babbles on about all the time, so I constantly looked at airspeed, RPM, Attitude indicator, Altitude indicator, and all the other things when I had the time.

After what felt like an hour - or two more likely, (it was less than 15 minutes) my forearms was totally stiff with muscle-acid, and ached some. My hands were okay, as I had remembered to let go of the yoke, one hand at a time, and flexed the fingers, here and there to let the blood flow into the fingers again, Torben said to bank left, which I did, and we headed back towards EKRK, runway 11. He pointed out a yellow field on the ground, that he wanted me to fly over, before turning left on final. I thought he was crazy. No WAY I could turn so steep that I could hit the centerline after the fields, but I didn´t dare say, and when I banked the aircraft – after the field, it responded with a sickening ease, and brought us on the right course. I guess Torben has tried it before. But I still struggled with the controls as the wind continued to tear at it. Now I had a specific point to aim for, but also needed to descend and keep the darn aircraft straight in the crosswind.

I heard the ATIS call from Roskilde in my headset - three times, but it was Torben who wrote down what they said, and I never even heard the actual wind-speed and -direction. I should have of course. But it was a first. Next time I will.

when I rolled out onto final, every cell in my body, SCREAMED at me, to say to Torben "YOU land this thing. I cannot", but another glance at Torben showed, once again, that look of a person who is calmer than a dead calm sea. He told me that we needed to go through the landing check list. WHAT? Me reading NOW? Couldn´t he see that I was FLYING for Christ sake? - that calm look again, so I sighed and I pulled the checklist card out again, and found the section about landing. We did the few steps, and again I was confused. Fuel pump was to be ON for landing.

OH NO - the runway was so narrow. Not a runway at all - but a piece of Scotch Tape on the ground - and when Torben said to line up at the centerline - I could have sworn it was Mr.Smiths voice. But with wind kicking my aircraft around with at least 100 knots crosswind - or was it 10? and turbulence that made the frigging aircraft jerk around like eels on a hot plate, staying on the center was no easy pick. Luckily the runway magically widened as we approached, and finally I was sure I was heading 90 degrees to the runway. It was a wide as a football field, Torben said - "I´ll apply flaps" and I flushed. I had completely forgotten about flaps. We were less than 100 feet up now, and he told me to keep her steady for a while, before setting her down. Throttle off, and I flew in a straight line - zig-zagging like a drunken bastard, and doing what Smith would have dryly labeled "balooning", but still, in the end, I set the aircraft down, with a bump that indicated something like 700 Feet per minute of Vertical speed, but it wasn´t at all. I was not used to the real sound of the aircraft setting down, that´s all. I applied a little brakes, and then I taxied (already better at keeping the yellow line now) to the spot where we had started.

And then it was over. Short - but that was great. Had it been an hour, I would have been gruesomely exhausted, and I was at sensory overload as it was, so that was great. I remembered the camera, and asked Torben to snap a few of me in the cockpit, and he came up with the following pictures.

Proud pilot Ole Andreasen - after surviving his first flight. It was amazing. Im smiling ear to ear looking at this pic now

Ladies and Gentlemen - this is your Captain Ole who welcomes you to Roskilde. I hope you used the vommitbags, as I heard alwul sounds back there during flight)

Stepping out of the aircraft. I considered for a brief moment to shut the door, and take off again - the keys were on the dashboard... But the family waited, so I decided not to...

- and finally, me posing besides the aircraft in the fantastic sunshine. I did it - by God - I did it!