Claire Sherwen got a bird’s eye view of Carlisle’s landmarks when the News & Star sent her to fly a plane.
Fly a plane? They obviously hadn’t seen her driving...

As I sat in the briefing room and my instructor Alan explained how to manoeuvre a plane, it suddenly dawned on me that this was more than just a sight-seeing trip.

I was going to fly a plane. Had they seen my driving? I circle a car park for 10 minutes rather than reverse into a free parking spot.

After boarding the four-seater Piper Warrior plane, Alan did a safety briefing – a bit like going on holiday only without the air steward or stewardess – and we donned our headsets.

My first job was to taxi the plane to the runway using the foot pedals which steer the plane left and right, before Alan took control for take-off.

Within seconds the ground had disappeared beneath us and we were looking down on the River Eden snaking through green fields.

My house in a village just a couple of miles from the airport came into view.

It was fascinating to see the street where I live, the roads on which I drive, and the place I work from a new perspective.

City landmarks such as Carlisle Castle, the cathedral and Dixon’s chimney stood proudly below.

I could have looked at the view all day, but I was here for a reason – to have a taster flying lesson.

I was nervous about taking the controls at 1,600ft, but Alan said cheerfully: “What’s the worst that can happen?” Er...

In reality, there was nothing to worry about. The plane had dual controls, was set to remain stable, and I was with an experienced instructor.

Alan demonstrated and then talked me through a left and right turn.

I gained confidence as I became more comfortable with the controls, and completed both, panicking only slightly when we began to lose altitude on the right turn.

Alan reassured me that I simply wasn’t pulling back hard enough on the control column and it was soon righted.

We made our approach for landing via Brampton, and once we were in line with the runway, Alan let me take the controls again pulling back on the wheel to maintain speed for landing while at the same time keeping the aircraft on course.

By some miracle the plane dropped in gently before Alan landed it on the runway.

Safely back on the ground, I was buzzing from my flight, which wasn’t half as scary as I’d imagined.

Would I do it again? Definitely.