Last summer was the most fun I had had in a long time. I visited five countries, saw ancient ruins, spent time on planes that I had never seen before, and flew one!

It was late June and we were driving to the military base. Our hopes to get on the plane with thirteen seats available going to Dover, Delaware began to looked like it had slim and none as chances. My father is retired military and that means that his immediate family can get any available seats on military aircraft not carrying dangerous cargo or headed to a warzone. As we walked into the newly refurbished terminal our hopes grew with the number of people that weren’t waiting for our flight. By the time it was time to board the C-17 there only happened to be seven other people so this meant that my parents, my sister, and I could board the plane together.

Flash forward through exploring Delaware, driving to D.C. and catching a flight to Siganilla Air Force Base, on the island of Sicily, in Italy. Upon landing we are enthralled by the lovely architecture and all the artifacts at the military base. While in Sicily we visited Roman ruins, enjoyed the local culture, and took small day-trips to shopping centers around the west side of the island. There was one thing that I liked most about this vacation; leaving! It was not because the island was boring but what I was allowed to do during the flight to Spain. The pilot of the C-130 started talking to a few people before the flight was underway and he said to me, “Would you like to come up to the cockpit and look around while we take off?” Of course the plane freak in me excitedly said, “YES!” and after confirming the move with my dad I was led up to the cockpit by the nice Air Force officer. After the exciting takeoff the autopilot brought the plane to cruising altitude the co-pilot got up and motioned me into the seat. And after taking a few breathtaking pictures of the propellers and the ground far below I finally sat down. The altitude/speed indicator screen was lowered so I could view it. While I strained to hear the pilot through my set of army green headphones he apparently explained how to turn off autopilot and what altitude to keep the plane at. I was then motioned to turn the autopilot off and start flying. After explaining to keep the ball in the square on the retina display in front of me, I experienced that it was both exciting and frustrating attempting to keep it there for long. After flying for what seemed like thirty seconds(probably about five minutes) I was told that my experience of a lifetime was up and I now have a crazy awesome story to tell the world.