OK, I do not, I repeat, do not like heights. But for some reason, flying in a small plane over Prescott, Jerome, and Sedona sounded like a great idea for a “You Gotta Do This” episode – and let me tell ya right now – You Gotta Do This!

Seeing the quad city from the air puts it all in a unique and appreciative perspective.

And with the Prescott Air Park just minutes from Downtown Prescott, your adventure starts with a peaceful drive through the Dells out 89 towards the City Golf Course and Airport.

So, after a quick cup of Bali Coffee from Prescott Coffee Roasters, I headed out to meet my pal Jeff Weisel for a quick aerial tour of the area.

Now, I’ve known Jeff for several years. A photographer and graphic designer in his past, as well as an accomplished jazz pianist, Jeff, is just an all around good guy. And his plane is in one piece, both engines worked, and he seems to have pretty good vision… so I felt relatively safe on this excursion.

After a though inspection of the plane, a 1966 Piper Twin Engine, we taxied out to the runway.

The cool thing about being in a small private plane in Prescott, instead of a big 747 in New York, is everything feels so personal and homey. With Jeff chatting with the tower, in “Pilotspeaque”, I kinda did a double take of the wings.

Not seeing any protruding bolts, both propellers turning, and finding no flock of Canadian Geese waiting to pummel us once we hit the air, I began to relax.

The props turn, the engine revs, the tower gives the ok, and before you know it – you’re in the air.

This was going to be a short loop from Prescott to Sedona, making a turn at Oak Creek and circle back over Mingus Mountain. You kinda get a feeling of escape as Jeff noted his enjoyment of the “serenity” that can only come from being in the air. I mean from up here, we all look like were doin’ ok.

Jerome with it’s distinct switchback streets, the impressive Red Rock formations (we both struggled to remember the names), and Cottonwood with its’ patchwork of streets and neighborhoods. The way the landscape and geography changes in such a short period of time is really impressive. On the back side of Mingus are tons of old Miner trails that are now used for recreational hiking bikes,

Little towns like Cherry stand out with their tall green pines, and ya wonder why you’ve never been there – that’s gonna change.

And that “Save the Verde” bumper sticker pops in your head when you see the green trail of vegetation that spreads out from its banks.

Along the way, Jeff instructed me on the purpose of the various gauges, monitors and switches that keep this bird afloat - I was very glad he knew what each one did. The word “jerk” only left my lips once when we hit a hefty bit of turbulence causing the plane to quickly shutter, dip and respond. Realizing rather quickly that I was not the pilot, I apologized.

Unlike last week’s adventure, You Gotta Do This for the relaxation of it, maybe a bit of an adrenaline rush, but mostly just to sit back, look out the window and appreciate the view.

Thanks for a great afternoon Jeff! It was awesome.

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