"Jay Honeck" wrote:
I looked out at the wings, and saw nothing that could intuitively explain
our lofty perch. There was no sensation of movement, other than the
vibration of the engine, and the landscape unrolling beneath us. I was
completely relaxed, sitting in this unlikely place, yet I was FLYING THROUGH
SPACE in a ship of my own.

At that moment, a pang of momentary fear shot through me, as it sometimes
still does when I realize that I am piloting an airplane unassisted. This,
as always, was immediately followed by a thrill of sheer, utter joy, of
purest lightness and freedom, and of the realization that nothing --
NOTHING -- like this had ever happened to anyone else in my family.

GREAT bit of writing, Jay. I'm relatively new (under 200 hrs TT), but
those two paragraphs describe that "OH MY GOD, I'M FLYING!" shocker that
takes your breath away for a moment on almost every flight. It's amazing
how moving it can be, sending chills at times, not of panic, but of
wonder and wow. As you said, hope it never goes away.