First flight

It's not a great photo, but see that plane behind me. I got to fly it today!

I arrived at Airport Manatee just before 7:30 this morning, the weather was perfect. CFI Bill pulled in right behind me on his Harley. He got right to it. He went over the pre-flight inspection with me, we pulled the Cherokee out between the hangers climbed in the cockpit and continued the pre-flight. By the way, I was sitting in the left seat! After going over the check list, we started the engine and I taxied the plane out onto the field, where we did some more pre-flight stuff.

Honestly, taxiing the airplane was the hardest thing I did today. Tropical Storm Fay passed nearby last week and it has rained daily since then. I believe the field was a little wet and soft and made taxiing difficult. It did not help that I may have been sitting a little too far from the rudder pedals and my legs had to work pretty hard.

After the engine run-ups we taxied onto the runway and Bill got us into the air. After we hit 1500 feet, it was all me. I practiced left and right standard rate turns, climbing, descending and level flight. FSX really helped on the turns because I knew exactly what I was doing. We flew around the practice area for about 30 minutes (seemed like 5) then Bill had me point the plane back at the airport. As we got close to entering the pattern, Bill took over and landed the plane.

Closing thoughts:
I really enjoyed flying the Cherokee 180, but paying close attention during pre-flight, takeoff and landing begins to show me how much I have to learn.
I like Airport Manatee. As soon as you reach altitude you are in the practice area. I did not waste much time taxiing around a large airport, waiting on other pilots or transiting to the practice area.
Bill seems like he would be easy to work with as an instructor.
I need to get a new cell phone that takes better pictures.

Flight instruction is fairly expensive, so I'm going to do my due diligence and check out at least two other flight schools. I'll also line up my eye exam so I can get the medical stuff out of the way.