[macroy]

I’ve always had the inclination to learn to fly. But the cost didn’t justify the practicality. Recently (guess it has to do with age?) I’ve decided to focus on personal interests, as opposed to those that help career or practical stuff. Thus, this past weekend I signed up for this intro lesson - how cool it was. I always thought landing a plane would be the hardest, but the taxi was almost impossible at first…. I still never really got used to it. Actually got to take off.. make turns, and land (assisted, of course).

Definitely going to sign up to get my Private Pilot Cert…

Anyone a private pilot here? Definitely could use advice/someone to ask questions.

[Disgruntled Head of C-3PO]

I got my licence about 7 years ago. I am just glad I didn't pursue it as a carrier as it was highly stressful and the whole 9-11 thing really killed the industry.

I do miss it though, I guess it is also why I am so good at flight sim video games

[The Godfather]

What are the requirements to sign up?

[SeSawaya]

wow, that must've been cool. Congrats to you for pursuing your dreams!

[Landos Mustache]

Originally posted by The Godfather:
What are the requirements to sign up?

You need really good eyesight, that's about it.

[The Godfather]

Originally posted by Landos Mustache:
You need really good eyesight, that's about it.

US Citizenship?

[Powaqqatsi]

Originally posted by The Godfather:
US Citizenship?

[fxbezak]

What kind of Plane? I like the Cessna 175. Typically i have see that 152's are used in training. Most comfy one I have flown is a 210 RG

[The Godfather]

Originally posted by Powaqqatsi:

Is that a 'Duh', or a 'No, duh'?

[Powaqqatsi]

Originally posted by The Godfather:
Is that a 'Duh', or a 'No, duh'?

Why would you need US Citizenship to take some flying lessons ? That's what I meant . I admit that it was maybe the wrong smiley.

[Landos Mustache]

Originally posted by The Godfather:
US Citizenship?

No, all I needed was my Canadian one.

[Landos Mustache]

Originally posted by fxbezak:
What kind of Plane? I like the Cessna 175. Typically i have see that 152's are used in training. Most comfy one I have flown is a 210 RG

I started on a Cessna but I hated it, the controller is the "steering wheel" like and uncomfortable for longer trips.

Early on I moved over to the Kantana. It is much easier to fly and has a joystick between your legs (get your mind out of the gutter) so control and duration is much improved.

Since the roof is totally clear you also have better visibility.

http://home.att.net/~Flyace2/PilotRe...mondKatana.htm

[mdc]

i definitely plan on learning later in my life (i'm only 24). if you do not mind me asking, how much is a license?

[macroy]

Originally posted by The Godfather:
What are the requirements to sign up?

To sign up? really no requirements. You do need to have a 3rd class medical certificate in order to get your license. So if you have any medical conditions, you'll want to check that out first as flight training isn't cheap - here in the DC area, a Cessna 172 is about $120 and hour (wet) and $45 for the instructor. Multiply that by the 40 minimum hours or a more realistic 65 or so ... you're looking at around 10K. And that doesn't include exam fees, books, misc...

Funny someone mentioned if you need US citizenship... there are some talks of legislation on non-citizens looking to learn (http://www.aopa.org for more details) here in the States.

That introductory flight is open to anyone... and at $50, I would encourage anyone to try it out....

Hey Lando - does the instuctor fly tandem in the Katana? or is he/she next to you? That plane looks cool... they don't have it at the flight school I plan on using though. 172's only.

Edited: Nevermind, I just clicked on the link and the answer was right there... funny how what works.

[Landos Mustache]

Originally posted by macroy:

Hey Lando - does the instuctor fly tandem in the Katana? or is he/she next to you? That plane looks cool... they don't have it at the flight school I plan on using though. 172's only.

Oh ya, they don't send you up alone for a while, you have to get a student license and radio license before you go anywhere. Both sides of the Katana have steering controls.

It costs about $6000 US to get your private pilots license.

The reason I found it so stressful is because it really doesn't take long to learn how to fly, after a few lesions you really have it all mastered, the only tricky part is landing in heavy winds.

The tuff part is they spend about 10% of the time teaching you how to fly and the rest of the time on what to do if the aircraft has a problem and how not to die or kill people on the ground in the process. You also need to learn to navigate without GPS and talk to air traffic controllers.

The stalls and spins are horrifying and I am not a wimp with these sort of things.

[BoomStick]

I got my ticket on $3500.

The C172 is probably the most forgiving aircraft ever made.

Sure a stick is a little more convienant that a yoke, I prefer the yoke in a x-wind and a stick is easier to overpull and stall. I like the placement of the trim wheel on the cessna by your right knee.

Spins are no longer required in instruction, stalls are the only requirement and prevention is stressed more than recovery.

I spent 15 hours on emergency procedures and power off landings into grass airstrips as a simulated open field.

My instructor would mark off a 500 foot dead zone and I could not pass it landing during an emergency forced landing. He made it tight, but it could be done safely. He would say "you're dead, go around". I can now get a C172 down and stopped in under 400 feet on grass from 100 agl on final. They'll whistle in a full cross controlled 100kt slip.




You'll need to order the Jeppensen Private Pilot VFR kit and a set of headphones. Flightcom makes some good inexpensive ones that are great to train with. Now I have a set of Lightspeed ANR's.

[Landos Mustache]

Originally posted by BoomStick:

Spins are no longer required in instruction

That is good and bad. They are VERY dangerous yet fun at the same time. I am glad I got more then a few lessons on how to get out of one or I would have been dead if it ever happened by accident.

[BoomStick]

I really want to know how you could possible get something like a C172 into a spin other than blatant stupidity?

I can get it to stop before the wing goes over at full dirty stall without falling 50 feet.

It'll fly at 40kts full dirty hands off.

[d4nth3m4n]

is boomstick speaking english?

[AKcrab]

He's speaking 'pilot'.

[SamuraiDL]

I spent a couple hours at the controls of a cessna, pretty fun man.

[TailsToo]

Flew about 5 hours in a 152. I had a friend who is a captain for delta, so he used to give me free lessons.... it was great fun!

[Macpilot]

I would highly recommend a demo flight to anyone, especially those that are fearful of flying. As a flight instructor, I really enjoyed giving demos. About half the people were able to land the plane without any input from me. I would say that 9 out of 10 people could get their Private Pilot Certificate, as long as they pursued it with 2 to 3 lessons a week and studied fairly hard.

And it is difficult to spin a 172. Hell, it is difficult to stall the thing! You really have to try hard to get a plane to spin from a stall condition. If you do nothing after a stall, the plane will correct itself with no input, because it is an inherently stable vehicle.

As far as good airplanes to learn in, the 152 and 172 are forgiving but the visibility is inferior to the Piper products such as the Warriors, Archers, etc. The Katana is a nice machine but they are fairly rare.

I would recommend the Piper Warrior for learning the Private. Great visibility and sturdy.

Cost wise, it depends a lot on your location and study habits. It can be done for as little as $6000 but can easily stretch to $10000 for someone who does one lesson a week or just does not pick it up right away.

[tie]

Propellerhead, by Antony Woodward, is a very enjoyable book about learning to fly an ultralight: amazon.co.uk link

Here is a good, complete description of flight school in a busy urban area (out of Oakland airport): http://www.pandemonia.com/flying/

I have a relative who teaches glider flying, but I've never had a chance to try it.

[Spliff]

How do you recover from a spin?

Point the nose down until you get your airspeed up? Or jump out with a parachute?

[chabig]

How do you recover from a spin?

It's elementary my dear Watson. You reduce the angle of attack to break the stall and stop the yaw.

Chris

[BoomStick]

Originally posted by Spliff:
How do you recover from a spin?

Point the nose down until you get your airspeed up? Or jump out with a parachute?

Opposite rudder of the spin, release back pressure on the yoke and apply power after recovery.

Making the Cessna go around 3 times takes quite a bit of effort.

My 180hp Sparrow Hawk absolutely won't do a full power stall, it'll climb at 1000fpm until you get sick of pointing up or it'll loop if you just hammer in back pressure, but you almost break the column out doing it.


As fpr Pipers, they are fast, light and fragile. You don't find many high time Pipers because they are built so light.
If you want a good 2 door low wing, go with a Beech Sundowner, it's built as tough as a 172 and has the added bonus of a pair of doors.

[MilkmanDan]

Don't pull a John Denver.

[macroy]

Originally posted by Macpilot:

Cost wise, it depends a lot on your location and study habits. It can be done for as little as $6000 but can easily stretch to $10000 for someone who does one lesson a week or just does not pick it up right away.

What you pay for really depends on the rate you get for renting the plane as well as the instructor cost. I've seen rates as low as $60 an hour to as high as $120 depending on where you live and how well the fleet is maintained (in terms of how new the planes are and the avionics they carry, not if they have missing cables or something).

The FAA minimum is 40hrs to get your license (10 of those solo I believe)... and as Macpilot mentioned, how much you go beyond that will depend on how well you learn and how often you go.

Some places also offer discounts if you buy bulk time (i.e pay for 20 hours in advance and they'll give you credit for 25 hours...)

Macpilot - quick question for after you have your pilots license: Lets say I want to rent a plane on a weekend getaway... how do most places charge for the plane? Is it just the flight time + a daily rental rate (and any tie down charge at the destination I assume)? or do they not usually offer planes overnight? - Thanks.

[BoomStick]

Originally posted by MilkmanDan:
Don't pull a John Denver.

John Denver was killed because he was unfamiliar with the plane he had just bought. The fuel switch was placed behind the pilot's head in the homebuilt Longeasy he had owned for only a day or so.

He turned the fuel selector to what thought was one of the tanks and it was actually off. He ran the header tank dry taking off and stalled it trying to restart over water.

Ain't life a funny funny riddle?

Oh God, I'm an ocean bouy.

[G4ME]

i didn't know it cost that much to get your private pilots license.

My uncle just sold his sky hawk, and is now in the market for a new plane, he has his eye on a piper cub kit for 23K still in the crate. I think it would be one hell of a project.

[iLikebeer]

originally posted by macroy:
I always thought landing a plane would be the hardest, but the taxi was almost impossible at first…. I still never really got used to it

try focusing further down the taxiway or runway instead of right in front of the plane. It helps to keep you from overcorrecting.

Universal stall recovery: PARE
Power- idle
Ailerons- neutral
Rudder- opposite to spin
Elevator- forward to break stall
(or just don't stall in uncoordinated flight)

I like Cessnas better than the Katana because you can actually open the window in flight, you can even fly the things with your arm out the window if you get bored.

And always take at least a small camera with you. You never know what kind of crazy stuff you'll see at the airport or on a X-country flight.

[moonmonkey]

Originally posted by The Godfather:
US Citizenship?

That could be a problem for the 6,086,129,790 people in the rest of the world.

[banninated68]

I can fly a 172, but ...it's really not all that difficult.

- $

[The Godfather]

Originally posted by moonmonkey:
That could be a problem for the 6,086,129,790 people in the rest of the world.

Aw, c'mon You know I was referring to the foreign people in the US, with the tightening security going on here.

Do flying instructors even require a background check before giving classes?