I went flying with a friend today. It was fantastic. We took a Cessna 172 up to Lamson at Clear Lake, through Santa Rosa, and back to Davis. I just have one question. Knowing that this is rightfully called a rich man's game, and knwing that many of us are not rich men, how can it be afforded? That's the biggest impasse I'm facing right now. Earlhttp://www.bcenterprises.com/images/starship_sig.jpg

Congratulations Dean!I took my first flying lesson on May 3, 1987. You are about to embark on a challenging and exciting experience!Happy Flying!Scott :-)Airline Transport Pilot & Flight Instructor6000+ HRS Total Time2000+ HRS Jet Hours2000+ HRS as a flight instructor

I agree...also some CFI's have different standards....some harder, some easyer.....Mine is from Flight saftey, and he demands you do it right :)

I had my second lesson today. We had to wait out some weather in the early afternoon but it was worth it. We flew out north toward Fox Lake and worked on basic maneuvers. The weather over northern Illinois seems to run hazy this time of year. Visibility was 5-10 miles. My instructor was a young woman who has just finished college and could easily have been my daughter.I'm amazed how much I have learned from MFS2002. I think the virtual planes are harder to fly. Understanding what is going on around you seems to be more than half the game, more than flying the machine.

Hehe, I was just flying over the Fox Lake last night in FS2002 on the way to Oshkosh to check out that new scenery I downloaded! Don't worry about the haze, it's not always like that. Usually visibility around here this time of year is more like 20-50 miles. The relatively humidity has been pretty high these past few days, and that'll usually decrease visibility considerably. Here's proof that better days do exist in the summer:http://www.visualflightrules.com/MyFlyingP...12-01/pic11.jpgThat was taken just northwest of Crystal Lake. (You can see the lake in the picture) Ok, so that isn't a great example. You'll get plenty of days where the visibility is better than in this picture.Understanding what is going on around you seems to be more than half the game, more than flying the machine.Well stated!