Hi allI'm actually going hands on flying in the Spring, my daughter and son in law bought me a hands on flying experience for Christmas. I have the choice of four types.1 A piper cub2 A Tiger Moth3 A Stearmen4 An acrobatic experience (not hands on)I'm thinking I'll go with the Piper Cub, I suppose I should get so hours in with the Piper in FS9 any suggestins out there to which I should go for.Wycliffe

Hello Wycliffe,My lessons were in a C172. I did fly a Piper once just for the low wing experience. It was quite old. The flaps were manual, on a lever between the seats. That was odd when I was used to electric flaps. If you get hooked and decide to take lessons, follow the advice that I didn't. Make sure you have the funds up front to complete the training ($5K to $6K in the USA). I got about half way through and even have some solo hours, but I must now put my extra money into savings for my kid's college expenses.Have fun, relax, don't overcontrol, and have a great time!GW

Hi, I would second the recommendation- you will get hooked, so get ready ! :). But I would add some to the $6k figure too. My club rents a C172SP at $95 an hour, and I'd allow 60 hours. Then there's CFI expenses, and all the other stuff. Also, once you start, it's hard to give it up and resume it later. I did this (for a similar reason to the poster above), and while it did come back after 10 years absence, it was still an uphill climb- so you'd have to add even more hours.Good luck, and enjoy your flight! You'll be amazed how much easier it is than in the sim, as you'll have a 3 dimesnional feel to how the plane is operating (you'll actually feel the ups and downs). Probably the most striking thing is to see how easy it is in real flying to line up with the runway. Even though our eyes have a limited lateral view, the unconcious muscle controls of eyes and head really give us in excess of +/- 90 degrees without us even thinking about it, and you'll note that aligning with the runway just "happens' without the effort in FS.Bruce.

I would 'third' that. I ran out of funds at the time of my son going to college. Make sure you have more than you think you'll need! Enjoy the experience....it's fantastic!!IsmetM

Thanks allI don't need to worry about my girls going to college, they have already done that and busted me out. But now it's my time of life I have a good salary and really isnt that expensive here in the UK.I can't remember exactly how much for a lesson about

That's an exciting choice of airplanes you got there.I would choose the Sterman myself. There's just something about open-cockpit biplanes and especially the Sterman. That'll definitely give you the "bug" :)The Cub should also be intersting, it's quite an important airplane for GA historically.I wouldn't take the Aerobatic experience unless I got paid for doing it. But if you're the kind of person that takes the most extreme roller coaster ride when at the amusement park and still want more, then go for it. (-:Going to take an introduction flight myself this spring...I get to choose between an ancient Piper Warrior or an even more ancient C172...There's no way I'd be able to take flight lessons right now but I thought it'd be fun to do a few flights with an instructor anyway.A bit O/T but what do people here think about Ultralights? They've got a bit of a bad reputation it seems but as long as you use some common sense, wouldn't that be a way to keep your flying skills up without spenidng all your savings? Considering all the money we spend on flightsim hardware, it may even be cheaper than flight simming :-lol

Make sure you report back here about your experiences!Bruce.

>A bit O/T but what do people here think about Ultralights?>They've got a bit of a bad reputation it seems but as long as>you use some common sense, wouldn't that be a way to keep your>flying skills up without spenidng all your savings?>Considering all the money we spend on flightsim hardware, it>may even be cheaper than flight simming :-lolUltra-lights don't bother me any. I flew a Quicksilver along time ago. If I couldn't fly faster aircraft, I'd do it again. And besides the very low landing/stall speed, a lot of them have those backup parachutes. There is ultra-light pilot who regularly post's at Flightsim.com with pics, if they're still there.L.Adamson

Yes I've seen some pics over at Flightsim.com. Looks fantastic sitting in the open like that, 1000ft. from the ground.Ultralights are very high on my "things to do after I'm done at university"-list :)