Hey all, I checked out my local flying club and I can take a introductory flight (no experience necessary) for

 

$150 /30 mins

or $280 /60 mins

 

They even allow you to take control of the plane -- a piper pa-38, now I only have to have enough bravery to sign up :)

I've been using simulators since as far back as I can remember. It all started with Sub Logic FS II.

 

Just over a year ago I began flight training in a C172SP. I'm around 60 hours now and polishing up for my check ride. Life and weather are my hurdles right now.

 

It felt totally natural for me getting into a real aircraft. I felt right at ease doing everything that was asked right from day one and my instructor noted my knowledge transfer from using flight sims.

 

About halfway through my training, I made peace with turbulence and chop. I always tensed up a lot flying over the ridges near pattern altitude around the field. By the time I was turning final I had a death grip on the yoke and was sweating a lot. I've been tossed around a bit since then, even rose up out of my seat during some turbulence in a solo XC, but it isn't bad because I know I can always say enough and divert if I don't forget that I am in control.

 

I've heard lots of stories about accidents from other pilots and I like to read NTSB accident reports to learn from them. I have flown in the pattern with 3 airplanes and 2 helicopters, and that really requires a lot of concentration. I've seen so many beautiful sights in the state of New Jersey of all places! The amount of studying hasn't been a turn off either, and thanks to a life of simming most of the material was very easy to learn.

 

When some people have asked me if I'm afraid of being up high in an airplane, I ask them if they are afraid to be in a car or on a bicycle moving at 80mph. Inside the aircraft, I feel very comfortable, but I am extremely uncomfortable cleaning my gutters on a ladder or standing on my roof only 2 stories high. Being in the cabin makes all the difference for me.

 

If you want to try it just once or are considering enrolling for training, take an introductory lesson if you can sacrifice a few hours on a nice day.

Got some hours learning to fly in C172s, as I'm too tall to fly a C150. I tried, but I couldn't get my knees under the yoke for my feet to reach the pedals! I was amazed by the comparative longitudinal roominess of the C172 once you slide the seat back - I could almost stretch my legs out - but you're still physically intimate with the flight instructor next to you.

 

I loved flying but it just became prohibitively expensive to continue, and you have to keep flying on a consistent basis if you don't want to spin your wheels. Doesn't help that flight instructors tend to come and go on a whim, but most are just accumulating hours to get a job, which is understandable. I'd prolly do the same thing.

 

Flew as a radioman/navigator in U.S. Coast Guard HC-130s, back when the old 1600 and 1700 series planes were flying and had a full crew - two pilots, engineer, nav, radioman, and two guys in the back. Not sure if that actually counts as "flying" by some here, but I kept a logbook, and the numbers I punched into the nav equipment flew the plane 50% of the time, so it counts to me! :)

Taking an introductory lesson is really worth doing. But beware this flying thing is adictive.

 

I feel at more risk driving to and from the flying lessons on roads with cars hurtling towards me at 60mph and inches away.

In my younger years I enjoyed flying GA aircraft and considered it safer than driving. Then I was informed by wording in my life insurance policy that I was not covered for flying except commercially. The need to consider my family made me quit, except by simulator. Today the decision on whether to fly real aircraft or the simulator is based on the price of fuel.

I thinj the problem with an aircraft over a car is that during an auto accident, you usually feel you have a chance to survive. In an aircraft, you realize quickly that your goose is cooked, and you're just along for the ride.

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I997 using Tapatalk 2

 

I believe the official stats somewhere for airplane accident survival rate is about 80% or better

I've only done one intro flight and it was in a Diamond Star, but damn it was fun. I think if you actually do it you'd enjoy it and overcome your fear. Bear in mind...On a prop, something goes wrong, chances are you can just land in a field or something and have a pretty good chance of just walking away. Not the case when something big goes wrong on an airliner.

Yes, I think the 'fear of flying' is indeed the fear of crashing, and it isn't even the fear of not surviving--it's the sheer terror that could last several minutes that we would all generally prefer to miss out on! For what I would guess is a pretty authentic appearing rendition of this see the movie Fearless w/ Jeff Bridges.

 

And the other reality: statistical numbers of fatalities/mile or per unit of time have limited value as far as assessing your personal risk in a car. If you are a super careful driver, and you can be by being aware, smart and sober, you can drastically reduce your personal odds of an event over population based statistical odds which incorporate unsober, text messaging, and day dreaming! If you are a passenger in an airliner, about the only thing you can do is hope the crew and aircraft is in the best shape to improve your odds statistically, and avoid night flights in airliners that have poor flight histories. And I think you really can't discount this: how difficult is it to drive a car versus pilot an airliner? No contest!

I believe the official stats somewhere for airplane accident survival rate is about 80% or better

Sounds about right to me and I'm pretty sure a major part of the fatal accidents were due to low altitude stalls in the landing pattern and not related to mechanical problems.

They even allow you to take control of the plane -- a piper pa-38, now I only have to have enough bravery to sign up :)

 

Even he who never dares to live eventually dies.

 

On a less philosophical note; you won't be flying with Joe Sixpack here. You'll be flying with a skilled instructor with hundreds, maybe thousands of hours under his belt and who knows the plane like the back of his hand. The biggest hazard would be in getting yourself to the airport.

I think I'm scared of wide open spaces, not nessesarily heights. When on a couple boating trips out into the ocean... Couldn't stay in the water for more then a couple minutes because I didn't know what was in the pitch darkness below.

 

Then you probably wouldn't want to fly from Miami to the Bahamas with me in a single engine plane, huh?! :-)

I recall my 2nd cross country flight and first cross country solo in a C152.

There I was on the homeward leg at around 1800 Feet, approx 4 to 500 feet below an increasingly overcast sky heading south, when suddenly slightly ahead and to my right a Mooney appeared heading north (seemingly out of nowhere) - we past by each other with about 200 feet to spare... It all happened so fast I was still shaking after I touched down at the departure airport some forty minutes later. What scared me most was that I had no idea of his presence, and just how quickly he closed in on me.

I can only assume I had dutifully tuned my radio into a nearby airstrip to announce my location and had not yet tuned back to the main Flight following freqency - so missed any announcement he might have made..

Still, food for thought

87% of all aircraft accidents are pilot error. So you should be much more afraid of the pilot than the airplane. Trust me you are far better off in a single engine Cessna over the mountains IFR at night with a good stick than driving your Caddi down the Boulevard of broken dreams.

Hello fellow queenslander, I'm planning to look into the Toowoomba flying club. We will see how it goes, perhaps take a flight as a birthday present :)

 

Aren't you suppose to stall before you touch down in the smaller planes?

 

Yes, in most scenarios (IIRC) , GA planes stall for a very short time (About a second) before landing. You don't even feel it. I'm not really sure if the pilot intentionally stalls it or it's just a case of very low landing speeds.

I had my first glider flight Saturday, so I can now give an impression. It was awesome!

A bit weird and new for the first two minutes, but as soon as I got used to the continuous moving around of the thing, it turned quickly into the best experience of my life! Can't wait for my lessons to begin. :)