Anyone here a private pilot?

[GTaudiophile]

*raises hand*

Cessna 152 back when I was 16-18. Flew then but not any more

 

[Kaido]

helicopter in a box

http://www.rotorway.com/

Well now I know what I want from my Secret Santa this year, this will be a great update from my mini R/C copter collection

 

[rudeguy]

It's pretty fun. If you play the game right, you an avoid the bulk of the turbulence - i.e. don't fly in the middle of the day, do sunrises or evenings instead, don't fly on nasty days, etc.

Flying actually feels pretty slow once you're up there, even if you're in a fast plane - sort of like puttering around in a car. Super peaceful to look down over the ground from up so high though, it's just an entirely different perspective when you're in the cockpit steering yourself around the sky. Makes all your IRL problems seem insignificant

I never understood the fascination with flying. I've flown on jetliners and it was pretty boring and smelled funny.

Then I got to take some trips in my company's private plane. Sitting there, being a part of a cloud is beyond words. Having to rapidly gain altitude because of ice and weather should have been scary but it was fun. Bouncing around in turbulence and laughing because it feels like a roller coaster was insanely fun.

But the views...the tops of clouds are so much more beautiful than the bottoms.

Now I'm always ready and eager to fly.

 

[alkemyst]

I never understood the fascination with flying. I've flown on jetliners and it was pretty boring and smelled funny.

Then I got to take some trips in my company's private plane. Sitting there, being a part of a cloud is beyond words. Having to rapidly gain altitude because of ice and weather should have been scary but it was fun. Bouncing around in turbulence and laughing because it feels like a roller coaster was insanely fun.

But the views...the tops of clouds are so much more beautiful than the bottoms.

Now I'm always ready and eager to fly.

Your sig is funny.

 

[John Connor]

auto-rotation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzWw5U3eCok


been on a few heueys where the pilot did a refresher on auto-rotation. quite the experience.

Yeah, I know about auto-rotation, but what happens when the propeller falls off? LOL

 

[sportage]

Something special flying just before sunset over snow covered city streets.
Just wait till u solo. Now THAT'S the fun part!
And if ground school is a challenge, use the AGS weekend training course.
Well worth the $$$.
A 3-day cram course with a very high rate of success in passing that final.
Usually available in most states.

http://acceleratedgroundschool.com/
.
.
.
.

 

[Red Squirrel]

The more I read this thread the more it makes me want to get my license and buy a plane and a property big enough to have a run way!

If I had the time... and money.

 

[compuwiz1]

Yes...I'm a doctor and I also know my way around a cockpit. j/k

I really envy those who know how to fly. At my age I don't think it would be a good idea to try and learn.

 

[manlymatt83]

Awesome! I got a ride in the copilot seat of a Piper Warrior III with my coworker out of Hanscom for some work stuff and ever since then, I really want to start learning as well. Maybe our lessons will overlap and I'll see you there..

Good luck man

Looking forward to it!

 

[manlymatt83]

Something special flying just before sunset over snow covered city streets.
Just wait till u solo. Now THAT'S the fun part!
And if ground school is a challenge, use the AGS weekend training course.
Well worth the $$$.
A 3-day cram course with a very high rate of success in passing that final.
Usually available in most states.

http://acceleratedgroundschool.com/
.
.
.
.

Thanks!

 

[mmntech]

I flew a Cessna 150 once as part of an introductory flight the local airfield was offering for $50. It's a very expensive hobby to get into though. Especially with the price of avgas being what it is. I wouldn't mind getting a recreational pilot's license. In Canada, it's a step down from the PPL and training is not as rigorous. Gives you enough to fly ultralights safely. Lessons still aren't cheap though.

I want to install Prepar3D as you can use that to train with. http://www.prepar3d.com/

FSX addons and planes are compatible.

I know Prepar3d is supposedly a modified version of FS X. Looks like they've upgraded the rendering engine to support DirectX 11. Wonder if they fixed the CPU issues. FSX really likes high clock speeds. Relic of the Pentium 4 days. It can run like a sick dog even on modern hardware because of that.

X-Plane is an alternative, but I found it a bit obtuse. Even it's starting to look a bit dated. It really loves beefy system specs too. Their recommended requirements are basically all the CPUs and VRAM you can throw at it.

 

[Scarpozzi]

*raises hand*

Cessna 152 back when I was 16-18. Flew then but not any more

I flew a 152 a bunch because it was available and cheaper than the 172 to rent. I actually preferred the 152 because it handled much more freely than the 172. I felt like my controls were a lot more sensitive. It made all the slight adjustments during final approaches more fun to play around with.

The 172 I flew felt like it almost landed itself the way it was setup. The 152 was definitely more exciting even though it had less power.

 

[skyking]

helicopter in a box

http://www.rotorway.com/

I went to the factory with a friend of mine to check them out, when they brought out the Exec 90. He has had a couple of them, the older exec and has a 162f now.

 

[manlymatt83]

Cruising over 30 hours now and getting close to a solo. Super excited! Any new pilots on the board?

 

[rudeguy]

Cruising over 30 hours now and getting close to a solo. Super excited! Any new pilots on the board?

I wish I had the time! I could easily get the lessons for free but its too much of a commitment for me right now.

What kind of plane have you been flying? Any fun stories?

 

[manlymatt83]

I wish I had the time! I could easily get the lessons for free but its too much of a commitment for me right now.

What kind of plane have you been flying? Any fun stories?

Cessna 172 SP.

I have a few stories, but I really like some of my first radio recordings:

http://2ef0034dfeac56a9fc17-9998683...cdn.com/Mar-03-2015-1430Z.m4a?hc_location=ufi
http://2ef0034dfeac56a9fc17-9998683...cdn.com/Feb-18-2015-1600Z.m4a?hc_location=ufi
http://2ef0034dfeac56a9fc17-9998683...cdn.com/Feb-18-2015-1630Z.m4a?hc_location=ufi
http://2ef0034dfeac56a9fc17-9998683...cdn.com/Feb-18-2015-1700Z.m4a?hc_location=ufi

liveatc.net is a beautiful thing! I don't download them anymore though... other things become more fun Like landing!

I really like stalls and slow flight. It's nerve-wrecking to feel the plane snap down like that the first time it happens. But slow flight actually becomes really fun, especially if you get things trimmed up perfectly to ride the stall warning while still maintaining altitude.

We went up once when I had a cold - bad mistake. Barely 5 miles away and had to turn around. Good lesson learned. Tower wasn't expecting us to come back while still in the air space, so they were a little confused... got to do a few 360s in the pattern and extend our base pretty far out, which gave us an awesome view of the runway as we turned to final. Those are probably the little things that in a few years won't matter much, but I'm really enjoying this.

 

[rudeguy]

I love pilot chatter!

 

[clamum]

That's great man, glad you're enjoying it!

I'd like to take some lessons, or at least an intro flight (for $100 they offer to take you up in a flight around town and let you take over the controls at one point), but I haven't yet.

 

[manlymatt83]

That's great man, glad you're enjoying it!

I'd like to take some lessons, or at least an intro flight (for $100 they offer to take you up in a flight around town and let you take over the controls at one point), but I haven't yet.

Go for it! You won't regret it.

 

[skyking]

Cessna 172 SP.

I have a few stories, but I really like some of my first radio recordings:

http://2ef0034dfeac56a9fc17-9998683...cdn.com/Mar-03-2015-1430Z.m4a?hc_location=ufi
http://2ef0034dfeac56a9fc17-9998683...cdn.com/Feb-18-2015-1600Z.m4a?hc_location=ufi
http://2ef0034dfeac56a9fc17-9998683...cdn.com/Feb-18-2015-1630Z.m4a?hc_location=ufi
http://2ef0034dfeac56a9fc17-9998683...cdn.com/Feb-18-2015-1700Z.m4a?hc_location=ufi

liveatc.net is a beautiful thing! I don't download them anymore though... other things become more fun Like landing!

I really like stalls and slow flight. It's nerve-wrecking to feel the plane snap down like that the first time it happens. But slow flight actually becomes really fun, especially if you get things trimmed up perfectly to ride the stall warning while still maintaining altitude.

We went up once when I had a cold - bad mistake. Barely 5 miles away and had to turn around. Good lesson learned. Tower wasn't expecting us to come back while still in the air space, so they were a little confused... got to do a few 360s in the pattern and extend our base pretty far out, which gave us an awesome view of the runway as we turned to final. Those are probably the little things that in a few years won't matter much, but I'm really enjoying this.

Cold, hangover, none of those were ever much fun in a plane. I had a turn -back lesson like that with a hangover.
See if your instructor can set up a falling leaf. I never tried that in a 172 but it should work fine.
When you solo, you will be surprised at the added performance.
If you have not flown yet with back seats filled, that is also a surprise but much more of a downer.
The 172 as a trainer does not quite do as good a job as the 150/152 IMO. It has excess performance when compared to the little planes, so the subtle performance cues are not as evident. You can get away with a little ham-handedness.
With the 150 we really had to ride thermals to get up over the cascades in a timely manner.

 

[Genx87]

About 56 total hours. Most of them in a Piper Tomahawk. Did this in highschool. But I am color blind so the Air Force wouldnt let me fly. I was set to go to AFA to play football and fly. I lost interest in flying because of that. And not it has become so expensive. 20 years ago I could rent a Tomahawk for ~30\hour wet. I think that is pushing 80-90\hour now.

I say go for it. It is a very liberating hobby.

 

[skyking]

Did you ever look back at the tail of the tomahawk while somebody else stalled it? It was one of those things you do once. Let's just say it is a little disconcerting how much it wiggles left-right back there

 

[Genx87]

Heh I did not. Stalling was my least favorite part of flight training. I even enjoyed the simulated loss of all surface controls except throttle and rudder more than stalling.

 

[PowerEngineer]

*raises hand*

Cessna 152 back when I was 16-18. Flew then but not any more

Me too.

Eight-week flight school at the old Reno-Stead air base through Civil Air Patrol back (way back) when I just turned 16. After I returned home, I had to be driven to the air fields because I hadn't yet gotten my driver's license. :awe: Way too expensive to stay current for a soon-to-be college student (plane rental was an outrageous $18/hour!). I never got back into it after graduation. Oh well...

 

[skyking]

I got into CAP as an adult doing search and rescue flights.