What! I Shouldn't Fly This! (Lots of Pics)
#1
10-20-2008, 09:09 PM
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Texarkana, TX/Conway, AR
Posts: 2,847
What! I Shouldn't Fly This! (Lots of Pics)
I flew a plane. Durring the summer my Mom bought a plane ride for me and a friend at an auction from one of her co-workers as a birthday present. I didn't know I would get to fly the plane. It was a 1956 Cesna, 145hp. I don't know much more than that. This was this past weekend after I got through cleaning all the paint off my car.
While the pilot was getting the plane ready he was making jokes, I thought, about how he was going to get it up in the air and then let me have the controls. Turns out he wasn't joking
Before we took off he showed me all the control and gauges. Which I didn't really pay 100% to being that I didn't know I would actually be relying on them. Although in the air I went more on "feel".
Good clear day to fly. It was amazing how far you could see that high up. Almost seemed like you could see the curvature of the Earth.
He flew the plane in the air for about five minutes and then he said "Ok now you do it." I was like "WHAT!" So of course I grabed hold and flew tha damn thing. It was actually really easy to fly. I flew for about an hour in total.
I did some tight circles over my house. (this picture is not over my house, I think this is over a paper mill we flew over. I flew in a right-hand circle over my house.)
He told me I was going to land the plane too. I didn't think this was the greatest idea but hey, I ain't gona turn down the chance. He had me fly once over the runway to get a feel for it and then bring it in again for the real landing. Durring the actual landing he kinda took over the controls a little more helping me. I was nervous as hell. Death grip on the steering wheel thing.
After we got out and tied the plane down.
Now, I would really like to take some formal lessons. He said he could probably teach me in about two hours since I did so well at it. The guy said that it only taked about $200 a year to keep the plane opperational, if nothing major breaks. I don't know what a plane goes for though. Just something I never thought I would get to do. Tons of fun.
While the pilot was getting the plane ready he was making jokes, I thought, about how he was going to get it up in the air and then let me have the controls. Turns out he wasn't joking
Before we took off he showed me all the control and gauges. Which I didn't really pay 100% to being that I didn't know I would actually be relying on them. Although in the air I went more on "feel".
Good clear day to fly. It was amazing how far you could see that high up. Almost seemed like you could see the curvature of the Earth.
He flew the plane in the air for about five minutes and then he said "Ok now you do it." I was like "WHAT!" So of course I grabed hold and flew tha damn thing. It was actually really easy to fly. I flew for about an hour in total.
I did some tight circles over my house. (this picture is not over my house, I think this is over a paper mill we flew over. I flew in a right-hand circle over my house.)
He told me I was going to land the plane too. I didn't think this was the greatest idea but hey, I ain't gona turn down the chance. He had me fly once over the runway to get a feel for it and then bring it in again for the real landing. Durring the actual landing he kinda took over the controls a little more helping me. I was nervous as hell. Death grip on the steering wheel thing.
After we got out and tied the plane down.
Now, I would really like to take some formal lessons. He said he could probably teach me in about two hours since I did so well at it. The guy said that it only taked about $200 a year to keep the plane opperational, if nothing major breaks. I don't know what a plane goes for though. Just something I never thought I would get to do. Tons of fun.
Last edited by 01FR500; 10-20-2008 at 09:14 PM.
#4
10-21-2008, 08:30 AM
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Texarkana, TX/Conway, AR
Posts: 2,847
It really was quite the experience. Before this I had only been in commercial planes to go on trips. I NEVER thought I would fly a plane. I was suprised by how easy it was. I bet just about anyone here could fly it, some may just no have a natural aptitude for it. The pilot guy was really easy going about it. It really was like, take off, get it up to altitude, and then he told me to fly it. He just say back most of the time and talked while giving me tips and stuff. Complete fun.
#5
10-21-2008, 08:31 AM
Looks an awful lot like the old Cessna 180 my dad and I used to fly. They're a kick, but just wait until you fly a 210. Much more stable, more arm room, a little louder, FASTER 
and all of that good stuff.
Glad you had fun, they're a kick to fly.
and all of that good stuff. Glad you had fun, they're a kick to fly.
#6
10-21-2008, 09:10 AM
flying's the easy part and the optional part. Landing is both difficult to master and mandatory.
My dad's been my instructor for years. I don't get to fly often but I love it. It's as easy as driving a car to actually fly around and even being terrified of heights doesn't seem to bother me while flying.
Landing mastery takes a while since you only learn it while you're doing it and that lasts for about 7-10 seconds a shot. After a half hour or so of cumulative landing experience you kinda get the feel for it.
NOTE: Owning a plane is horribly expensive if you use it much. FAA regs regarding inspections and engine maintenance get really grossly expensive. A proper indoor hangar costs a bundle too. Fuel is another no-joke cost. After that it's pretty cheap. hehe.
My dad's been my instructor for years. I don't get to fly often but I love it. It's as easy as driving a car to actually fly around and even being terrified of heights doesn't seem to bother me while flying.
Landing mastery takes a while since you only learn it while you're doing it and that lasts for about 7-10 seconds a shot. After a half hour or so of cumulative landing experience you kinda get the feel for it.
NOTE: Owning a plane is horribly expensive if you use it much. FAA regs regarding inspections and engine maintenance get really grossly expensive. A proper indoor hangar costs a bundle too. Fuel is another no-joke cost. After that it's pretty cheap. hehe.
#7
10-21-2008, 09:30 AM
I'm currently enrolled at SIU as an aviation major, and I'll tell you flying is not easy haha. I just solo'd last friday for the first time ever and I'll tell you it was a lot of work to get to that point. It is tons of fun though
#8
10-21-2008, 09:42 AM
flying's cake. I never had such an easy time picking up a set of controls. Knowing how far you can take it and how to get back to terra firma... those are a little tougher. All the lingo with the towers is a bitch if you don't practice once in a while. Your first solo is about as nerve racking experience as you can have though. There's a lot to be said for takeoff being optional.
#9
10-21-2008, 11:06 AM
As for the actual flying part, it's not bad. Scared me half to death when I first tried it because my dad was reading a map and took his hands off the controls so I just grabbed it to make sure that we wouldn't plow into the ground. Wasn't too bad. Haven't tried landing, and don't want to. Our runway is about 30 ft from a busy road with semis and I've seen how close some planes get to hitting those trucks and knowing me I'd find a way to hit one.
#10
10-21-2008, 05:09 PM
my dad and i used to rent a cessena like that almost every weekend from the local county airport, fly for a few hours, stop at a neighboring county airport and get a burger. after rental fees and fuel we started calling it the "hundred dollar hamburger run". a few years back he bought a "S7 Courier" kit from a company called Rans. built it in our garage, the pictures the finished project(we built the hanger too btw).
#12
10-21-2008, 09:52 PM
my dad and i used to rent a cessena like that almost every weekend from the local county airport, fly for a few hours, stop at a neighboring county airport and get a burger. after rental fees and fuel we started calling it the "hundred dollar hamburger run". a few years back he bought a "S7 Courier" kit from a company called Rans. built it in our garage, the pictures the finished project(we built the hanger too btw).
As for helicopters, I kinda want to fly one. Last time I saw one was when a blackhawk was guiding my dad and I away from the air force base here, we broke the 10mi barrier and they were pissed. I about wet my pants when they gave us a time limit to leave the area.
#13
10-21-2008, 10:19 PM
To get a pilots license, Isn't there a book the size of dictionary to read and be tested on?? I mean there are a lot of other things you have to learn besides just actual take off's, flying, and landing. You have to know how to navigate the airspace around airports of all sizes and not put the public at risk at the same time.. Heck even flight simulators are difficult to master. Good luck, I would love to try that some day. But I've never been in a plane of any sort, ever.. LOL, 
#14
10-21-2008, 10:34 PM
there is a good bit of book learnin' to do but it's not bad. There's a little math you have to know to set your glide slopes and estimate distances and such, and a LOT of radio and map use but other than that, it's all cake. ANYONE that could graduate high school could be a civilian pilot.
#16
10-22-2008, 09:17 AM
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Texarkana, TX/Conway, AR
Posts: 2,847
Haha, I was thinking when I posted the pictures that surely someone else here has flown a plane/helicopter, R3d was on my suspected list.
#17
10-22-2008, 02:28 PM
I've got 36 hours of flight time and ground school in towards my private piolt's ticket.
It takes more than "a couple of hours".. FAA rules and regs state a minimum of 40 hours of instruction with 10 hours of that solo time.
The airport I fly out of (9B1) has a 1600 foot runway.. with trees on the final approach to runway 32 (talk about a pucker factor!)
It does not take fuel and good weather to fly an airplane, it takes money and lots of it!*
*Dual instruction in a Cessna 172 is $165 an hour at the airport I fly out of!
It takes more than "a couple of hours".. FAA rules and regs state a minimum of 40 hours of instruction with 10 hours of that solo time.
The airport I fly out of (9B1) has a 1600 foot runway.. with trees on the final approach to runway 32 (talk about a pucker factor!)
It does not take fuel and good weather to fly an airplane, it takes money and lots of it!*
*Dual instruction in a Cessna 172 is $165 an hour at the airport I fly out of!
#18
10-22-2008, 03:03 PM
I love Hueys! They have one of the most distinctive sounds ever. It's always fun to see and hear them flying around our city every once in a while. I want to be an Army helicopter pilot so bad.
. God damn eyes.
#19
10-22-2008, 05:19 PM
DUDE...The Army is taking anything that can fog a mirror. Unless you are legally blind or something you can be all you can be.
My neighbor flies the 101st division commander and he wears contacts. And the Army will give you free lasik. Call your recruiter if your serious
Who flies Huey's down there? I can't get enough of 'em. Want to be a flight nurse on one some day.
#20
10-22-2008, 06:41 PM
DUDE...The Army is taking anything that can fog a mirror. Unless you are legally blind or something you can be all you can be. My neighbor flies the 101st division commander and he wears contacts. And the Army will give you free lasik. Call your recruiter if your serious
Who flies Huey's down there? I can't get enough of 'em. Want to be a flight nurse on one some day.
My neighbor flies the 101st division commander and he wears contacts. And the Army will give you free lasik. Call your recruiter if your seriousWho flies Huey's down there? I can't get enough of 'em. Want to be a flight nurse on one some day.
I'm not sure whose Hueys they are, we have a Navy base down here so it may be the Marines, or some guys from Eglin AFB, but during the summer you can usually see a pair of them flying along the coast of the beach. Last week 2 circled around our city, it was sweet.
Last edited by PColav6; 10-22-2008 at 06:54 PM.
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