Going for my first flying lesson on Monday... | FerrariChat

Going for my first flying lesson on Monday...

Discussion in 'Aviation Chat' started by rmani, Jan 16, 2013.

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

  1. rmani

    rmani F1 Veteran
    Owner Silver Subscribed

    Nov 1, 2003
    7,299
    NJ
    Full Name:
    RMani
    So my 2013 goal was to finally do something i've always wanted to do, to learn to fly a plane. I'm excited. I grew up wanting to be in the air force and loving airplanes but until now I've never really had the money (this is still an issue which is why i'm spreading it out over the year) nor the time. My new office is right at the allentown airport and the pilot culture is everywhere. My friend and boss owns his own fighter jet team and i've spent a lot of time in his various private jets and fighters. So this is one small stepping stone to achieving another personal goal. Wish me luck!
     
  2. toggie

    toggie F1 World Champ
    Owner Silver Subscribed

    Nov 30, 2003
    19,036
    Virginia
    Full Name:
    Toggie (Ron)
    You'll have a fantastic time taking your flying lessons.

    Do you know what kind of plane you'll be flying in yet?
    .
     
  3. Bob Parks

    Bob Parks F1 Veteran
    Consultant

    Nov 29, 2003
    7,911
    Shoreline,Washington
    Full Name:
    Robert Parks
    That's really great that you want to do that. It will open up a whole new world for you. Lock your mind into it and have a great time.
     
  4. rmani

    rmani F1 Veteran
    Owner Silver Subscribed

    Nov 1, 2003
    7,299
    NJ
    Full Name:
    RMani
    cessna 152

    at some point i'd like to buy a cessna 182 or something along those lines. I'd love to be able to take a decently quick and economical plane on short trips like NY - Boston or NY to NC.
     
  5. tazandjan

    tazandjan Three Time F1 World Champ
    Lifetime Rossa Owner

    Jul 19, 2008
    37,986
    Clarksville, Tennessee
    Full Name:
    Terry H Phillips
    Have fun. A 152 is the perfect learning aircraft because it takes good airmanship to fly well and you can feel everything the aircraft is doing. A friend of mine had a 182 and I spent quite a bit of time in her. Nice thing is she carried four people and just about all they wanted to take, so very handy for trips.

    Make another goal to become IFR rated. Gives you tons more flexibility on where and when you can travel. Not difficult, either. Sort of like a masters in piloting.
     
  6. rmani

    rmani F1 Veteran
    Owner Silver Subscribed

    Nov 1, 2003
    7,299
    NJ
    Full Name:
    RMani
    Depending on how this goes IFR is definitely what I want to do next.
     
  7. LouB747

    LouB747 Formula 3

    Apr 8, 2009
    2,123
    Huntington Beach, CA
    Full Name:
    Lou Boyer
    To most, flying is an addiction of sorts. There may be no going back. You've been warned...

    You'll always want to fly something faster, more complex, etc. I first learned in a 152, and now fly a 747....


    Basic flying info you need to know:

    Push the stick forward, the houses get bigger
    Pull the stick back, the houses get smaller
    Pull the stick too far back, the houses get bigger again....


    Have a blast! I wish I could do it all over again. Let us know how it goes.
     
  8. FERRARI-TECH

    FERRARI-TECH Formula 3

    Nov 9, 2006
    1,674
    Los Angeles
    Full Name:
    Ferrari-tech
    Go for it.. I waited 20 years to long to doing, I'm just waiting for some clear non windy days to get a little more solo pattern work in, and then my solo cross country's and then check ride time...
    As Lou said it is an absolute blast once you get into it.. if the wallet and work would allow i would find a reason to fly somewhere everyday..I have already figured if i fly the wife from Van Nuys to Upland to go to costco there, with the reduced payload/space what i save in costco would cover the fuel and rental :)

    Enjoy it, and making it fun helps you with the learning, as a current student the biggest advise i would give is keep asking questions..you will have lots
     
  9. justinn

    justinn Karting

    Jan 5, 2011
    114
    Austin TX
    Full Name:
    Justin
    This cracked me up.... still not as bad as sky, houses, sky, houses, sky, houses....

    You will have a blast earning your license. Fly as much as you can in as short a time period as you can. At least at first anyway.

    Justin
     
  10. rmani

    rmani F1 Veteran
    Owner Silver Subscribed

    Nov 1, 2003
    7,299
    NJ
    Full Name:
    RMani
    thanks for the encouragement guys.

    It went well and the instructor said I was in good shape to move forward and try to get my license. Apart from some light snow and clouds which kept us flying low (below 2500') it was fun, though also a bit scary at times with some gusty winds. The little 152 really gets pushed around a lot. I didn't do much on the takeoff but felt like i did more on the landing. Next lesson is friday i'll keep everyone posted on my progress.


    My goal is to try and fly 1-2x/week until I'm ready for my first solo. I'll prob do 3-4 lessons a week before I solo and then go back to 1-2x/week until I get my license.
     
  11. Bob Parks

    Bob Parks F1 Veteran
    Consultant

    Nov 29, 2003
    7,911
    Shoreline,Washington
    Full Name:
    Robert Parks
    That's the smartest thing you can do, keep the training sessions close together to retain what you learned in previous lessons and set up a learning rhythm to put an unbroken string together. Relax and let the bumps do their thing, that's a part of it.
     
  12. Ak Jim

    Ak Jim F1 Veteran
    Owner Rossa Subscribed

    Dec 23, 2007
    8,451
    North Pole AK
    Great advise. Also keep up with all of the ground school stuff.
     
  13. Tcar

    Tcar F1 Rookie

    Bob's ADVICE is always good... lots of experience.
     
  14. Bob Parks

    Bob Parks F1 Veteran
    Consultant

    Nov 29, 2003
    7,911
    Shoreline,Washington
    Full Name:
    Robert Parks
    Please don't credit me with things that I have not done...at least I don't think I have. I feel that the only claim that I can tout is having been around for a long time. I have mentioned before: I don't have a gazillion hours, I never got a instrument rating, and I haven't accomplished a fraction of what you other pilots have achieved . When I think of what others have done like Rob Lay,Russ Turner, Lou 747, Sparky, my son, and so many of you who have worked hard to become real professionals, I realize what a small hole I have bored in the skies . I flew a lot of stuff when I was a kid, stuff that you can't find now but back then it was plentiful war surplus and cheap to own or rent. And I tried it all, some back to 1928. My instructors were mean survivors of the war who knew what to do to make a good pilot and they suffered no fools or incompetents. So, anyway, please put up with the old mouthy one who keeps shuffling through his memories and who firmly believes that " The older I get, the better I was."
     
  15. Cayenne Turbo

    Cayenne Turbo Formula 3

    Nov 15, 2007
    1,304
    Good luck with your training!

    My best wishes for you!

    My recommendations:

    Fly Safe, enjoy every takeoff and landing, Look for traffics all the time, If you´re unsure in a landing execute a go around inmediately, pitch for airspeed power for altitude, always read your checklists even if you know them, comply with ATC, ask for Flight Following if you´re in a CrossCountry flight, always check the Metars and TAFs of your arrival and departure airports, check out your airspeed, bank, and altitude while turning from base to final, stay away of Bravo airspace, keep studying all the time!

    Hope you get your solo soon!

    All I can say is this: "When you´re flying solo you´ll feel the absolut freedom"

    Best of lucks and keep us posted!

    Daniel
     
  16. italia16

    italia16 Formula Junior
    Silver Subscribed

    Jan 28, 2004
    327
    Best wishes with pilot training. It is best not to stretch out the flights much and get the license fairly quickly. You mentioned stretching it out for money reasons but I hope you understand how much you need to spend each month to stay current and safe, probably 5-10+ hours at $100 an hour for a 172, so $500-1000 or more. That said, it is worth getting your license because once you learn how to land, it is like riding a bike and you can always get back into it at a later date.

    Whatever happens, fly the aircraft and stay ahead of it: maintain aircraft control, return to level flight and assess the situation. Also get a basic understanding of aerodyamics and energy management since you can't stop in the sky like a car to slow down and you have to keep moving forward to generate enough lift to counter the weight or else you are dropping out of the sky. At a slow speed, you need more CL by increasing angle of attack or by wing shape changes (flaps) to give you a higher CL at low angles of attack. Look at the Lift and Drag equations and you will see the influence of CL and CD (based upon airfoil, camber and angle of attack), density, wing area and velocity (which is squared, so a small change has a big influence) in level flight and turns.

    Don't rely on your engine to brute force you out of a stall -- reduce angle of attack and regain flying airspeed. Because unless you have a thrust to weight ratio greater than one, max thrust will not provide enough velocity to overcome the drag and generate lift when your angle of attack is past CL max (stall). Learn how to manage your potential energy (altitude) and kinetic energy (airspeed) as if you are a glider that has to tradeoff altitude and airspeed to maintain enough lift to overcome the weight. Then, use the added energy from the engine thrust to help you better maintain and change airspeed and altitude in conjuction with the pitch, roll and yaw effects in climbs, turns, slips, etc. In a small plane, the landing approach speeds will be on the backside of the power curve so pitch changes help control airspeed and thrust changes help you adjust your glidepath, versus the opposite for faster aircraft like airliners that use thrust setting to control approach speed and pitch for glidepath. Hopefully, your simulated engine out training will help you learn about the glider type of energy management or else you may want to take some glider training too. It is a good way to learn basic airmanship skills before you learn about all the other systems (electrical, navigation, fuel, etc) that can distract you from making sure you don't hit another airplane or the ground. Best of luck.
     
  17. italia16

    italia16 Formula Junior
    Silver Subscribed

    Jan 28, 2004
    327
    In summary, as was already said above:

    Push the stick forward, the houses get bigger
    Pull the stick back, the houses get smaller
    Pull the stick too far back, the houses get bigger again....

    In another words, "Speed is Life". After all, it is not a helicopter, where the speed of the rotor blade airfoils are generating the lift to keep it aloft (counteracting weight and gravity forces pushing you down).
     
  18. rmani

    rmani F1 Veteran
    Owner Silver Subscribed

    Nov 1, 2003
    7,299
    NJ
    Full Name:
    RMani
    more great advice thank you to everyone. Lesson 2 is in the books. Learned more about using the flaps and how it changes the dynamics of the plane. Did more turns, airspeed, ascent and decent practice and even did a few landings today. The first landing was definitely a bit nerve wracking but i was doing almost all the work by the 3rd one. Definitely I find landings a bit scary but also kinda fun trying to be so precise with everything!

    Lesson three is scheduled for the middle of next week. I just beat the snow and bad weather today it looks like next week is going to be another close one as we have rain scheduled for the day I'm booked to fly.
     
  19. Jason Crandall

    Jason Crandall F1 Veteran

    Mar 25, 2004
    6,373
    ATL/CHS/MIA
    Full Name:
    Jason
    You might as well start shopping on Controller.com
     
  20. bball16

    bball16 F1 Rookie
    Rossa Subscribed

    Dec 2, 2011
    3,846
    NY LI FtL
    Full Name:
    Mike
    Please keep updating us. I'm loving following your lessons.
     
  21. Bob Parks

    Bob Parks F1 Veteran
    Consultant

    Nov 29, 2003
    7,911
    Shoreline,Washington
    Full Name:
    Robert Parks
    Me too. Please keep a running account of what you do and how you do during this process. It is far different than what I did so I'm very interested.
     
  22. rmani

    rmani F1 Veteran
    Owner Silver Subscribed

    Nov 1, 2003
    7,299
    NJ
    Full Name:
    RMani
    Had my 3rd lesson on monday after numerous cancellations due to weather. We worked on power on/off stalls. Stalling to me has always been a fear while flying but i worked through it. Also did some practice with foggles to prepare for instrument flying. Im at the point where im doing the preflight checks by myself. Im feeling pretty good about everything but im still nervous from the bumps and i still cant keep track of all the radios and towers. We seem to be switching frequencies and squawks a lot. Im just not sure how to remember the order. Especially im the beginning. I lnow first we tune to a frequency for the weather but then theres ground control, tower, and something else. Any insight or help is always appreciated!
     
  23. jcurry

    jcurry Two Time F1 World Champ
    Silver Subscribed

    Jan 16, 2012
    21,378
    In the past
    Full Name:
    Jim
    1/ Don't worry about the radio's. Just listen at this point and recognize which calls are yours. Then listen to the instructor reply. Focus on flying. It will all come together, but you always have to be flying the airplane first. Controllers are very helpful and accomodating to students. Don't be afraid to tell them that you are a student.
    2/ Embrace stalls and slow flight. Enjoy flying around with the stall horn blaring. Learn to feel what the airplane and control feedback is telling you. It may save your life someday.
    3/ Ever ridden in a boat on choppy water? Flying is no different, other than you can't see the bumps coming. But like a boat the airplane is not going to suddenly go out of control. You're along for the ride. Keep a firm hand on the stick (wheel), but don't fight it.

    Sounds like you are having fun.
     
  24. Roger103

    Roger103 Karting

    Sep 13, 2009
    112
    Full Name:
    Trim Tab
    In my opinion it seems like your instructor is going a little too fast or not spending time on basic control skills before moving into more advanced maneuvers such as landings on the 2nd lesson or stalls on the 3rd lesson. Its just my opinion.
     
  25. FERRARI-TECH

    FERRARI-TECH Formula 3

    Nov 9, 2006
    1,674
    Los Angeles
    Full Name:
    Ferrari-tech
    Sounds like your having a good time, its a blast isn't it ?.

    Couple of points i would give from my experience of only being a few hours ahead of you in the training.
    Regards the radios, sounds like you are learning in busy airspace like i am, what i found really useful was to write down all the radio frequency's i could expect as part of my flight plan (my instructor always e-mails me a couple of days in advance to tell me what to expect).

    So for Van Nuys, i would have written down, ATIS,Clearance delivery, Ground,Tower, SoCal Departure, Burbank or Santa Monica depending on direction etc, then put ATIS and ground in com 2 and towers in com 1, then once i have used one set ( ie ATIS and Ground) switch those frequency's to the next expected along the route, that way you are not worried about punching in frequency's, just switch radios.
    Goes right along with what all the real pilots on here are telling you (me) about staying ahead of the aircraft.

    As for squawk codes, write them on your knee pad before you enter them on the panel, and then read them back.

    Being dyslexic i was really worried about all this, but with time I'm getting it done now and the controllers are very helpful, don't be afraid to ask them to repeat or confirm an instruction. They are happy to help.

    Again i was really nervous about talking on the radio, but having purchased a hand held from Sportys and sitting by the side of LAX, and Van Nuys and listening to both pro's and amateurs alike it is now one of the areas i am most comfortable with.

    As for stalls and turns, slow flight etc etc, its good that you are getting to do it early IMHO as you have to be aware of whats going on when you solo, but don't be in a hurry to solo to early, and don't be pushed into it until you feel ready.
    I have spoken to so many pilots who did the solo to early because of peer pressure and scared them self on more than one occasion. Mine took a long time and i am so glad it did because when it did i was ready.
    Keep flying, keep asking the instructors questions, and don't be afraid to have them demonstrate a maneuver for you if your having trouble. Good Luck, and keep us updated.
     

Share This Page