What does it feel like to fly a plane for the first time?

Answer by Jim Mantle:

The first time you are in the left seat it will be a real cocktail of feelings, all hitting you at once. Your experience will be different from my experience.

Your first flight will either be a "Discovery Flight" (Introductory Flight) at your local Flight Training Unit (FTU). Or maybe a friend has taken you for a flight and had you handle the controls for a while.

Either way, you'll experience some combination of the following:

Trepidation – I have never done this before, what if I break something or kill everybody? (you won't, and you won't).

Frustration – Aircraft are pretty good at flying in straight lines, and you're probably pretty good at driving a car or a bicycle or a boat in straight lines. But the up/down dimension is not something to which you are accustomed, so level flight will be much more difficult. As a student on one of my earlier flights I remember going up and down in 400 foot cycles, unaware that I was totally botching altitude control. And when I noticed, maintaining something resembling level flight was well beyond my capability.

Elation – You are finally doing this. You wanted to go flying, and you are.

Control – You turn, you go up and down, you can go in circles, you tilt left or right to turn. Controlling an vehicle in three dimensions, instead of two, is a mind-blowing and thrilling experience of freedom.

Exhaustion – Partly caused by the adrenalin rush from participating in the exciting new experience, partly caused by the adrenalin rush from apprehension of the new experience, and partly caused because flying is a lot of conscious work – you are 100% attentive, thinking, working.

Freedom – I have slipped the bonds of earth……

Awe – It is just totally different than anything you will have done before.

Each year I participate in two or three fly-days at my local flying club – I volunteer my time and my plane to take people flying (we've done Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Diplomats from other countries, flights for Women of Aviation Worldwide, among others). Just a quick 20-minute flight, a circuit north of the airport in the local area. My passenger does some 5-10 minutes of the flying, with a bit of real-time coaching in how to achieve results. I do the take-off and landing (of course), and my head is on a swivel at all times because the flying passenger does not know how to do a lookout – and they are overloaded just flying the plane straight and level. I make sure there is some element of just sight-seeing – I fly the plane and they get to look outside, to pause and fully experience the moment rather than be fully immersed in work. I have them do the radio calls from a script (we are at an uncontrolled airport, so only two calls are required – though we'll do a few more informational calls). Even broadcasting on the radio is a thrill.

For the WOAW flights in March 2014, I remember one girl who was a natural. She flew the plane smoothly, could maintain headings and altitude, was receptive and a quick learner. Her mom was in the back seat and totally pleased as punch as her daughter's accomplishments. As she turned to final, 500 feet AGL and with the runway ahead of us, I complimented her on her natural ability and jokingly asked her if she wanted to also do the landing – a sudden look of apprehension on her face, and that was the spot where mom spoke up. Good for a laugh, as there never was any consideration of allowing her to complete that phase of the flight. I hope that girl caught the spark – but she probably could do any of a number of different pursuits.

What does it feel like to fly a plane for the first time?

What does it feel like to fly a plane for the first time?

Answer by Jim Mantle:

The first time you are in the left seat it will be a real cocktail of feelings, all hitting you at once. Your experience will be different from my experience.

Your first flight will either be a "Discovery Flight" (Introductory Flight) at your local Flight Training Unit (FTU). Or maybe a friend has taken you for a flight and had you handle the controls for a while.

Either way, you'll experience some combination of the following:

Trepidation – I have never done this before, what if I break something or kill everybody? (you won't, and you won't).

Frustration – Aircraft are pretty good at flying in straight lines, and you're probably pretty good at driving a car or a bicycle or a boat in straight lines. But the up/down dimension is not something to which you are accustomed, so level flight will be much more difficult. As a student on one of my earlier flights I remember going up and down in 400 foot cycles, unaware that I was totally botching altitude control. And when I noticed, maintaining something resembling level flight was well beyond my capability.

Elation – You are finally doing this. You wanted to go flying, and you are.

Control – You turn, you go up and down, you can go in circles, you tilt left or right to turn. Controlling an vehicle in three dimensions, instead of two, is a mind-blowing and thrilling experience of freedom.

Exhaustion – Partly caused by the adrenalin rush from participating in the exciting new experience, partly caused by the adrenalin rush from apprehension of the new experience, and partly caused because flying is a lot of conscious work – you are 100% attentive, thinking, working.

Freedom – I have slipped the bonds of earth……

Awe – It is just totally different than anything you will have done before.

Each year I participate in two or three fly-days at my local flying club – I volunteer my time and my plane to take people flying (we've done Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Diplomats from other countries, flights for Women of Aviation Worldwide, among others). Just a quick 20-minute flight, a circuit north of the airport in the local area. My passenger does some 5-10 minutes of the flying, with a bit of real-time coaching in how to achieve results. I do the take-off and landing (of course), and my head is on a swivel at all times because the flying passenger does not know how to do a lookout – and they are overloaded just flying the plane straight and level. I make sure there is some element of just sight-seeing – I fly the plane and they get to look outside, to pause and fully experience the moment rather than be fully immersed in work. I have them do the radio calls from a script (we are at an uncontrolled airport, so only two calls are required – though we'll do a few more informational calls). Even broadcasting on the radio is a thrill.

For the WOAW flights in March 2014, I remember one girl who was a natural. She flew the plane smoothly, could maintain headings and altitude, was receptive and a quick learner. Her mom was in the back seat and totally pleased as punch as her daughter's accomplishments. As she turned to final, 500 feet AGL and with the runway ahead of us, I complimented her on her natural ability and jokingly asked her if she wanted to also do the landing – a sudden look of apprehension on her face, and that was the spot where mom spoke up. Good for a laugh, as there never was any consideration of allowing her to complete that phase of the flight. I hope that girl caught the spark – but she probably could do any of a number of different pursuits.

What does it feel like to fly a plane for the first time?

How difficult is it to learn how to fly a Cessna 172?

Answer by Tom Farrier:

I found it to be a friendly and forgiving little bird.  It has enough power to get/keep you out of trouble; it has very docile stall characteristics that are easily recovered; it loves to make and maintain steep turns if you have your power set right; and, you have an excellent view of the runway over the glare shield and off to your side, the latter thanks to the high wing configuration.

A couple of practical things to think about:

1.  Buy a kneeboard and learn how to organize stuff on it.  There isn't much real estate in the cockpit for stowing things you need to have readily accessible.

2.  See how your back feels after each flight.  If you find you're getting achy, try a lumbar pillow.  (Seat adjustment options aren't ideal for all heights and reaches.)

3.  Save your pennies.  Aviation gas is pricey, and most -172s are kind of thirsty.

4.  Train in the fall or spring as much as possible; the cockpit environment isn't too easy to keep comfortable, and physiological distractions take your attention away from your training.  If you have to pick summer or winter, do the latter and bundle up.

Have fun!

How difficult is it to learn how to fly a Cessna 172?

How old is too old to start commercial airline pilot training?

Answer by Leon Wilde:

The short answer:

Yes, they pretty much can't keep qualified pilots and 45 means 20 years of flying left in your career.

Be sure you understand what you are getting into with most Regional carriers.

• Deplorable quality of life
• Horrible schedule 
• Zero respect as a valued employee
• Pay equal to about 1/2 of what a manager at Mc Donalds makes.

I love flying, but you should really speak to people that have been there for some time before spending the time and money to get your commercial and 1500 hours.

How old is too old to start commercial airline pilot training?

How long does it take to earn a commercial pilot’s license?

Answer by Dennis Mulgannon:

The minimums for Pilot Certification are listed in FAR Part 61 (Federal Aviation Regulations). 
 
You can look them up on the internet.  Most every place that teaches flying are very friendly.  Don't be intimidated.  Go to the airport and start talking to people.  In most cases they are waiting for YOU to come through their door.  Don't be embarrassed.  Some places offer a first lesson at a very nice discount, just so you can get into the airplane and feel what it is like.
 
How long does it take for you to learn the skills in order to get your certificate?  That depends upon your schedule, and of course finances.
 
Realistically, if you take lessons 2 times a week you should be able to complete Private Pilot Certification within a year.
 
When I was an instructor, the national average for first solo flight was after 10 hours of instruction at a controlled field.  Therefore, half the students took longer than 10 hours to be competent enough, and half performed it in less time.  I had only 2 students out of about one hundred students who were able to qualify in less than 10 hours.  All of the others were between 12 to 15 hours of dual instruction, and some more than that.  A couple took more than 20 hours.
 
Those students of mine who were able to take lessons on a regular frequency of at least one lesson a week became skillful in fewer hours than those who were able to take only one lesson a month.  A couple of students would disappear for a couple of months due to work and family obligations, and the took longest of all.
 
It took me less than a month to get my Private Pilot Certificate, because I went to the airport every day, 7 days a week.  I had my Commercial in less than a year.
 
However, a Commercial Cert, is not an end-all-do-all; it is severely restricted.  Before you can use that Certificate realistically as a commercial pilot, you need an Instrument Rating, and more than a thousand hours PIC experience.  It has been a long time, but before I could actually work as a Commercial Pilot I had to qualify under FAR Part 135, Air Taxi.  I forget the exact minimum number of hours, but I think it was 1200 hours PIC flight experience with 500 hours IFR.  If I am off, a more current pilot will correct me, I am sure.
 
Good luck with that.

How long does it take to earn a commercial pilot's license?

How long does it typically take to get a pilot’s license?

Answer by Greg Freeman:

How long it takes is like asking how long is a rubber band. It all depends on how far you want to stretch it out.

I’ve trained guys that did it in slightly less then 30 days and I’ve trained people that took a year or longer.

There are a lot of variables that go into how long or how much. Like others have said it will depend on how often you fly, how accessible is the instructor or aircraft. Other things like weather, work, school etc can add to the time it takes.

I tell potential students to plan for 60 hours. On average they are below this time when they go for the final flight test.

One thing to remember is you will hear about this mystical “40 hours” that the FAA says is the minimum but that 40 hours comes from the Army Air Corp during WWii and was for training pilots  rapidly before moving on to more complex aircraft.

The army never had today’s environment in mind and the FAA has not updated that 40 hour recommendation since the end of the war. With all that said, pay no attention to that 40 hour goal that most people set for themselves.

How long does it typically take to get a pilot’s license?

How much does it cost to get a private pilots license?

Answer by Tim Morgan:

It cost me $11,000 in total (equipment, rental, flight instructor fees, transportation, even the meals I had out I would have otherwise had at home).

Total Cost: $10,968.42
Total Time: 174 days (5 and a half months)
Total Hours: 65.6
Total Flights: 40

How much does it cost to get a private pilots license?

Flight training: Is it bad to train for a Private Pilot’s License with different instructors/planes?

Answer by Andy Bradford:

I spent about 18 months getting my PPL and had about 7 different instructors over the time and still did it in just 3 hours over the minimum 40 hrs at the time. I found the variety of instructors a help rather than a hindrance as you don't get stuck with 1 instructing mind set. Don't forget, most instructors are low hour pilots just trying to hour build before going on to an airline job. They aren't necessarily good teachers. So if you take your time to learn (you get to experience flying in much more weather that way) you are likely to go through instructors at quite a rate anyway.

I did however learn on only one type of aircraft  and my training was based on one airfield (other than required land aways and cross country). While I'm sure that learning from different airfields would be a big bonus (variety of experience is always good), I can't say what effect learning in multiple types might have. I can see advantages in sticking to one type.

Flight training: Is it bad to train for a Private Pilot's License with different instructors/planes?

What are the main difficulties a student pilot faces in the early stage of his/her flight training?

Answer by Tom Farrier:

Thanks for the A2A. I'll do my best to be helpful.  However, I have to start out by saying that, in my experience, what presents a major challenge to learning to fly really varies based on the student.

Tl;dr —

1. Crosswind takeoffs and landings.

2. Helicopter hovering.

3. Landing (any flavor of aircraft).

4. Knowing what's coming up next and what might get in the way of your doing it.

*     *     *     *     *

Flying is a complicated undertaking. It requires learning and building expertise in a variety of different skills. Many of these skills only come into play during very specific situations; others only are called for under abnormal or emergency conditions. However, I realize that what you're probably most interested in understanding is the kinds of obstacles student pilots run into just in the course of initially getting up in the air, bopping around a bit, and getting back on the ground safely. That narrows the subject quite a bit.

I never have been involved in the training of a student pilot from Day One. However, over time I've come into contact with people who didn't complete student pilot training, as well as with a few who never should have made it through in the first place. (The latter were always scarier than the former, since I met them in the other front seat of my aircraft.) So, I'm extrapolating back from what I learned from them, as well as my own experience with skills that were hard for me personally to master, to try to give you a useful reply.

I would categorize the main difficulties as falling into two categories:

• Carrying out specific maneuvers; and
• Situation(al) awareness.

Skills first. Taking off a small airplane is easy as long as (a) you aren't flying a tail-wheel aircraft, and/or (b) you aren't having to deal with too much crosswind. As long as you don't have a death grip on the controls (as mentioned in a few of the other responses), it's pretty natural-feeling. The plane wants to fly, so you let it do so. (If you're clutching the control wheel/yoke too hard, try interlacing a pencil between them so it hurts to squeeze too much. Worked for me.)

On the other hand, picking up a helicopter to a hover is pretty much the entire learning experience in microcosm. It's so tough that the usual technique is for the instructor to take off, establish the aircraft in a hover, and then give the student just one control at a time. In that way, the student starts to learn the cause and effect behind each input on each axis of flight. (Then, as soon as you try to move forward everything goes to hell again, but at least you have a place to start.)

Just the act of flying around is pretty easy for most. By the same token, navigating while flying around can be a lot trickier for some people than it is for others. That's an issue common to both fixed-wing (airplane) and rotary-wing (helicopter) student pilots. Talking on the radio seems surprisingly tough for some, too. The only real way to learn to navigate is by navigating — matching what you see on the ground to what it looks like on the map. It's pretty easy to practice communications procedures and learn proper phraseology for each radio call, but a lot of students seem to think talking and flying will be a piece of cake, so they don't spend time on it.

The difficulty of "airwork" seems to be perceived differently by different people. For example, probably a lot of pilots would agree that practice forced landings are tough for new students, but they might not agree on what makes them tough. Still, not much that's thrown at student pilots is too challenging, especially with a decent amount of altitude to play with. So, any challenges encountered during mid-air maneuvering probably will resolve themselves with some practice.

Now, let's turn to landing. Honestly, this is the basic flying skill that can be the toughest to master, but which must be mastered. The object of the game is to make every landing exactly the same. As a student, no two traffic patterns or touchdowns are likely to be alike for quite a while. Winds change, the weight of the aircraft changes (just wait until the instructor hops out for you to solo for the first time). Some students have trouble judging the angle and rate of descent; others freak out when they experience "ground rush" close to touching down.

Landing a helicopter can be tricky as hell, especially for a student. It didn't want to fly in the first place; now, you have to coax it down. Landing on a slope can be particularly tough for some; my personal nemesis as a student — for quite a while — was "slide landings," which you might have to do if you have a tail rotor problem. (My class nickname became "Jean-Claude" for the quality of my slaloming.)

Spend time practicing takeoffs and landings. Some of the other stuff is more fun, but handling the aircraft properly when you're close to the ground has to be Job #1, and for many that's the most uncomfortable environment to be in.

Now, a quick word on situational awareness. (Engineers, sorry, but pilot slang usually adds the "al" to the end.) Flying is a dynamic environment. You're moving, and other aircraft often are moving around you. Things need to happen in a certain order or at a certain time. Student pilots need to develop an ability to manage everything that's going on, but that's not a "hands" skill so much as a "head" skill.

There's a mystical and ill-defined term — "air sense" — that some pilots use to describe the ability to prioritize what you're doing and keep everything going the way it's supposed to, even as you remain oriented in space and aware of what's going on around you. For many student pilots, that becomes the hurdle that's too hard to leap. They can fly the aircraft perfectly well from point A to point B, but they lose track of where they are, how high they are, how much fuel they have left, or where that guy they just saw west of the runway got off to.

Multitasking is the order of the day when flying. It clicks for some students, while others wind up faking it long enough to get a license, but get into trouble outside the confines of the training environment.

So, that's my list. Fly safe!

What are the main difficulties a student pilot faces in the early stage of his/her flight training?

What is the role of introductory flight lesson?

Role Of An Introductory Flight Lesson

It is impotant to understand the role of an introductory flight lesson especially for those who are looking forward to become commecial pilots. This is the first to becoming a pilot and hence it needs utmost attention. This is where you learn about the flight, how it’s different parts function and about the flight take off and landing and lot more.

So in order to get most out of an introductory flight lesson, it is important to learn as much as possible using books and internet. One can learn almost everything via infographics and youtube videos about instrumentation, taking off, landing, cockpit area etc. This gives a lot of confidence and reduces instruction time which adds to your practical time of flying a plane. What can be better?

Once you have found out a good training school, you can always ask for the syllabus. Take a look on the schedule and plan accordingly. Prepare yourself based on the lesson content and go for it. Even your instructor will be happy and will give more insights on his flying experiences.