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First Flight

Posted By: RAF28Jenks

First Flight - 05/20/17 06:38 AM

Enjoyed a short 30 minutes in the air today for my first officially documented flight lesson.
Decided to get the old bucket out and finally do something in there I'd made a goal to do in my lifetime. In this case, get my private pilots license. Maybe when i'm 80 i'll have saved enough to glue some popsicle sticks together and get one of those high tensile rubber bands and I can have a airship all of my own. hahaha

Flew out of Middletown, Ohio in the well known 172. Weather was great scattered cloud cover at 3500 feet. We did most of our flying around 2500 which was really around 2k due to the fields height above sea level. I guess I picked up a few things all these years flying various simulators. . .
I found the primary flight controls! winner It was a proud moment, until my instructor started asking me how I liked my eggs or something, goin on about the yoke. I guess he didnt have breakfast..... readytoeat

Thank you for hanging in there, and now that the terrible jokes are concluded, I'm happy to say it felt really quite natural. Rudder pedals for steering on the ground was sloppy but nothing extreme. Just experience and feel which comes with time. I almost likened it to driving a car for the first time only this is some 18 year later and I wasn't too concerned...surprisingly. I recall being quite nervous in the car all those years back.

Once we took off with a slight cross wind, we climbed up to 500 feet so we were then high enough and out of the way for the takoff / landing strip we came right and familiarized with the controls again now that we were happily bouncing along ascending to our cruising lesson altitude. Once explained and demonstrated I duplicated the instructed input/correction. My Instructor did do the great favor of setting the trim wheel for me to adjust the airflow for the elevator to allow a more stable platform for me to make my way with. Very kid glove stuff obviously, 20° Bank left or right/ maintain, level aircraft , maintain. I suppose it sounds rather blase' but I was having a blast. Kept it all bottled up and professional of course but It was great. Landing I'd have to say was the intimidating part. Just watching. He said I could assist him a little, which I think in reality meant i could gently place my hand on the yoke, ha. But really he gave me quite a bit of freedom and command of the aircraft for a good portion of the lesson which was a confidence boost for me.

The only down side Is now i'm really sold on following through which creates all kinds of new challenges like Sharing real flying time with the wife and my WOFF time, and the costs obviously. However It's something I know I've wanted since i was 5 years old, so off we go chaps!


On a final note I'm glad that Hun didnt snipe me from above. I kept checking the 6 for that Fokker DVII that always gets me in WOFF but he left me alone today winkngrin
Posted By: CatKnight

Re: First Flight - 05/20/17 10:28 AM

I hear the Hun flies out of Burke-Lakefront in Cleveland. Just stay clear of no man's land (Columbus) and you should be safe. driving

Really though, congrats! It's something I hope to do someday myself.
Posted By: loftyc

Re: First Flight - 05/20/17 10:36 AM

well done, Jenks. I doubt if I will ever know the feel of rudder pedals, literally; Iv'e been up with a pilot/instructor brother and I couldn't reach the damn things! (at 5'2", I also had a limited view)

and the Hun is up in Ann Arbor, I'm pretty sure....
Posted By: Stache

Re: First Flight - 05/20/17 01:32 PM

Congratulations Jenks, I got my private pilots license back in the late 70's but have not flown since. I still remember the first solo, we had done a few landings, out of the blue the Instructor got out and said okay you take it around. Heart was fluttering, but he had done his job well as obviously I survived the event. Most of time in 150's and 172's and a bit in a low wing Grumman. That's where I learned about scanning the view and instrument panel in sections, something that has stuck with me ever since. This day I live just a mile from the airfield where I received my training.
Posted By: Rick_Rawlings

Re: First Flight - 05/20/17 02:19 PM

Great news! I am envious! Remember to check your six!
Posted By: HumanDrone

Re: First Flight - 05/21/17 07:46 PM

Ohhh, Jenks, thou hast awakened the green-eyed, green-skinned monster of envy within me! But indeed I am very glad for you! It's a wonderful feeling being up there. I am, though, simply flabbergasted at the cost,and at my age have pretty much concluded that someone else will have to do all the flying for me. Keep posting and I can live it vicariously.

I had to check where Middletown was, as my beloved, my son and I were biking the Towpath trail in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park just south of Cleveland on Saturday. But you, dear sir, were far to our WSW. my wife got to tick an item on her "bucket list", though. She saw a bald eagle in the wild. She'd hoped to see it fly, but the bugger just sat & sat on top of a dead tree for at least half an hour gawking around. Lazy bum! The nest was not too far away and he had young'un's to feed!

Godspeed in the air, good sir! Especially when it comes time to practice stalls & spin recovery!
Posted By: ARUP

Re: First Flight - 05/24/17 12:48 AM

Congrats! What fun! I have time in a Piper Cherokee 140 and a Candair RS700. It's fun!
Posted By: RAF28Jenks

Re: First Flight - 07/10/17 12:05 AM

It's all been 172 for me thus far. There is a very pretty 150 sitting in the hangar for sale, but I've yet to explain that we have to go into debt again smile.
It's fun having a look about with the high wing, I can almost pretend i'm in a Saulnier L, albeit nothing close too.

It is quite fun. I'm about 8 hours in now and have been landing myself for the last several weeks. That first Cross wind at 20knots was -quite- intriguing!. What a wonderful sensation it is. I believe my instructor is meaning to have me solo quite soon, couldn't be more exited. However I'm in no rush as my there is alot to keep track of in and out of the cockpit. Such a dream though!
Posted By: stljeffbb

Re: First Flight - 07/10/17 12:30 AM

Congrats RAF28Jenks! Fun stuff!

Regards,

Jeff
Posted By: Robert_Wiggins

Re: First Flight - 07/10/17 01:13 AM

Originally Posted by RAF28Jenks
It's all been 172 for me thus far. There is a very pretty 150 sitting in the hangar for sale, but I've yet to explain that we have to go into debt again smile.
It's fun having a look about with the high wing, I can almost pretend i'm in a Saulnier L, albeit nothing close too.

It is quite fun. I'm about 8 hours in now and have been landing myself for the last several weeks. That first Cross wind at 20knots was -quite- intriguing!. What a wonderful sensation it is. I believe my instructor is meaning to have me solo quite soon, couldn't be more exited. However I'm in no rush as my there is alot to keep track of in and out of the cockpit. Such a dream though!


Jenks, I envy your flying efforts! Good show mate!
Posted By: Banjoman

Re: First Flight - 07/10/17 01:34 AM

Congrats, I got to fly a Stearman one time and it was a little uncomfortable banking into that first turn. I kept thinking the plane was going to fall.
Posted By: HumanDrone

Re: First Flight - 07/11/17 05:18 PM

In AFROTC once, I had a buddy get to sit up front in an lumbering old KC-97. He already had his VFR pilot's license. So the pilot told him to turn to heading <whatever> and he wheeled that big thing over like it was a Cessna! Threw a couple of guys around who'd been out of their seats at the time!

Glad you're enjoying it, Jenks! I'm still as green as the Incredible Hulk, though! wink
Posted By: RAF28Jenks

Re: First Flight - 07/20/17 01:29 AM

The weather conditions and a small hesitation in response time led to an interesting moment today; started into my first spin, which surprise to myself I began correcting appropriately as I had read about and covered with my instructor (once in conversation), who seemed only moderately concerned as he plainly said " hard right rudder". Damn gyroscopic procession/left turning tenancies snuck up on me today during some practice stall work.

On the bright side, it was good fun and an invaluable lesson to step on that ball sooner than later. 9.5 hours now, just awaiting an endorsement / pre-solo ride-along with another instructor. In no rush, but I am quite excited, and curious as to when it will be, now that relatively I can put the plane through its general paces (Stalls, Steep Turns, emergency/standard landings, forward slips, turns about point, S turns, etc etc.) without fuss and landing albeit a game of minor error, quick correction. A few perfect ones have been had, but mostly its a game of watching for your mistakes seems, at least this early on.

Despite usually feeling 80% performance grade on my part, my CFI seems to be quite impressed, despite his witty, dry humor.

Its getting really fun!
Posted By: stljeffbb

Re: First Flight - 07/20/17 02:54 AM

+1 ...I can only imagine a real spin...I have flown for real only once on an introductory lesson. Keep it up!

Jeff
Posted By: CaptSopwith

Re: First Flight - 07/31/17 03:22 PM

Congratulations on getting to fly Jenks! Sounds like a fantastic adventure! I also can't imagine spinning in an aircraft. I did a "Discovery Flight" about five years ago. Instructor let me do (with assistance) the take off and landing. Flight simming is definitely useful for real flight work - he was impressed with my control inputs - nothing too twitchy or overzealous. We wound up aborting our first landing as our angle of approach was way too high. I fell in love with it but with grad school, one set of loans at a time was enough for me!

Cheers mate! Enjoy it and report back often!
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