#4358371 - 05/20/17 06:38 AM
First Flight
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Joined: Jan 2013
Posts: 157
RAF28Jenks
Barmy Aviator Ordinaire'
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Barmy Aviator Ordinaire'
Member
Joined: Jan 2013
Posts: 157
Kentucky
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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. 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! 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..... 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
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#4358397 - 05/20/17 01:32 PM
Re: First Flight
[Re: RAF28Jenks]
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Joined: Sep 2015
Posts: 799
Stache
Member
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Member
Joined: Sep 2015
Posts: 799
Michigan, USA
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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.
Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. A. Einstein I7-6700k OC 4.4GHZ, 16GB DDR4 3200Mhz; Gigabyte Gaming 7 MB, G1 OC'ed GTX980ti; Three-Acer XB271HU WQHD Gsync 144Mhz; Samsung 950-512GB NVMe SSD; WD 2TB-7200rpm; Cooler Master HAF XB EVO, Nepton 240M cooler, V1000 PS; Windows 10 PRO; VKB GunfighterPro Stick; Thrustmaster TPR Pedals; Saitek Throttle; Dual TM MFD panels; TrackIR 5; Windows 10 v1909
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#4358407 - 05/20/17 02:19 PM
Re: First Flight
[Re: RAF28Jenks]
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Joined: Mar 2011
Posts: 3,732
Rick_Rawlings
Senior Member
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Senior Member
Joined: Mar 2011
Posts: 3,732
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Great news! I am envious! Remember to check your six!
The older I get, the more I realize I don't need to be Han, Luke or Leia. I'm just happy to be rebel scum...
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#4358590 - 05/21/17 07:46 PM
Re: First Flight
[Re: RAF28Jenks]
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Joined: May 2012
Posts: 997
HumanDrone
Just shoot me...
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Just shoot me...
Member
Joined: May 2012
Posts: 997
Near Pittsburgh, PA USA
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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!
Box: Win7 Pro 64 bit / I72600K @4.1 GHz / EVGA GTX1080Ti/ 16GB RAM / Corsair 240 GB SSD / WD 600 GB Velociraptor / 1050W Power FS Stuff: Saitek X52 Pro Stick/Throttle & Combat Rudder Pedals, TrackIR 5 Sims: FSX Gold, REX 2.0 OD, UTX-NA, FSGenesis 10m mesh/ CFS3 ETO 1.40/Wings Over Flanders Fields BH&H2 (more gorgeous than ever!) Proud BOC inductee 4/30/12!
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#4368238 - 07/10/17 12:05 AM
Re: First Flight
[Re: ARUP]
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Joined: Jan 2013
Posts: 157
RAF28Jenks
Barmy Aviator Ordinaire'
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Barmy Aviator Ordinaire'
Member
Joined: Jan 2013
Posts: 157
Kentucky
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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 . 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!
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#4368245 - 07/10/17 01:13 AM
Re: First Flight
[Re: RAF28Jenks]
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Joined: Jun 2012
Posts: 7,993
Robert_Wiggins
BWOC Survivor!...So Far!!
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BWOC Survivor!...So Far!!
Hotshot
Joined: Jun 2012
Posts: 7,993
Lindsay, Ontario, Canada
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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 . 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!
Case: Cooler Master Storm Trooper PSU: Ultra X3,1000-Watt MB: Asus Maximus VI Extreme Mem: Corsair Vengeance (2x 8GB), PC3-12800, DDR3-1600MHz, Unbuffered CPU: Intel i7-4770K, OC to 4.427Ghz CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Seidon 240M Liquid CPU Cooler Vid Card: ASUS GTX 980Ti STRIX 6GB OS and Games on separate: Samsung 840 Series 250GB SSD Monitor: Primary ASUS PG27AQ 4k; Secondary Samsung SyncMaster BX2450L Periphs: MS Sidewinder FFB2 Pro, TrackIR 4
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#4370121 - 07/20/17 01:29 AM
Re: First Flight
[Re: RAF28Jenks]
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Joined: Jan 2013
Posts: 157
RAF28Jenks
Barmy Aviator Ordinaire'
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Barmy Aviator Ordinaire'
Member
Joined: Jan 2013
Posts: 157
Kentucky
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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!
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Exodus
by RedOneAlpha. 04/18/24 05:46 PM
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