My first taste of being a pilot today

titansox

titansox

Well-Known Member
Today I had the opportunity through the GMU aviation club to fly an airplane for the first time in my life. The sponsor of the club gracelessly took me and two others up in his Columbia 400. All of us were given the opportunity to take control of his plane under his supervision and guidance. He obviously took off and landed the plane but once we got to cursing altitude, he let us take control and taught us the basics. I flew the first leg and sat in the back seat for the second and third leg of the trip. Taking control of the airplane was a great feeling. However being in the back of the plane was pretty cool too. The views were breath taking. I start my official flight training in may and this was a great way to get me feet wet and hold me over a few more weeks.
 
titansox said:
He obviously took off and landed the plane but once we got to cursing altitude, he let us take control and taught us the basics.
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I typically let my students have it at cursing altitude also :rotfl:

But I'm also jealous too. You now have more time in one than me.
 
Ha i hear the Columbia 400 is one of the nicest planes in the GA world. Evidently the plane cost over 500,000$ :eek:
 
Great to hear about your first experience at the controls - glad you had fun!

So what'd you think of the feel of flight, did you think flying it was a lot easier than you imagined or?

When I take people flying for the first time they're usually a little apprehensive to take the controls, but once I explain to them in basic terms how the plane flys and demonstrate how stable it is, they muster up the courage to take the controls themselves and are often pleasantly surprised at just how easy and fun it is to point it around the sky.

Enjoy the rest of your training! At first glance it may seem like an overwhelming amount of information to learn but it'll all be broken down into manageable blocks of learning.

Try to study and prepare as best you can before each lesson so you can maximize your learning and reduce the time/money spent, also try to fly as often as possible - and most of all don't forget to have fun! :)
 
oops... you're hooked already! have fun, flying is like a dream every single time you get behind the controls. :beer:
 
OhioStatePilot said:
I think you mean graciously... ;)
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Hopefully I'm a better pilot than I am a writer. I might be literally the worse writer in the history of the written language. Sometimes I'll just be lazy and not reread what I wrote, but other times, like the above error, I reread what I wrote, but I just read what I want to read and not what I really wrote. :(
 
It's good to read that you enjoyed you first flight. I'm also happy that you're involved with the Aviation Club. You'll have a vast pool of resources at your disposal because of it, almost as much as JC. :) If your club activities ever bring you to JYO(Leesburg, Va) be sure to drop me a line.
 
SuperCubRick said:
Great to hear about your first experience at the controls - glad you had fun!

So what'd you think of the feel of flight, did you think flying it was a lot easier than you imagined or?

When I take people flying for the first time they're usually a little apprehensive to take the controls, but once I explain to them in basic terms how the plane flys and demonstrate how stable it is, they muster up the courage to take the controls themselves and are often pleasantly surprised at just how easy and fun it is to point it around the sky.

Enjoy the rest of your training! At first glance it may seem like an overwhelming amount of information to learn but it'll all be broken down into manageable blocks of learning.

Try to study and prepare as best you can before each lesson so you can maximize your learning and reduce the time/money spent, also try to fly as often as possible - and most of all don't forget to have fun! :)
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I apologize, I didn't see this post last night.

Flying the plane was very fun. Although I felt some level of apprehensive from the second I got into the plane to the second I got out of it. Physically flying the plane wasn't to bad. I had trouble with some of the most basic aspects of flying (aka keeping the noes level, leveling out of turns before you get to the desired heading, ect) but I can't say I'm surprised by that.

Next weekend I plan to go out to Aviation Adventures and setting up my first training session for mid may. I also want to grab a text book and see if I can knock out a bunch of the ground school/general aviation stuff.

Once I start flying, I plan on flying 5-6 times a week (assuming that is practical). I do not plan on having any summer job this summer and I really want to focus all my efforts on flying. I'd like to be done before our family vacation (OBX) in mid July. That well give me 7 weeks to do it. Again, I don't know if that is practical but that is my goal.

Old Dominion Flyer said:
It's good to read that you enjoyed you first flight. I'm also happy that you're involved with the Aviation Club. You'll have a vast pool of resources at your disposal because of it, almost as much as JC. :) If your club activities ever bring you to JYO(Leesburg, Va) be sure to drop me a line.
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Ha well you are the one who tipped me onto GMU's new Aviation club. Thank you.
 
v1valarob said:
I didn't know GMU had an aviation club. Where do they fly out of? Manassas?
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It just started. Last Thursday was their second meeting. Next Saturday is their first official event. A bunch of us are going to go down to Warrenton for "Learn to fly day" and the Club guys set up 4 or 5 planes to take us up and fly around. I'm pretty sure its they are going to let us fly a bit (sorta like I did). It should be a lot of fun.
 
titansox said:
Hopefully I'm a better pilot than I am a writer. I might be literally the worse writer in the history of the written language. Sometimes I'll just be lazy and not reread what I wrote, but other times, like the above error, I reread what I wrote, but I just read what I want to read and not what I really wrote. :(
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Oh no worries. I know what you meant to say, I was just bustin your balls! :beer:
 
titansox said:
Ha i hear the Columbia 400 is one of the nicest planes in the GA world. Evidently the plane cost over 500,000$ :eek:
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Yeah. A well used one.

Starting in a C-400 is sorta like going strait to pure tar heroine in the vein.

Of all the aircraft I've flown the C-400 is at the top of my list.
 
titansox said:
Today I had the opportunity through the GMU aviation club to fly an airplane for the first time in my life. The sponsor of the club gracelessly took me and two others up in his Columbia 400. All of us were given the opportunity to take control of his plane under his supervision and guidance. He obviously took off and landed the plane but once we got to cursing altitude, he let us take control and taught us the basics. I flew the first leg and sat in the back seat for the second and third leg of the trip. Taking control of the airplane was a great feeling. However being in the back of the plane was pretty cool too. The views were breath taking. I start my official flight training in may and this was a great way to get me feet wet and hold me over a few more weeks.
Click to expand...

If you respond to flying at all like I did, you won't truly begin to enjoy it for at least 20 hours into your training. I felt kind of "blah" about flying until then, since my CFI was still doing most of the hand flying. Once I started taking the controls for the most part I began to really enjoy flying. What kept me flying until then was the desire to fly, not really the joy of flying itself. And now at 56 hours, practically all the flying of the plane is done by me, and I am enjoying the actual flying of the airplane more than ever.

So if you're left feeling kind of dulled out in the first bit of training, just remember that once you start flying the plane more it will get more fun and interesting. :beer:
 
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