Posted: 5/22/2013 5:30:30 PM EDT
|
Well, I have done it. 13 years after my last flight, I started taking flying lessons.
What sparked my resurgent interest was watching this: 
My first flight was with my grandfather when I was about four. It was almost an exact duplicate of the video, except for the fact that I am a dude and the flight was in 1982... My lifelong interest in aviation was sparked and has remained ever since. I joined the AF right out of high school and spent ten years working on fighters (15’s &16’s). This kept me around aviation, but I could never really afford to fly, nor was my head really in the right place to make a serious go at it. Anyway, I am now 35 and have two little girls (five and three). That video has re-lit the embers of my childhood passion and I hope to pass it on to my girls. I am now a controls engineer and make decent enough money that I can “afford” it, so I took my first (in a long time) flight last Saturday, had another lesson last Monday, and am going up again this coming Saturday. Here is where I am flying: http://www.stewartsaircraft.net/ They are having me start out in Cubs to emphasize stick and rudder before they have me move into the C-152 for the CC stuff... Thanks for letting me ramble... I just had to tell someone besides the family 
Steve |
|
Congradulation, and welcome to the worst adiction you will have. 30 years and 7800 hours later I just cant quite, I am addicted for life.
Now the AR building addiction has found me. I just got the parts in for my first build and first AR and am already planning and collecting parts for my next two. The freedom of flying is like no other. I think I was more excited about soloing my students than they were when I was instructing. A cub is a real airplane, One of my favorites. Happy flying wishing you have many blue skys ahead. |
|
Quoted:
Do VA benefits not pay for flight training anymore? I have been told they do, but a guy in my ANG unit thought the same thing. He got a $7,500 surprise when he found out his flight time was considered a "lab fee." As I understand it, only "tuition is covered." |
|
Quoted:
I've done a lot of flying there, and still buy all of my gas there. Who are you flying with? I flew with Joe to get my TW endorsement and to get some time in the champ before I bought mine. We had a lot of fun. Holy hell 
Yes, I am flying with "Mr Personality." He has been an OUTSTANDING instructor so far!!! I only wish he would get over his headset phobia so I can hear him better in the cub 
We will probably be bumping into each other at some point... |
|
Quoted:
Quoted:
I've done a lot of flying there, and still buy all of my gas there. Who are you flying with? I flew with Joe to get my TW endorsement and to get some time in the champ before I bought mine. We had a lot of fun. Holy hell
Yes, I am flying with "Mr Personality." He has been an OUTSTANDING instructor so far!!! I only wish he would get over his headset phobia so I can hear him better in the cub
We will probably be bumping into each other at some point... Haha! Yeah, he's an excellent instructor, and a hell of a pilot. I take it you bought a portable intercom for the cub? Very worthwhile investment. I bought one when I started flying with him in the champ. You had to throttle back to talk. Ask him if he knows anything about boolean algebra. I too, am a controls engineer, and when I told him that, he immediately asked me if I knew what boolean algebra was. He said he used to use it in a former life, and he had never met anyone since that knew what it was. Do you have a regular day that you've been flying? I just bought a barrel and a bunch of cans of gas (ouch), so I don't have to fly in to fill up. I fly fairly often though, so I'll still be out that way. I need to get with Joe anyway. I wand to get some time flying from the back seat. Tell him Scott said hey. See you around the patch! |
|
Quoted:
snip Haha! Yeah, he's an excellent instructor, and a hell of a pilot. I take it you bought a portable intercom for the cub? Very worthwhile investment. I bought one when I started flying with him in the champ. You had to throttle back to talk. Ask him if he knows anything about boolean algebra. I too, am a controls engineer, and when I told him that, he immediately asked me if I knew what boolean algebra was. He said he used to use it in a former life, and he had never met anyone since that knew what it was. Do you have a regular day that you've been flying? I just bought a barrel and a bunch of cans of gas (ouch), so I don't have to fly in to fill up. I fly fairly often though, so I'll still be out that way. I need to get with Joe anyway. I wand to get some time flying from the back seat. Tell him Scott said hey. See you around the patch! You are right about him being a good pilot... My first approach was an eye opener He did a really short final, slipping all the way into the glider port down the road. Lot of fun!!!
I will tell him you said hi... ETA: No, I do not really have a regular day... I have only been doing this for a week Mainly, I look at the weather and schedule around that. I am going to be there this Saturday at 1300 for a lesson with Joe. I am also going to have my girls with me so we can all get a ride in the 172. It is going to be their first time, and to say they are excited is putting it mildly!!!
|
|
Quoted:
Quoted:
snip Haha! Yeah, he's an excellent instructor, and a hell of a pilot. I take it you bought a portable intercom for the cub? Very worthwhile investment. I bought one when I started flying with him in the champ. You had to throttle back to talk. Ask him if he knows anything about boolean algebra. I too, am a controls engineer, and when I told him that, he immediately asked me if I knew what boolean algebra was. He said he used to use it in a former life, and he had never met anyone since that knew what it was. Do you have a regular day that you've been flying? I just bought a barrel and a bunch of cans of gas (ouch), so I don't have to fly in to fill up. I fly fairly often though, so I'll still be out that way. I need to get with Joe anyway. I wand to get some time flying from the back seat. Tell him Scott said hey. See you around the patch! You are right about him being a good pilot... My first approach was an eye opener He did a really short final, slipping all the way into the glider port down the road. Lot of fun!!!
I will tell him you said hi... ETA: No, I do not really have a regular day... I have only been doing this for a week Mainly, I look at the weather and schedule around that. I am going to be there this Saturday at 1300 for a lesson with Joe. I am also going to have my girls with me so we can all get a ride in the 172. It is going to be their first time, and to say they are excited is putting it mildly!!!
Nice! Partly cloudy, Hi of 65, with 5 MPH winds. You couldn't ask for better than that. |
|
Well, Last Saturday, I met up with Ske at the airfield... Good times!!!
I also got my girls a ride in the Champ... Good times had by all
Joe (my instructor) took them up and had a blast. He said that most rides he gives to little ones end up with them crying. Now mine, on the other hand, were what he calls "the reason I love to instruct." He gradually did more than just turning and ended up doing more adventurous maneuvers for them (stalls, steep turns, spins, etc). My girls kept telling him to "DO IT AGAIN, MR JOE!!!! DO IT AGAIN" Here are some pics of the future pilots: 
|
|
Quoted:
Well, Last Saturday, I met up with Ske at the airfield... Good times!!!
I also got my girls a ride in the Champ... Good times had by all
Joe (my instructor) took them up and had a blast. He said that most rides he gives to little ones end up with them crying. Now mine, on the other hand, were what he calls "the reason I love to instruct." He gradually did more than just turning and ended up doing more adventurous maneuvers for them (stalls, steep turns, spins, etc). My girls kept telling him to "DO IT AGAIN, MR JOE!!!! DO IT AGAIN" Here are some pics of the future pilots: https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/223156_10151636422128910_962720329_n.jpg https://fbcdn-sphotos-c-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-frc1/578279_10151636422123910_1870344593_n.jpg https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/429929_10151636422133910_42021767_n.jpg https://fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/941912_10151636422298910_834945048_n.jpg https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-frc3/969167_10151636426993910_1932236397_n.jpg Wow, great pictures. Joe is top notch. Glad the girls had fun. I think I'll get with Joe this week and get checked out in the back seat. That's the way to do it. I wish I would have thought to lend you my GoPro. 
|
Well, OP, your Waynesville Cessna choices are a little more limited. Joe (pictured in the Champ above) put one down in a field yesterday. 
STORY |