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any pilots here?
- Thread starter jkcerda
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supposed to be 1 hr per receptionist but the price she quoted falls more inline with what others charge for 1/2 hr. so I will see.
that school and another one have pay as you go programs, I don't have to fork over the full cost of tuition and pay them in advance, that makes me feel better in case I change schools or if I am no happy with instructors for whatever reason, I am way ahead here and obviously need to slow the hell down
going to leave "precious" at home and take the gopro's.
supposed to be 1 hr per receptionist but the price she quoted falls more inline with what others charge for 1/2 hr. so I will see.
that school and another one have pay as you go programs, I don't have to fork over the full cost of tuition and pay them in advance, that makes me feel better in case I change schools or if I am no happy with instructors for whatever reason, I am way ahead here and obviously need to slow the hell down
going to leave "precious" at home and take the gopro's.
Enjoy. I agree, don't get too ahead of the curve (in this case anyway
.) Like I stated before, try to focus on the experience rather than the procedures. Your CFI will hopefully just explain the simple bank, airspeed, and pitch stuff then let you try some pitch, and bank maneuvers for the majority of the flight. If they spend a lot of time as a Used Car Sales Person trying to sign you up I'd look elsewhere.You can actually have a good time for and hour. If you decided to get serious make sure you can pass a medical before you start investing the large sums. Also, look into how are you will maintain your skill set if and when you get your PPL. Will you Time Share on an aircraft? Will you rent from a Flying Service? These all have the potential to get expensive quickly. My personal thoughts for a PPL on a small single are you should fly 1.5hrs a week at a minimum to maintain your skill set. Others may have different views. Just some FYI stuff following your "not getting too far ahead of the curve" comments.
Best of luck.
Did I tell you about the time my first flight instructor, who also was a minister cursed at me? 😁 True story. This was when I was getting my first flying instruction as part of an Air Force ROTC program. Anyway, there may have been a time in aviation where instructors treated you like you were in boot camp, but I think that’s changed, especially in commercial enterprises where they want you to keep coming back and spending your money.supposed to be 1 hr per receptionist but the price she quoted falls more inline with what others charge for 1/2 hr. so I will see.
that school and another one have pay as you go programs, I don't have to fork over the full cost of tuition and pay them in advance, that makes me feel better in case I change schools or if I am no happy with instructors for whatever reason, I am way ahead here and obviously need to slow the hell down
going to leave "precious" at home and take the gopro's.
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I did read about getting the medical certificate FIRST, seems some fail it and there go their dreams.Enjoy. I agree, don't get too ahead of the curve (in this case anyway
You can actually have a good time for and hour. If you decided to get serious make sure you can pass a medical before you start investing the large sums. Also, look into how are you will maintain your skill set if and when you get your PPL. Will you Time Share on an aircraft? Will you rent from a Flying Service? These all have the potential to get expensive quickly. My personal thoughts for a PPL on a small single are you should fly 1.5hrs a week at a minimum to maintain your skill set. Others may have different views. Just some FYI stuff following your "not getting too far ahead of the curve" comments.
Best of luck.
But this would be good to know prior to lessons yes? Or do you need this for lessons?
Whatever you decide to do and where to go, I have just one suggestion and that is to stick to it and get it done.
Back in the late 50s/early 60s my father got out of the Marine Corps (Korea vet) and used the GI bill to get flight training. By 1970, when I was born he had a commercial pilot's license (not ATP) and could fly a variety of fixed wing aircraft. Scared my mother many times with acrobatics.
Anyway, I came along and his license and medical lapsed. My father gave me a love of airplanes, but not the actual desire to fly them (I just like looking at them and hearing them). But from the time I was 13 (1983) up until 2000 all I heard from him was his wanting to get his medical taken care of so he could return to flying.
He never did. I was with him a time or two when he saw a doctor, but it never resulted in him and I going up together with him flying an airplane. He talked and he talked until he finally shut up about it. Given his health issues that he often hid from us I suspect he could just never pass the medical.
If this is what you want, do what you can to pass that. My dad died last November, 49 years after last being PIC.
Go get what you're after, don't delay.
No requirement when your going up with the CFI in his situation. If he wants to invest all the way to solo for a PPL, IMO I’d at least look at the requirements and see if there might be a possible conflict.
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Yes it was. Loved itWas this your flight, if so what did think?
Go after it.
When I was 19 my dad put me in flight school at Redlands airport. I held a Student Pilot's license for a short time but never finished.
My flight instructor was a guy name Anders Mard. He came from Sweden to start an aviation career. Here he was a few years older than me trying to teach me how to handle a Cessna 152. I looked him up the other day. He's flying Airbus A380s for Emirates now.
Yeah, go get it JK!
P.S. I am persona non-grata at Santa Barbara airport. They said they wouldn't file charges if I never returned. But that's what happens when you walk across the end of an active runway looking for a restaurant to eat at.
The officer was nice though. He picked me up half way across and drove me to the cafe!
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Like driving a car but more complex system wise, and navigating a 3D space instead of operating on a 2D plane. Then you might want to do some acrobatics. 😄
I have not researched laws regarding this, but I am not sure they would let me fly. I'm dyslexic and have photophobia (umbrella term, means I have hypersensitivity to light) so it might be difficult. If it wouldn't be an issue, I'd consider taking lessons.
Good that you've enjoyed your first flight with it, I think it's a neat thing to learn.
Good that you've enjoyed your first flight with it, I think it's a neat thing to learn.
That first video looked like a pretty smooth landing for a newb! Well done.
My understanding is that dyslexia in itself is not enough to prevent you from getting a pilots license, because as you grow up, most dyslexics adapt and adjust though the condition, and as long as you can pass the required tests. My brother was dyslexic as a child, and you’d never know it now, and he took private pilot lessons, but I don’t remember how far he got with it.
Is it possible to get a pilots license with dyslexia?
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Quite a few Europeans have come to the States to learn how to fly and pursue aviation careers because conditions have been more favorable here, I assume expense and availability of opportunities. I flew with several hired on at my airline.Go after it.
When I was 19 my dad put me in flight school at Redlands airport. I held a Student Pilot's license for a short time but never finished.
My flight instructor was a guy name Anders Mard. He came from Sweden to start an aviation career. Here he was a few years older than me trying to teach me how to handle a Cessna 152. I looked him up the other day. He's flying Airbus A380s for Emirates now.
Yeah, go get it JK!
P.S. I am persona non-grata at Santa Barbara airport. They said they wouldn't file charges if I never returned. But that's what happens when you walk across the end of an active runway looking for a restaurant to eat at.
The officer was nice though. He picked me up half way across and drove me to the cafe!
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A little late (we were on a cruise, so no MR access). Giving a little perspective from a fixed wing and helicopter pilot... keep going with the fixed wing if you enjoy it. Lots of the training will carry over to helicopters. You will already know how to navigate and communicate over the radio, and won't have to pay helicopter per hour rates to learn them. Then you can focus on just learning to fly the helicopter if the time comes for you to want to try that as well.
Don't trust estimates for how much it will cost to learn. The absolute minimum is 35 hours at a part 141 school and 40 hours at other schools For fixed wing. I know exactly one person that passed his checkride below 40 hours. I was closer to 60, even using a part 141 school. On the plus side, I passed the helicopter one very close to minimum time, since I was just focused on learning to fly the helicopter and didn’t need to learn how to talk to controllers or navigate. And as far as the freedom to land without a runway in a helicopter... don’t expect to be able to land anywhere other than an airport 99.999% of the time. There are some heliports that you would have access to that fixed wing can't use, but for the most part you will be flying to the same places as all of the planes, and taking longer to get there while paying lots more for that time in the air. Learning autorotations is really fun, though... much more fun than engine-out training in fixed wing.
And finally, sims are great when working on an instrument rating, but you will absolutely not learn the touch required to fly a fixed wing, let alone a helicopter. I did reinforce what I was learning during my instrument training with X Plane, but don't see how it would have helped that much with primary training.
Don't trust estimates for how much it will cost to learn. The absolute minimum is 35 hours at a part 141 school and 40 hours at other schools For fixed wing. I know exactly one person that passed his checkride below 40 hours. I was closer to 60, even using a part 141 school. On the plus side, I passed the helicopter one very close to minimum time, since I was just focused on learning to fly the helicopter and didn’t need to learn how to talk to controllers or navigate. And as far as the freedom to land without a runway in a helicopter... don’t expect to be able to land anywhere other than an airport 99.999% of the time. There are some heliports that you would have access to that fixed wing can't use, but for the most part you will be flying to the same places as all of the planes, and taking longer to get there while paying lots more for that time in the air. Learning autorotations is really fun, though... much more fun than engine-out training in fixed wing.
And finally, sims are great when working on an instrument rating, but you will absolutely not learn the touch required to fly a fixed wing, let alone a helicopter. I did reinforce what I was learning during my instrument training with X Plane, but don't see how it would have helped that much with primary training.
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Disclaimer. I only took over once up in the air for a few periods. Anytime you see video it was him flying , he took off and landed , I followed the pattern he set for me. So I piloted for about 25-30 mins of the hr flight. Next time I’ll have a GoPro on my head as opposed of the phone in my handThat first video looked like a pretty smooth landing for a newb! Well done.
Cessna O-1 Bird Dog - Wikipedia
A friend of mine let me take over the stick on a Cessna L-19 and fly some then land and I was all over place trying to land that thing. I finally got it down, but I looked like this.
That is why I was so impressed with the landing in your video, because I know how difficult it can be.
I got to taxi it before take odd and back in after landing , I was also all over the place just getting the feel for the pedals . NOW I get to do the grown up thing and figure out how to get my lic W/o going into debt to pay for itCessna O-1 Bird Dog - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
A friend of mine let me take over the stick on a Cessna L-19 and fly some then land and I was all over place trying to land that thing. I finally got it down, but I looked like this.
That is why I was so impressed with the landing in your video, because I know how difficult it can be.
View attachment 896891
Had you gone the helicopter route, your intro flight would have been even more “interesting”. At first it feels like you are trying to stand on a basketball and you will be all over the place while trying to hover. You wouldn’t have even gotten to do the hover taxi out and back from the parking area. Taxiing in a tail wheel airplane will also be a fun experience if you ever get the chance. You have to zigzag so you can look out the side of the plane to see where you are going in some high performance taildraggers.
For now have fun and know your training dollars will get you 2.5-3x the time in air than the helicopter would have. You won’t be paying a premium to learn how to navigate using a sectional, or how to follow controller instructions winding your way through class C airspace for your required landing there.
True this... I've seen two people "ground loop" the L-19 tail dragger I mentioned.
there are two colleges that offer an aviation program near me so I am going to research them
www.valleycollege.edu
www.valleycollege.edu
Aeronautics — San Bernardino Valley College
www.valleycollege.edu
Videos & Pictures — San Bernardino Valley College
www.valleycollege.edu