I want to fly airplanes

[B DIRT]

I know theres quite a few of you guys that can help, tell me what I need to do to fly? Links? And most importantly advice from my friends??

[Rut Row]

I know theres quite a few of you guys that can help, tell me what I need to do to fly? Links? And most importantly advice from my friends??

1. google aopa "learn to fly"
2. bank a LOT of money! it ain't cheap
3. although you theoretically can get a license in 40 hours, budget for 80-100
4. start at an airport that does not have restricted airspace - ie, no tower. This will reduce your mental saturation and you can focus on flying and not talking and listening.

go at him boys and girls!

btw, it is absolutely addictive

[B DIRT]

Thanks Ken that will get me started

big positive is town has an airport a small one

[Boom Boom]

Brian, you need to get Henry's 230 in for a tune and pick his brain. His dad has or had a small plane. He could give you some info, might still have the plane up at Duncannon.
My cousin has one of them gliders with the engine strapped to the back, he just lives off 944 close to my house. Flys over my place on a regular basis. Not much $$ or effort to get flying with one of those. Every winter he flys over by the elem school in his Santa suit, yea it must be in the water around here.

[Wingfixer]

Brian,

If you are serious and have the money and time I can help you with your aviation career. Now is a good time to get into it because since 911 fewer and fewer people have been learning to fly. That coupled with the economy and the last few years have set record lows in new pilot certificates and 2009 had the least ATP (Airline Transport Pilot) certificates issued since the inception of that certificate. Add to that the fact that the age 65 retirement rule will be catching up to the guys who where nearing 60 when the rule changed and it all equals a serious pilot shortage in 18 months to 2 years. Hopefully the economy will rebound about that time and it will be the perfect storm for a budding or, in my case, semi-long term pilot looking for a good job to finish my career.

Depending on how many hours and the ratings you currently have 18 months to 2 years is about how long it will take you to get all your ratings and some decent flight time. The first thing you need to do is decide how to get your hours, and how many you need. Under FAR Part 65 rules you will have to have a minimum of 40 hours (20 solo, 20 dual received) for a private pilots license. After that you will need 125 hours for your instrument rating and 250 for your commercial. If you go to a Part 141 school you can do it in substantially less flight time.

The best and fastest way to get this done is to take a big (read HUGE) chunk of cash to All ATP's and they will blast you through it in a hurry. All ATP's is a nation wide flight school that has a great reputation with the airlines and will help you get a job once you have your rating and hours. www.atpflightschool.com/

I have several warnings for you about an aviation career though, the first is: Don't do it unless you have a real and true love for flying. If you are doing it for the money or notoriety or any other reason I can tell you you will be a miserable bastard in a few years. Aviation if full of disappointment and heart break, it is also full of accomplishment and reward, if you look in the right places.

To give you a little of the path I have taken: I started out as an aircraft mechanic (A&P) and got my instruction and the bulk of my early flight time by trading maintenance for flight time. My first several "real" jobs where working for shoe-string operation freight companies. Finally, after several hours flying crappy planes in crappy conditions, I got hired by Continental Express. I took my check ride on August 28th, 2001 - furloughed October 8th, 2001 (remember what I said about disappointment?) I then went back to flying freight for a few years then got hired by an Air Ambulance company, flying freight of a different kind, and have for the past 6 years flown for a company called CitationAir (www.citationair.com). Along the way I have accumulated approx. 14700 flight hours my ATP and 7 type ratings. I have also attended 9 funerals of close friends that where killed in airplane crashes.

If you want to talk about it more, or get together over a few beers, let me know. 540.five three three. 69ten.

Patrick

[B DIRT]

Boom Boom shoot me a pm with Henrys number I lost it in a voicemail,

Wing I will sending you pms

[phoo]

There are good and bad points about having a tower at the airport you learn to fly from. I understand the statement that no talking means more concentration on flying, but I found it comforting to have someone else organizing traffic and talking to the tower, especially radar following services, were what I found the most fun. Truth is, flying straight and level flight from point A to point B is pretty boring, so fiddling with the radio and the nav electronics (I used VOR beacons back in the mid-90s; I'm sure they still exist but I bet most people just follow a GPS these days) kept it interesting.

To put my love of a tower in perspective, my home base was Hanscom Air Force Base (civilian entrance) in Massachusetts. It was almost always busy, sometimes with large-ish aircraft. And one day I had the thrill of taking off after a pack of A-10 Warthogs. :)

I've flown into an uncontrolled airport, on a day where there were no volunteers on the ground playing air traffic controller. I can't say I was particularly fond of the experience. I hope it's not the norm, but while I was on the ground waiting my turn to take off I was listening to a Leerjet calling his approach from a couple miles out when a guy in a single prop jumped onto final. I don't know if that guy was on the proper frequency, ballsy, or stupid, but he finally landed and jumped off the runway at the very first intersection right as the jet was touching down right behind him. There were some choice words over the radio as the jet was coming in, since a missed landing would have meant a long turnaround, unlike the tight pattern we single props could do around the runway.

Oh, and that was the same visit where the taxiway to get to the line to take off went across the runway. The person who was lining up to take off never said "rolling" (and I was a noob) and I ended up crossing the runway as he was taking off. I wouldn't say it was close to a collision, but I did jam on the gas to hasten my crossing when I saw him and he pulled up earlier than originally intended to keep from hitting me.

So yeah, I like having a tower.


~Patrick

[Rut Row]

I agree that a tower makes life much easier and less risk prone. But as a student, it adds way too much workload. I learned at Andrews AFB and let me tell you trying to land behind a C-5 and in front of a F/A-18 increases the pucker factor SIGNIFICANTLY!

Interesting side note - learning to take off and land on a 11,000' runway is easy. Taking that knowledge and landing on a 1,500' runway is HARD! It took me nearly 10 more hours of instruction to make the transition.