Discovery Flight

Kevin Lantry

Kevin Lantry

Filing Flight Plan
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Jun 15, 2018
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Boiler03
After a few months of reading up on flying lessons and researching some local flight schools (along with a lot of lurking/reading on these forums), I've finally scheduled my discovery flight for 6/21. In hopes of getting as much as I can out of my first experience, I wanted to get some advice on what I should be looking for and what sort of questions I should be asking when the flight is over. I'm 99% certain I want to start right in on training for my PPL, but I know that picking the right instructor and having a sound plan are very important.

Any tips on getting started and specifically getting the most out of my discovery flight next week would be most appreciated!

Also, I'll be doing my training in the Indianapolis area, so anyone with some local insight on flight schools/instructors or just fun flights in the area would be helpful as well.
 
This might be a good start: https://youcanfly.aopa.org/


And something you can do on your own is making sure you don't have any show stoppers from a medical certification standpoint.

Read this example of FAA Form 8500-8, especially the instructions and questions for questions 17, 18, and 19.

Question 17 ask for medications that have been prescribed. While many are allowed by the FAA and are no big deal, others are worm can openers that will lead to the FAA reviewers wanting to dig for more info. (For example, if you take Lisinopril, and don't disclose you're being seen for elevated or high blood pressure, then the reviewers are going to hold up your application until you have satisfied them on the reason you are taking that drug)

Question 18a through 18x. A key phrase is "Have you ever in your life..." had one of these medical conditions. If you did, disclose it. And you must not lie by omission as doing so will cause monster butt hurt in the future. If you are currently being treated for the condition, additional details from the treating physician will be needed. Do be aware that some medical history items, especially 18l through 18q, may keep you from obtaining a medical unless specific (and possibly expensive) additional steps are taken. 18u, Hospital Visits, may require obtaining copies of notes/charts from the hospital.

Question 18v tackles the question of if you ever had a law enforcement encounter while under the influence of alcohol or any other substance. This can include DWI or DUI or Public Intoxication. When this applies to an applicant, many additional steps will be required.

Question 19 applies to doctor visits. Like medications, often this is easy simple and no big deal. But if you stated you went to see someone like a cardiologist or other specialist, be prepared to provide a detailed explanation about what the visit was for and what the outcome was.


At the beginning, this can sound a bit daunting, but my point of including this is to ensure you know what to expect as you work toward your dream of flying an airplane.

A key item is, do not go for an FAA medical examination until you know with a certainty beyond 100% that you will pass. Going for an "live" examination and becoming denied will remove the possibility of flying under the Sport Pilot rules and many other powered flight opportunities. So if you have any questions about your ability to pass the exam, seek out an AME who will perform a consult. If you have some really thorny issues, seek out a Senior Difficult Case AME such as Dr. Bruce Chien, www.aeromedicaldoc.com
 
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As far as what to do for the discovery flight. Keep your eyes and ears open, and enjoy the flight. Be sure to bring a camera too.

Read articles about "how to choose a flight school" to form your list of questions to ask.
 
for the disco flight...…….just have fun, that's it!
 
Agree. Just enjoy it. Don't worry about using the flight to do anything other than decide if you're having fun in a small plane. You'll have plenty of time to ask questions later
 
AggieMike88 said:
This might be a good start: https://youcanfly.aopa.org/


And something you can do on your own is making sure you don't have any show stoppers from a medical certification standpoint.

Read this example of FAA Form 8500-8, especially the instructions and questions for questions 17, 18, and 19.

Question 17 ask for medications that have been prescribed. While many are allowed by the FAA and are no big deal, others are worm can openers that will lead to the FAA reviewers wanting to dig for more info. (For example, if you take Lisinopril, and don't disclose you're being seen for elevated or high blood pressure, then the reviewers are going to hold up your application until you have satisfied them on the reason you are taking that drug)

Question 18a through 18x. A key phrase is "Have you ever in your life..." had one of these medical conditions. If you did, disclose it. And you must not lie by omission as doing so will cause monster butt hurt in the future. If you are currently being treated for the condition, additional details from the treating physician will be needed. Do be aware that some medical history items, especially 18l through 18q, may keep you from obtaining a medical unless specific (and possibly expensive) additional steps are taken. 18u, Hospital Visits, may require obtaining copies of notes/charts from the hospital.

Question 18v tackles the question of if you ever had a law enforcement encounter while under the influence of alcohol or any other substance. This can include DWI or DUI or Public Intoxication. When this applies to an applicant, many additional steps will be required.

Question 19 applies to doctor visits. Like medications, often this is easy simple and no big deal. But if you stated you went to see someone like a cardiologist or other specialist, be prepared to provide a detailed explanation about what the visit was for and what the outcome was.


At the beginning, this can sound a bit daunting, but my point of including this is to ensure you know what to expect as you work toward your dream of flying an airplane.

A key item is, do not go for an FAA medical examination until you know with a certainty beyond 100% that you will pass. Going for an "live" examination and becoming denied will remove the possibility of flying under the Sport Pilot rules and many other powered flight opportunities. So if you have any questions about your ability to pass the exam, seek out an AME who will perform a consult. If you have some really thorny issues, seek out a Senior Difficult Case AME such as Dr. Bruce Chien, www.aeromedicaldoc.com
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That.

Also remember it's the individual CFI that will matter the most in your training, not the name of the school or if you learn in a 172 or a PA28 or whatever, ask around, on this forum as well, and seek out the best CFI you can find.


Also on the medical aspect, check this out
https://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/avs/offices/aam/ame/guide/

Most all the tests the AME will do you can do on yourself, as they say
 
James331 said:
Also remember it's the individual CFI that will matter the most in your training, not the name of the school or if you learn in a 172 or a PA28 or whatever
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Strong agreement to what James said there. My first instructor was a retired 10k hour plus retired airline guy. Okay for the basics and first 10 hours of training, but it quickly became evident we weren't clicking in the "how I want to learn versus the way he teaches" department. So I voted with my feet.

Second instructor was a much better fit.

@Kevin Lantry ... discovery flights are a good way to "audition" the instructor. If the one you fly with next week doesn't quite click with you, then don't be shy about talking to the chief instructor about finding someone else.

You want someone who figures out how you learn and how he or she should adapt his/her style of teaching.

And one really good trait to watch for in an instructor.... a written syllabus that is followed and student folder where progress is documented.
 
Thanks for the detailed input. I certainly plan to enjoy the experience first and foremost, but I also know that I want to get going on training ASAP if all goes well, so I'm looking at this as an audition for the CFI as well. The facility is very convenient to where I live, so they already have a leg up there. However, knowing that they have multiple CFIs, I don't want to just commit to the one that happened to schedule my discovery flight.

Appreciated the heads up on the medical too. I don't forsee any issues there, but can't hurt to get a head start on it.
 
HI @Kevin Lantry! I just flew 2 Discovery Flights this morning. I let you do as much as you want except scary stuff, like landings . But seriously, I let ya take off (I'm on the controls too) and guide you thru it. Climb out and turns etc I let you do. Some folks like to see their house from the air, so if close by we'll do that. Show you a few interesting sites and point out a couple grass fields that are private airports, big ass houses out in the country side, the river, and usually head back where I do the landing, the scary part remember?

Eat lightly before going up, might bring a barf bag but usually the CFI will have some with him. A plastic grocery bag works well. Enjoy and have fun!
 
Hi.
No need to decide on your first ride, but you can evaluate and talk to many. Also get a Log book, I suggest Gleim, and have the CFI sign that as your introductory / first flight.

Kevin Lantry said:
... I also know that I want to get going on training ASAP if all goes well, so I'm looking at this as an audition for the CFI as well. .. However, knowing that they have multiple CFIs, I don't want to just commit to the one that happened to schedule my discovery flight.
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Buzz the tower. If they tell you the pattern is full, it is VERY IMPORTANT that you not flinch. Barely even look at the instructor in the next seat and say "Sorry <instructor name here>, looks like we need to buzz the tower".

Then fly by the tower as close as you can. Extra points if you can tell that somebody in there is drinking coffee.
 
Go in the morning or evening when the sun is not so hot. It gets very bumpy below the clouds on a hot summer day.

A friend of mine went for one with his wife. She hated it. I asked them a few questions and found out they went up on an early afternoon in June and spent 30 mins riding around about 2000 agl
 
StevieTimes said:
Buzz the tower. If they tell you the pattern is full, it is VERY IMPORTANT that you not flinch. Barely even look at the instructor in the next seat and say "Sorry <instructor name here>, looks like we need to buzz the tower".

Then fly by the tower as close as you can. Extra points if you can tell that somebody in there is drinking coffee.
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Ok, I’m taking notes here, so let me make sure I have this straight: Go up when the pattern is full, and fly close enough to the tower to see if anyone inside is drinking coffee?
 
mscard88 said:
HI @Kevin Lantry! I just flew 2 Discovery Flights this morning. I let you do as much as you want except scary stuff, like landings . But seriously, I let ya take off (I'm on the controls too) and guide you thru it. Climb out and turns etc I let you do. Some folks like to see their house from the air, so if close by we'll do that. Show you a few interesting sites and point out a couple grass fields that are private airports, big ass houses out in the country side, the river, and usually head back where I do the landing, the scary part remember?

Eat lightly before going up, might bring a barf bag but usually the CFI will have some with him. A plastic grocery bag works well. Enjoy and have fun!
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Sounds like fun! Didn’t realize I’d get to do so much on the controls. Hope my CFI has a similar approach.
 
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Kevin Lantry said:
Sounds like fun! Didn’t realize the I’d get to do so much on the controls. Hope my CFI has a similar approach.
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I landed my discovery flight, I asked the CFI to manage the throttle and he talked me down. I think it's really up to the CFI and his/her comfort level with your flying.
 
Many discovery flights are BS. All the places I know only want .5 on the Hobbs. So by the time start up to shut down you only get a short amount of time in the air. A lot of CFIs really don’t like to do them. They aren’t getting that much flight time, and doing the whole pre flight and then tie down for such short time gets annoying. Most discovery flight are people that have no interest in ever flying, they just wanna go up in a airplane for the experience. So the CFI feels they are wasting time. I know my school has to beg CFIs to to them.
 
Kevin Lantry said:
Sounds like fun! Didn’t realize I’d get to do so much on the controls. Hope my CFI has a similar approach.
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Yea, my first one was a bust. Dude let me fly like 5 min straight and level. 2nd one was more experienced, let me(made me) do everything but the landing which I followed through on the controls.
 
I had a blast on mine. The instructor was great, we flew for about an hour, and he treated it as a first lesson. Gave me the controls a 3000 feet and had me make turns, climbs, descents, etc.

Enjoy the experience!
 
TommyG said:
Many discovery flights are BS. All the places I know only want .5 on the Hobbs. So by the time start up to shut down you only get a short amount of time in the air. A lot of CFIs really don’t like to do them. They aren’t getting that much flight time, and doing the whole pre flight and then tie down for such short time gets annoying. Most discovery flight are people that have no interest in ever flying, they just wanna go up in a airplane for the experience. So the CFI feels they are wasting time. I know my school has to beg CFIs to to them.
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Partly true. Yeah I'd rather be instructing instead of flying people around, but, I'd say 50% of the time you end up with a new student. 30' is a waste of time I'd agree. By the time you start up, taxi, take off, leave the pattern, well it's time to come back and land. An hour is better as you can let the person have the controls, see some sites, etc.
 
I only took one DF, guy scared the **** out of me. I knew nothing other than I wanted to learn and dude just said “here, your airplane” at about 100’ AGL. To me, on my first flight I thought I was going straight up. I was uncomfortable the rest of the flight. I didn’t hire him. When I actually started, I called a guy who was recommended and told him I wanted to fly, he said great we will start Tuesday. I think I did pretty much everything but land.
 
Even on the discovery flight, be sure you know WHY you are being told to do something. That's the most important part of the training.

That first 45 mins should be long enough for you to assess how well the potential CFI explains/instructs.
 
...for the discovery flight I think its not good to want too much, all together... its not necessary to try everything, to understand all the instruments etc.... its just gives the taste of flying.. just fly up and enjoy, try up in the air how is to control the plane, get the feeling of it.. thats all... :)

you will meet this one instructor... so you can not compare with other instructors, unfortunately. but you can see if you like him/her or not. You can see how the CFI teaches, communicates, how patient etc.
And the question is, will be the pilot a CFI also, or just a CPL pilot?
 
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