Flying vs. Flying a plane.

tinerj

tinerj

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tinerj
In my Ercoupe I feel like I'm flying. In any other aircraft I feel like I'm flying a plane.

Anyone else have a plane that fits them like that.
 
In, or should I say under a hang glider I feel like I'm flying. In an airplane, it feels like transportation.

I'm going to do a tandem skydive in a couple of weeks, that may feel like flying too.
 
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Float flying, backcountry and low level VFR stuff feels like flying to me.
 
I may have to fly my plane tomorrow if the weather holds, because on Sunday I'll be flying "in" a plane, the giant aluminum tube out of ATL.

Feels like flying when I'm in the front seat. Feels like flying a plane when I'm the PIC. Sometimes in my plane it feels like both, usually when I'm fairly low flightseeing.
 
I think in the Ercoupe it is always flying, but best with the windows down. Open cockpit in a Ercoupe is some much fun.
 
Never experienced hang gliding, but I can imagine that must be the truest form of flight there is.

For me, flying is low and slow in a little bugsmasher on a calm evening with the window open and my arm hanging out in the breeze.
 
Great Lakes. You wear it rather than sit in it. Definitely flying, not operating a machine.
 
I got some time in a Marchetti SF-260; that felt like flying as I always imagined it - stick, canopy, stable while still fantastically responsive, plenty of excess power, and you can pull on the Gs without worry.
 
Pilawt said:
Flying magazine once described the Cessna 150 as "an aluminum serge suit." :D
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Well that's better than "an aluminum leisure suit" :)
 
Hank S said:
I may have to fly my plane tomorrow if the weather holds, because on Sunday I'll be flying "in" a plane, the giant aluminum tube out of ATL.

Feels like flying when I'm in the front seat. Feels like flying a plane when I'm the PIC. Sometimes in my plane it feels like both, usually when I'm fairly low flightseeing.
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I'm with you. If the plane, any plane, is responding to my command inputs I'm flying, and experiencing a unique joy. If I am aft of a locked cockpit door I'm a mere traveller, as anyone on a bus.
 
I’m with the school that believes ,if I’m working the controls ,I’m flying.
 
For me, it's the final approach. Managing the crosswind, making subtle adjustments, pulling power (or adding a little for gusts or wind shear), aiming for the touch-down spot, and hopefully greasing it in. Cruise flight is great, but once the aircraft is trimmed out, it's far less involving.

I also enjoy coming over the mountains and making a big, arcing 1500-fpm descent down into the L.A. basin. If my ears don't pop, I haven't done it right.:)
 
I get a kick out of the airlines claiming that passengers are flying. No, I'm riding your pressurized aluminum mailing tube. Flying is when I'm PIC. There is a difference. Tomorrow I'm a passenger (riding in a couple pressurized aluminum mailing tubes). Monday I'll be flying (Young Eagles).
 
yeah, I get it. it's like sex vs sex with a person. I'm with ya.
 
Ghery said:
I get a kick out of the airlines claiming that passengers are flying. No, I'm riding your pressurized aluminum mailing tube. Flying is when I'm PIC. There is a difference. Tomorrow I'm a passenger (riding in a couple pressurized aluminum mailing tubes). Monday I'll be flying (Young Eagles).
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The word flying has numerous meanings. Just saying. ;)

fly·ing
ˈflīiNG/
adjective
adjective: flying
  1. 1.
    moving or able to move through the air with wings.
    "a flying ant"
    synonyms: winged; More
    airborne, in the air, in flight
    "a flying beetle"
    • done while hurling oneself through the air.
      "he took a flying kick at a policeman"
    • moving rapidly, especially through the air.
      "one passenger was cut by flying glass"
    • hasty; brief.
      "a flying visit"
      synonyms: brief, short, lightning, fleeting, hasty, rushed, hurried, quick, whistle-stop, cursory, perfunctory;
      informalquickie
      "a flying visit"
      antonyms: long
    • used in names of animals that can glide by using winglike membranes or other structures, e.g., flying squirrel.
noun
noun: flying
  1. 1.
    flight, especially in an aircraft.
    "she hates flying"
 
And your point is? I'm flying (PIC) or I'm riding. I know what the dictionary says (it's wrong on other subjects, too).
 
One hand on the GPSS knob, the other hand on the BRS handle. Haha.
 
tinerj said:
In my Ercoupe I feel like I'm flying. In any other aircraft I feel like I'm flying a plane.

Anyone else have a plane that fits them like that.
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That’s because when you strap into an Ercoupe, you become one with the airplane.
 
FormerHangie said:
In, or should I say under a hang glider I feel like I'm flying.
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I think the same way.

Flying a Stearman is a close second. You have almost the same sensory feedback, and control inputs seem natural, like flying the hang glider. The throttle adds to the fun.
 
B86A7ACE-818F-4628-ABDB-3675ACF2F79E.jpeg
tinerj said:
In my Ercoupe I feel like I'm flying. In any other aircraft I feel like I'm flying a plane.

Anyone else have a plane that fits them like that.
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The aircraft I fly fit me well and they are classics. I always feel like I am flying a machine. I don’t fantasize about flying like a bird or Superman. My dream is to fly an airplane. And, my dream has come true.
 
tinerj said:
In my Ercoupe I feel like I'm flying. In any other aircraft I feel like I'm flying a plane.

Anyone else have a plane that fits them like that.
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Well, there's two different ways of taking that question.

The Diamond DA40 is the plane that most makes me feel like *I* am flying, rather than manipulating the controls of a flying machine. The amazing view out the canopy and the beautifully-harmonized controls just let the airplane itself take a back seat to the experience. With ~125 hours in our club's DA40, I got close, but not quite to the stage where it fit in the other category:

That is, where you're so in tune with an airplane that it feels perfectly natural to you, you can fly it smoothly, the majority of your landings are greasers, etc. I've had two airplanes I got to that point with: The club's old C182 N271G, and my current Mooney, N97ST. I had over 400 hours in 71G, and I'm up to around 800 in 7ST. When you fly one airplane that much, it just becomes an extension of you. It's a great feeling.
 
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