My Question for YOU!

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Mtns2Skies

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Mtns2Skies
I'm only a thirteen year old student pilot with about 6 hours of flight time. I was wondering what is your favorite memory of flying whether it is a stunt or a cross country flight or your first flight. Please vividly describe it. My favorite so far was my third flight. There was a ceiling of 3,000 feet with building cumulus clouds. We flew at 2,500 feet I thought it was incredible being so close to the clouds granted I was flying VFR in a Cessna 152 so I couldn't go into them but it was still very cool.
 
Most Memorable? Another Question for YOU

I'm a thirteen year old student pilot with about 6 hours of flight experience. I was wondering what makes flying worth it? and what is your most memorable experience in flight?
 
Re: Most Memorable? Another Question for YOU

There are a lot of things that make flying worth it. For each person it's different, so I'll list a few of them:

- Expanding my knowledge and skills (how many people can fly?)
- Getting up in the sky and knowing I'm up here, and they're down there (they = whoever is bothering me) and they can't get to me
- Being able to make trips in an afternoon that would take multiple days by car
- Special flights, like flying an Aztec from Maine back to IPT on a perfectly clear night or flying a Navajo on a snowy day and watching the props blow the powder off the runway and taxiways, then bust through the layer of icy clouds to the beautiful day above... nevermind all the other amazing trips I've had in less than my first year of flying

Flying is a wonderful experience. There are some people who aren't aviators, they're just people who (as far as I'm concerned) pretend to like planes because it gets them from point A to point B faster. Those people bother me, because all they talk about are the downsides. One such person about talked me out of flying entirely. Don't listen to them, find your own reason(s) for why it's worth it.
 
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Re: Most Memorable? Another Question for YOU

HawkEye007 said:
I'm a thirteen year old student pilot with about 6 hours of flight experience. I was wondering what makes flying worth it? and what is your most memorable experience in flight?
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Hey, Hawk, welcome to PoA. I envy your youth, and urge that, if you love flight, you move forward while you are young rather than waiting (like I foolishly did) until you can "afford" it (hint: it did *not* get cheaper!).

---

"Memorable" can mean many things- like the time I was on my first unsupervised solo and unforecast weather moved in with significant winds and rain and not-too-distant lightning - my knees were knocking as I taxied off of the runway for that one (I still remember the approach controller telling me to "...intercept the localizer for runway one five..." - when I told him I was a student pilot, he said, "...alright, student pilot, intercept the localizer for runway one five...").

First solo is always a biggie, but I guess that one needs no mention...

The first genuine "trip" I took with my family is a high-point; up to then, all of my flying had been either training flight, or the typical fly-somewhere-for-dinner stuff, but this time, we flew across the state to a destination that would have been a hard day's driving had we driven, or a long day of fly/rent/drive had we tried commercial. That was magic, for me and for my family. see: www.cibolocreekranch.com

Flying home in my own plane was incredible, if only because of the suspension of common-sense which had to take place in order for me to buy the fool thing. But I still love her (the plane, and yes, my wife for allowing me to buy the plane...).

But at the very top, I think, was my first attendance at the Gaston's Fly-In (see the sub-forum for it here at PoA, and also, see www.gastonsflyin.com ). It was there that I began to see the remarkable bond of friendship and fun that exists between the co-sufferers of this pleasant mental disease we call, "aviation." At that fly-in, I met some of the best and most-considerate people I know, and many of them have become very good friends, the kind of friends upon whom I can rely in a time of need... and I have found that this is much more common among airplane people than among the population at large.

So, I'll name, for a particular moment, the first time I split the "goal-post" on final for runway 24 at Gaston's, as my most memorable, because that was when, for me, flying changed from something I did, to something I shared, with a community of like-minded friends and colleagues.

And that, my friend, makes all the difference.
 
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Re: Most Memorable? Another Question for YOU

Ted DuPuis said:
There are a lot of things that make flying worth it. For each person it's different, so I'll list a few of them:

- Expanding my knowledge and skills (how many people can fly?)
- Getting up in the sky and knowing I'm up here, and they're down there (they = whoever is bothering me) and they can't get to me
- Being able to make trips in an afternoon that would take multiple days by car
- Special flights, like flying an Aztec from Maine back to IPT on a perfectly clear night or flying a Navajo on a snowy day and watching the props blow the powder off the runway and taxiways, then bust through the layer of icy clouds to the beautiful day above... nevermind all the other amazing trips I've had in less than my first year of flying

Flying is a wonderful experience. There are some people who aren't aviators, they're just people who (as far as I'm concerned) pretend to like planes because it gets them from point A to point B faster. Those people bother me, because all they talk about are the downsides. One such person about talked me out of flying entirely. Don't listen to them, find your own reason(s) for why it's worth it.
Click to expand...

Thanks a ton!
 
Re: Most Memorable? Another Question for YOU

Welcome, and first I want to echo an earlier post here by telling you what an old-timer told me once when, as an already not-so-young student pilot, I was grumbling about the expense of flight training. He said "If you wait until you can afford it, you'll never do it..."
:D

So why fly? a good question? We don't just do it for the memories, but that's one of the best things about it.

For me, in a nutshell, it's a chance to walk the razor edge between harsh discipline and total abandon. Not every flight involves the fun of sharing, or going to new places, or beautiful scenery, or an exciting airplane... but every flight is a dance on that edge.

There might be other pursuits that provide this, but I like flying, I guess. :D
 
Re: Most Memorable? Another Question for YOU

I'll add-

You see the world from a different perspective. you see things others don't (aside from the hot neighbor that sunbaths nude in their fenced yard).

I've seen:
Wild horses at Assateague Island on final approach to Ocean City, MD
Nebraska isn't as flat as people think
New Jersey has a lot of beauty (fly up the Delaware Water Gap sometime)
New Jersey isn't all factories (fly over the Pine Barrens sometime)
South Jersey is flatter than Eastern Nebraska
Eagles will let you fly with them
Practicing slow flight over Flemington, NJ in a smooth, strong wind- we hovered over the traffic circle & I felt like the Almighty let me use his easy chair for a while.
How much corn & soybeans we really produce
Whales off Cape May

Light planes are also a good way to get places:
Solberg to Ocean City, NJ- avoid the Parkway crawl
NJ to Pittsburgh & back in a day & had time to visit friends, and had sunday to ourselves
A weekend trip to Denver from Lincoln, NE- at our own pace

You are also in control of your own destiny in a way you never are on land (although sailing comes close)
 
Re: Most Memorable? Another Question for YOU

First flight in a small airplane when I was 14

First solo flight 14 years later

First flight with my very own airplane

Full moon rising over the Atlantic on a crystal clear night flight

Popping out of some slightly bumpy cumulus clouds into a "valley" of clouds
with the sun streaming in.
 
Re: Most Memorable? Another Question for YOU

Welcome to PoA Hawk, let me know where you are in NJ and someday i'll fly out there to Say high and show you 85A and if you read your other post you'll know why i Fly. YE Flights are a Great way to have Fun. I have added a coulage from our Special Needs Fly-in at CXY.
Dave G:blueplane:
 

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Re: Most Memorable? Another Question for YOU

Shipoke said:
Welcome to PoA Hawk, let me know where you are in NJ and someday i'll fly out there to Say high and show you 85A and if you read your other post you'll know why i Fly. YE Flights are a Great way to have Fun. I have added a coulage from our Special Needs Fly-in at CXY.
Dave G:blueplane:
Click to expand...

I live in mount laurel and my home airport it the flying w
 
Re: Most Memorable? Another Question for YOU

To me it represents freedom, which needs to be continually protected.

Breaking out of a 500' overcast at 1 a.m. with the runway lights directly in front of you.
 
Welcome Hawkeye. Contratulations on pursuing a great vocation or advocation. Flying is a wonderful thing and each persons definition of memorable will vary. Some may say thier first solo some may say as did steve breaking out of the goo at 500' and seeing the runway some may say and off airport landing and some may say their first flight with thier mother or father.

As long as you pursue your dream you will have MANY memorable flights not just one. I encourage you to ask lots of questions. Dont be embarassed if you don't know something just ask. Be Safe, Have fun, and Keep learning.

As for me my most memorable flight was the first time I took my family on an XC to Cape Cod.
 
HawkEye007 said:
I'm only a thirteen year old student pilot with about 6 hours of flight time. I was wondering what is your favorite memory of flying whether it is a stunt or a cross country flight or your first flight. Please vividly describe it.
Click to expand...

Wow Hawkeye, it's hard to pick just one. I've posted quite a few on the board here, but I picked one out of my old flight diary that I posted on the now-defunct "yellow board." So, here it is, complete with pictures:

--

Today I took my first "leaf flight." This is one of those wonderful experiences that is reserved for pilots and their friends, and one I'd only heard about before today. Rather than seeing only one tree or a small group of trees that have colorful leaves, you can see the beautiful painting created by the various colored trees scattered along the face of the earth. It's quite a sight!

This was only my second VFR flight in the latter half of this year, and my first solo flight since... Well, a LONG time ago. If I don't have a CFI with me, I like to take friends and family along for the ride, so I don't fly by myself much. It was certainly nice to not have the workload of IFR, and to be able to look out the windows!

I took off from runway 32 at about 4 PM. I began by turning to the southwest over Lake Mendota to get some shots of the capitol, then west over Middleton to get some pictures of home and of the new runway at Morey. There weren't a whole lot of great leaf views in this area, it's still mostly green.

DSCN0565.jpg


I turned North a bit west of Morey and got a traffic call. It's amazing how small an airplane looks from just a mile (or about 15 seconds head-on closure) away! I got a picture of the Cessna off my left wing, and continued on my way toward the Dells. I got some pictures at Devil's Lake. From there, I roughly followed the Wisconsin River up until I was abeam R-6904 and then headed towards Wausau. I got excellent service from Chicago Center and Minneapolis Center and got a couple of pics of other planes, including a Mesaba Saab 900 (MeSaaba? ;-) turboprop landing on runway 35 at CWA.

DSCN0583.jpg


The leaves were best right up in the Wausau area. Entire hillsides spackled with deep reds and bright oranges and yellows surrounded me. I clicked quite a few photos of those, and also of the company I work for. Finally I slid into the pattern for runway 30 at AUW to make it an "official" cross country (110nm).

DSCN0637.jpg


The folks at Wausau were very nice - It appears to be a family-owned operation and they have lots of historical info, model planes hanging from the ceiling, and good (if a bit old) facilities. Certainly a place I'd stop at again.

After chatting with them for a while, I took some pictures of N2159Q, my steed for the day. I got a great one with the plane silhouetted in the sun. Then, I flew off into the sunset. Well, almost... I took off on 300 and headed straight out. I tried to find a nearby corn maze, but I wasn't sure of the exact location so I curved back around to the south.

DSCN0631.jpg


My initial climb was to 3500... I wanted to let the sun set and then climb to see if I could get a second look at it. No such luck (What should I really expect, it was only a Warrior) but it was a spectacular sunset and I got lots of great photos.

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The return trip was pretty uneventful. Pilotage was a tad more difficult since the ground was now poorly lit, but the city lights weren't really coming on a whole lot yet and neither were the airport beacons. In fact, the first beacon I saw was Portage (though I did see the REILs at Wautoma) and that was when I was nearly home (read: it was dark enough that the city lights were on too...). So, I flew on the 175 radial from AUW until I could pick up Madison and ride V177. However, I decided to get some pictures of the capitol at night so I turned toward the west side.

The only "event" of the night was when I was headed towards the west side and noticed the lights were on at Camp Randall. I asked Approach about it and they said there was no TFR tonight. (The Badgers were in Columbus pounding the heck out of Ohio State, the lights were on for some high school games.)

Well, OK, there was one more event. The breaker popped on my landing light sometime during the approach. So, I got to do my first no-light landing since my private training a year and a half ago. It's a lot more difficult to do when you're expecting the light to be there (ie you don't see your CFI switch it off!) and you're almost on the ground before you realize it's gone. I flared a little high, added some power, and just flew down the runway a ways until I felt more stable and put her down. After clearing the runway I flipped the switch off, reset the breaker, and switched it back on and it worked fine. An interesting end to a very neat flight.

Totals: 107.4 tt, 44.9 XC PIC, 27.8 instrument (5.1 actual), 17.6 in the Arrow
 
My favorite flying memory is my first x-c with my wife. We left KJWN and flew to KSIK for supper. I still remember her asking, on the night return flight, what all those lights ahead were. When I said Nashville she couldn't believe she could see about 80 miles in front of us.

Most might not think much of the story but for me it is a memory I'll take to my grave. THAT'S what it's all about IMNSHO.
 
Could be...
...the acro ride in the Extra 300.
...the first flight in the first plane I owned. (Radio failure in IMC)
...my 18 state 12 day 42 hour cross country around the Western U.S.
...first flight with my dad and trying to "drive" with the yoke while taxiing.
...first volunteer medical flight
...but it's probably this one: http://www.pilotsofamerica.com/forum/showthread.php?t=16246
 
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