OK, what was the first plane where you sat in the pilot's seat?

Hmmm... trying to remember. I know I sat in the pilot's seat of an Apache Helicopter when the ROTC brought one to our campus in college. But, the first plane I sat in and piloted from the left seat was a C-172 N756AW in 2004.
 
I think the first was a UH-1 on my high school grounds for career day, though 1) I don't remember if I actually got in the pilot's seat and b) a Huey isn't a plane. After that, it was probably a Beech Sundowner whose tail number has been lost to history on an intro ride.
 
Mine was a Grumman AA5A Travler at Donegal Springs Airpark, did all my lessons in it and got PPL.
Dave G
 
Apollo capsule - my uncle was an engineer on the program and sneaked me in (at 5 I guess I wasn't considered a security risk).

As an adult, my first lesson was in.... N5537J, a TB-9 Tampico. I remember how I thought it was a big airplane when I first did the preflight.
 
DC-3 at New Bedford Airport in Massachusetts. I think I was six years old. It's probably still flying. Now I only act like I'm six years old.
 
It was some kind of old airliner at Newark airport where we went on a class trip in first grade. I think somebody's father was a pilot for that airline. Can you imagine "security" allowing that these days? Nowadays they come to places like our hangar where rugrats are still welcome.
 
T6...Real surplus store(not one of these fake ones they have now) had tanks, bomb sights, ejection seats, DUKs, (if it was surplus, they had it), and a T6 in their inventory. They even had a periscope from a sub. The T6 was complete sans engine(didn't matter to us). Used to go play tank driver, fighter pilot, dive bomber attacking carriers at Midway, strafing tanks at the Battle of the Bulge, and all kinds of good stuff. Audie Murphy in "To Hell and Back" gave us all kinds of ideas. Great fun for a 12 year old kids.
 
ME 262.




I wish! Just kidding. It was a Cessna 152 during my first flying lesson. I couldn't beleive the instructor had me taxi, takeoff and fly that thing, with his help of course. Strange, but great feeling.
 
Noah Werka said:
T6...Real surplus store(not one of these fake ones they have now) had tanks, bomb sights, ejection seats, DUKs, (if it was surplus, they had it), and a T6 in their inventory. They even had a periscope from a sub. The T6 was complete sans engine(didn't matter to us). Used to go play tank driver, fighter pilot, dive bomber attacking carriers at Midway, strafing tanks at the Battle of the Bulge, and all kinds of good stuff. Audie Murphy in "To Hell and Back" gave us all kinds of ideas. Great fun for a 12 year old kids.
Click to expand...

Ah, fond memories of surplus stores. Springfields, Mausers, Carcanos etc.. If I knew then what I know now....
 
A-9 Callair, Stearman, Maul, Kolb Twinstar. Those were the ones that I can remember. Not sure which one was first. I probably have more time in the Kolb than the other three combined.
 
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PA-38; my "discovery flight" out of Blairstown, NJ, about 14 years ago.

Prior to that I'd only taken a quick ride in a Saratoga in the right seat, and didn't manipulate the controls ... that was the day I caught the bug. :D
 
I believe that the first left seat that I set in would have been my grandfather's Twin Bonanza. It could have been a T-50 Bobcat too, a crop duster on the field had a bunch of them sitting there. I spent hours playing in those old airplanes.

Kevin
 
An F-15, back in jr high in the mid 70's. It helped that my neighbor flew it for the Air Force. He DID tell me not to push any buttons or pull on anything with black/yellow stripes.
 
My first plane in the seat was an A-10 at the old Richard Gebauer airshow (Pre-9/11). Have a really dorky pic somewhere of it! :p First plane actually flying was a 172.
 
First time in the pilot's seat was an F80 Shooting Star, but it wasn't going anywhere.

First time in the right seat was a DeHavilland Beaver on floats up in Manitoba back in 1980. That was pretty cool.

First real left seat pilot experience was a 172 on my "discovery" flight.
 
B-36 Chanute AFB!
B-52's and C-141's
First one I taxied was a 141 - took 30 days of my freedom, but it was worth it. Cessna 150 was the first one I ever flew, even though I felt the wing bolts were way too small, ... after working on those somewhat larger planes!!
 
Cessna 182P N747JB, it was my dad's first airplane and I wish I had pictures of it then. We have a few taken later on, but I'd like to have some from when it was new. :D
 
Sit down in a pilot's seat - Sukhoi Su-27 (it could be an S model, I don't recall) in 1993.

Sit down for the purpose of flight - Piper PA-28 Cherokee in 2010.
 
First plane I remember sitting in was a B-25. Not an airshow but actually a private airplane. The owner was a retired AF general and probably flew B-25 in the big war. This was in 1964, and I was 5 years old.
 
Wow, what a necropost!

My first was an old rotten unairworthy warbird at KTOA, in the 70s. No idea what it was. Must have been 9 or 10. Made for good playtime.

The first working one was at a similar time, on the ground, in a 707, at KLAX. Western Airlines to KSFO. Did a lot of those trips around then.

The first one in the air was much more recent, Jan 2011 in a 172.
 
I'm pretty sure it was a 727 when I was about 5 or 6 years old. I didn't log it.

The first one I sat in for the purpose of flying it (not including ultralights) was a J3. I did log it.

-Rich
 
This one:
15069093.jpg
 
Left seat of a US Air DC-9 when I was 8. The FO turned the stick shaker on, and said it was a machine gun.
 
Eastern Airlines DC-9 - think I was five but can remember it like it was yesterday.
 
I know it's going to be hard to believe.... X-15 at 10 years old!
 
To early for me to remember, but knowing what my father worked on, I'd venture that it was a C-124 sometime between 1959-1961.

But my mom did tell me I got a cockpit tour of a MATS Super Connie in 1959 on our way to Japan. They had landed at Wake Island for fuel after leaving Hawaii.
 
A 1975 Cessna 150M. It was my first flight lesson. I was 36 years old at the time. My first flight in any kind of aircraft was a helicopter ride in Branson, MO when I was 15.
 
United 747SP. I got to walk down on the ramp under it too. I think I was 7 or 8.
 
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