Hello everyone. This is my first post here, and I am not sure if its in the right place, so feel free to move it to the proper forum if needed.
I have wanted to fly since I was a kid. I live about 1 mile south of a pretty active Gliderport (www.chilhowee.com) and have watched sailplanes and light aircraft all my life from the ground. With my job, I do get to travel occasionally on commercial airlines, and even though I'm stuck in the back of the plane in a seat thats barely wide enough, looking out a tiny window, I still love it simply because I am getting to fly.
I have never been fortunate enough to have the cash to learn how to fly during my young adult life, but things have gotten better recently. I have went back to college to finish my Bachelors, and I am expected to graduate in the Fall of this year. For my graduation present, my wife and I are going to spring for flight lessons for myself. I am in my early 30's now, and am finally more stable in income to be able to afford it (after college of course). Recently, she found a pretty awesome coupon on Groupon for an "Introductory lesson" at a local airport. She bought it as a surprise for me, and I went for the lesson last week.
I absolutely loved it! The instructor was awesome, and really seemed like he love training folks to fly. I had talked to him over the phone before the flight for a bit, and told him I was really nervous and excited about it, and gave him my story. When I got to airport, he told me that he wanted to maximize the flight time we had, so he already had the plane pre-flighted and ready to go. Within 5 minutes of a little paperwork, I was sitting in the left seat of the Cessna 172, and starting the engine.
Heres the best part. He walked me through the whole checklist, and let me perform (with guidance of course) the entire procedure from starting the plane, to taxi, and pre-flight runup and the end of the taxi way. As we turned onto the runway, all I heard was him saying look straight out the nose, and give it full throttle easily. The next thing I realize is that we are going down the runway, and he is talking me through the whole take-off, and I am flying the plane. Once we got to around 3000 feet, he tells me to level off, and goes through some really basic stuff. We did a few very easy turns and spent about an hour in the sky. The whole time, he had his hands off the controls and was letting me control the plane. Then we went back to land, which was the exciting part. He kept a very light touch on the yoke, and walked me all the way to landing the plane!!!
Now, I know this is a long story just to get some questions, but I wanted to first express my appreciation as a new, and very nervous person to all the instructors who are as awesome as mine was. I wanted to say how important it was for me to experience the whole entire process, from starting to landing, to shutdown. Getting to do those things, even with close guidance, really answered alot of questions I have worried about over the years. Stuff like, "Will I really be able to land a plane" and "Will I be able to handle making turns and take-off?". When I exited the aircraft, I felt like I had really accomplished alot, and I really felt like I could actually learn to fly!
After talking with the instructor and telling him of my school and schedule situation, he said it would be best to wait till after graduation so I could focus 100% on flying and ground school. I can appreciate that. He suggested flying about 3 days a week to keep my memory fresh until it becomes engrained.
So, now my questions...
1. Right now I am still attending school. I will be taking one night class in the summer, and a few in the fall. I am graduating in December. I can't stop thinking about flying now!!! Its been over a week, and every day I just want to take lessons! So, what can I do in the meantime to prepare for my upcoming lessons?
2. Is there anything I should purchase ahead of time? Headsets? Flight bag? Any other gear?
3. Are there any type of grants or scholarships to help pay for the cost of training? My instructor said it could be between $7000 and $9000 depending on the student and schedules.
4. They use a computer based, online training and testing for the ground school. Any thoughts or comments from current instructors on this?
Thanks for reading my long-winded post and any answers provided. At this point, I am just excited to begin lessons, and a little overwhelmed.
I have wanted to fly since I was a kid. I live about 1 mile south of a pretty active Gliderport (www.chilhowee.com) and have watched sailplanes and light aircraft all my life from the ground. With my job, I do get to travel occasionally on commercial airlines, and even though I'm stuck in the back of the plane in a seat thats barely wide enough, looking out a tiny window, I still love it simply because I am getting to fly.
I have never been fortunate enough to have the cash to learn how to fly during my young adult life, but things have gotten better recently. I have went back to college to finish my Bachelors, and I am expected to graduate in the Fall of this year. For my graduation present, my wife and I are going to spring for flight lessons for myself. I am in my early 30's now, and am finally more stable in income to be able to afford it (after college of course). Recently, she found a pretty awesome coupon on Groupon for an "Introductory lesson" at a local airport. She bought it as a surprise for me, and I went for the lesson last week.
I absolutely loved it! The instructor was awesome, and really seemed like he love training folks to fly. I had talked to him over the phone before the flight for a bit, and told him I was really nervous and excited about it, and gave him my story. When I got to airport, he told me that he wanted to maximize the flight time we had, so he already had the plane pre-flighted and ready to go. Within 5 minutes of a little paperwork, I was sitting in the left seat of the Cessna 172, and starting the engine.
Heres the best part. He walked me through the whole checklist, and let me perform (with guidance of course) the entire procedure from starting the plane, to taxi, and pre-flight runup and the end of the taxi way. As we turned onto the runway, all I heard was him saying look straight out the nose, and give it full throttle easily. The next thing I realize is that we are going down the runway, and he is talking me through the whole take-off, and I am flying the plane. Once we got to around 3000 feet, he tells me to level off, and goes through some really basic stuff. We did a few very easy turns and spent about an hour in the sky. The whole time, he had his hands off the controls and was letting me control the plane. Then we went back to land, which was the exciting part. He kept a very light touch on the yoke, and walked me all the way to landing the plane!!!
Now, I know this is a long story just to get some questions, but I wanted to first express my appreciation as a new, and very nervous person to all the instructors who are as awesome as mine was. I wanted to say how important it was for me to experience the whole entire process, from starting to landing, to shutdown. Getting to do those things, even with close guidance, really answered alot of questions I have worried about over the years. Stuff like, "Will I really be able to land a plane" and "Will I be able to handle making turns and take-off?". When I exited the aircraft, I felt like I had really accomplished alot, and I really felt like I could actually learn to fly!
After talking with the instructor and telling him of my school and schedule situation, he said it would be best to wait till after graduation so I could focus 100% on flying and ground school. I can appreciate that. He suggested flying about 3 days a week to keep my memory fresh until it becomes engrained.
So, now my questions...
1. Right now I am still attending school. I will be taking one night class in the summer, and a few in the fall. I am graduating in December. I can't stop thinking about flying now!!! Its been over a week, and every day I just want to take lessons! So, what can I do in the meantime to prepare for my upcoming lessons?
2. Is there anything I should purchase ahead of time? Headsets? Flight bag? Any other gear?
3. Are there any type of grants or scholarships to help pay for the cost of training? My instructor said it could be between $7000 and $9000 depending on the student and schedules.
4. They use a computer based, online training and testing for the ground school. Any thoughts or comments from current instructors on this?
Thanks for reading my long-winded post and any answers provided. At this point, I am just excited to begin lessons, and a little overwhelmed.