Thread: Flying a plane - my first flight lesson

Hey guys-

So I just got done my first ever flight lesson. My brother bought me an hour lesson in a small diamond 20 for my birthday- great gift. This was only the second time I'd been in a small plane (I jumped out of the other I was in!! Skydiving of course!). And I have to say, it was exhilarating, fun, and very fulfilling. I was not as nervous as I'd though I'd be, and my instructor let me do about 90 to 95% of the flying. I 'helped' him take off, I flew pretty much the whole time in the air, then he took over the controls at about 50 ft after I approached the runway. Needless to say, i was not expecting to fly that much by myself, it was a great surprise!!!

I really only did this as a one time thing, but after realizing how much fun it is, I may look into getting my license in the distant future (when I have more money, hopefully millions ). So has anyone else been flying and gotten hooked? Or any one and dones? I must say, it is fun stuff!!!

I used to fly with a friend many many years ago and he taught me. Though I enjoyed it immensely I never took formal lessons. It was too expensive and my feeling now hasn't changed that it's even more expensive unless you go very Light Sport and then you are really limited and once you get your license either buying or renting is too expensive for me.

I've been lucky in that on and off I've been able to get behind the controls through work however I must confine myself these days to computer flying. I know it's nowhere near the same but it can be surprisingly realistic in many ways.

Yea, the price is really the killer. If it was less expensive, I'd be all over it. My instructor today told me by the time I have my license, it'd be about $7500 - much too rich for me!! But it is a thrill, after doing it, everyone should experience it at least once. I felt less scared flying that than I often do in passenger airliners!! I think having control of the plane is a big part of that obviously.

If you really want to get a certificate here's an idea of what you need to try to do. Shop around and find a NEWLY rated flight instructor. One that has yet to have a student get his certificate. Make a deal with him as he is more interested in getting a few students under his belt than making a lot of $$. You pay the rent on the plane and he basically donates his time or sells it at a reduced rate. Most of those guys are simply instructing to add hours to their logbooks so they can go BIG time and fly heavies.

Help one out.

Ahhhh, working the system Wullie!!! I like it! Thanks for the tip!!

I got my ticket in 29 days. I had time to fly every day that the weather permitted, pretty much unlimited access to a plane, and an instructor in the shape that I described.

I also had quite a bit of flight time before I got my "official" training, so I was a bit ahead of the curve. The reason I had stick time was that I helped run an aircraft repair shop. A buddy of mine and I fixed old beat up "tube and rag" stuff. We also built experimental planes for guys with money and no skill or no time to build their own.

I learned to fly in a Piper Colt. It was an UGLY "nose dragger" with no flaps, and handle for the brakes. It didn't have differential braking and could get interesting on the ground. It flew great as all "short wing" Pipers do. It was a lot of fun in spite being ugly.

You might also shop around and find an older plane that will rent for less per hour than a new, fancy-schmancy plane with a lot of bells and whistles, and BIG note to pay off for the owner.

An even better idea is, a lot of smaller flight schools have gone under. Get one of those guys as long as he still retained his permits and ratings of course and he might be willing to do it as a private student. of course the trick would be getting a rental center to rent you a plane IF they knew what your real intention was.

I used to work at a small airport in IL and always wanted to get my license but just never had the cash

Originally Posted by toadq5

Yea, the price is really the killer. If it was less expensive, I'd be all over it. My instructor today told me by the time I have my license, it'd be about $7500 - much too rich for me!! But it is a thrill, after doing it, everyone should experience it at least once. I felt less scared flying that than I often do in passenger airliners!! I think having control of the plane is a big part of that obviously.

Wow that's about double from where I worked!!

Well congrats on getting to play around in the skies! It really is a lot of fun. Average cost if you're only flying 1-3 times a week is $7-10k, so the number he gave you is spot on if you do your check ride as soon as you've logged your 40hrs. I thing on average most people take 50-60 hrs before finishing out.

I got about halfway to mine this past winter, but work got in the way. I haven't been back up since. We were using a tb-9 Tampico, but they also have a da-20 like the plane you flew in.