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Hello, CR4! It's tinypilot18 here. I'm a 19-year old student
at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), where I'm studying Industrial and
Management Engineering. I'm also a pilot. This is my first blog entry, so I'll
start by writing about how I began flying. I'll also discuss how I became
interested in flying, and describe the steps I took to obtain a pilot's
license. In future blog entries, I'll probably delve into some AOPA and FAA
articles and give my take on a few pilot issues.
Getting Started
I decided to pursue flight lessons because I'd always had an
interest in aviation, especially military aviation. My father was a pilot
during the Vietnam War. As a child, I had paintings of various World War II aircraft
in my bedroom at my parents' house. I'd also flown in a 1942 T-6 Texan, which was an Army training aircraft.
Aside from my flight in the T-6, I'd never been on an airplane
before - not even a commercial aircraft. But this made me even more anxious to
get in the air. I wanted to serve in the Air Force as a pilot, and had been in
the ROTC program for almost 2 years. Then I found out that, due to my height,
there was no way I could fly planes for the U.S. military. So I left the ROTC
program but still considered to pursue civilian flying - and love it.
I really got into flying when I attended a course called
"ground school." This is where you learn all of the written aspects of flying from
a book- everything from rules and regulations to navigation, and even some of
the technical aspects of flying. Ground school also prepares you for one of the
three tests - the written exam - that you must pass in order to obtain a
private pilot' license.
Scheduling Flights
After I passed my written exam just a month before I turned
17, I started flying. As many of you know, flying can be quite a burden on your
wallet. So I started flying only once a week, something I don't recommend. Let
me explain why.
When booking a flight schedule at even a moderately-used
airport, you need to book two flights - even if you only plan on flying once. If
bad weather or a scheduling conflict occurs, you can fly on the second day that
you booked. If there is no conflict, then just cancel the second flight. In most
cases, as long as is the cancellation is made within 24 hours, there's no
additional charge.
Sometimes it takes weeks to book a simple 2-hour flight. If
you don't reserve two timeslots in advance, you might not be able to book
another spot if a conflict arises. In other words, you won't be able to fly. Unfortunately,
my lack of knowledge about scheduling flights reduced my already low flight
times even more.
Choosing a Flight
Instructor
My flight schedule was also affected by my flight
instructor's unavailability. I had chosen to fly with the same instructor who had
taught my ground school, but this wasn't the best decision. Because of his personal
and professional difficulties, I could go 2 weeks without a lesson. My flight
instructor also canceled lessons for no real reason, and was sometimes unable to
give me his full attention during the lessons that we did have.
After almost 6 months and 10 flight hours later, I found a
new instructor. He older and more professional, but still had his flaws. Because
of them, my flight hours were extended well beyond what they needed to be for a
pilot's license. With the economic recession, fewer people could afford flight
lessons. So my new flight instructor responded by keeping everyone he was
teaching for as long as possible -even at their own financial burden.
But in the end everything worked out well. I soloed a week
after my 18th birthday and was licensed 9 months later. And I still
enjoy flying today!
Next Entry:
Learning to Fly: Ground School
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Re: Learning to Fly
