Ice blonde wrote:

Can you help with a few questions I have, having never been up in a
small aircraft and being scared of heights (well on tall buildings
anyway) But I do WANT to do this, don't get me wrong.

You are unlikely to experience fear of heights while flying a plane. I have read
that this is because you don't have anything visually connecting you to the
ground, as you do when looking over the side of a building.

Can you experience pressure problems in your ears similar to on a
commercial jet?

Perhaps a little. Light planes don't climb as rapidly as the jets, so the
pressure doesn't change as rapidly, so you probably won't have any problems. If
you have a cold or sinus problems at the time of the flight, you are more likely
to have problems in the air.

Is it best to go alone with just the instructor, or take a willing
victim to witness your trial?

Either is ok, but the person in the back seat should have a cast-iron stomach. A
first-timer (that's you) is likely to fly the aircraft less-than-smoothly, and
the back seat is behind the center of motion. It's an uncomfortable place to be
with a tyro at the controls. For best results, just go with the instructor.

Do they have sick bags?

No, but most of the offices sell them in the pilot supplies case. Buy one if you
think you need to, but you are unlikely to make yourself sick.

Do you get a parachute in case anything goes wrong?

No, but don't worry too much. It's unlikely that anything will go wrong, and the
instructor has been trained to handle emergencies.

And how addictive is flying really, I mean if I open my eyes and like
it?

It can be very addictive. One poster here (Jay Honeck) literally can't
understand how anyone wouldn't be willing to do nearly anything to be able to
keep flying. Other people go up once, say "that was nice", and never go again.
Most people are in the middle. You'll probably like it a great deal.

Have fun!

George Patterson
Give a person a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a person to
use the Internet and he won't bother you for weeks.