What finally prompted you to take flying lessons?

"EDR" wrote in message
...

Reading Rich Bach's book, "THE GIFT OF WINGS".
I had been skydiving for eight years and was tired of just going up and
down. I was 26, single, had the time, had the money, so I did it.

1) Model Airplanes in High School '70-74
2) Flight Simulator (I think it was SubLogic and/or eventually MSFS) '80-'83
3) A ride in the right seat of my brother's boss's company plane, a Baron
IIRC '84
4) PPL '84

Cheers,
John Clonts
Temple, Texas
N7NZ

EDR wrote:
Reading Rich Bach's book, "THE GIFT OF WINGS".
I had been skydiving for eight years and was tired of just going up and
down. I was 26, single, had the time, had the money, so I did it.

I turned 42 and realized that I had the disposable income available
thanks to my websites, and since the kids were fairly well grown I had
the time.
--
Jeff 'The Wizard of Draws' Bucchino

"Cartoons with a Touch of Magic"
http://www.wizardofdraws.com
http://www.cartoonclipart.com

Gene, you marry them young, eh?

"Gene Seibel" wrote in message
om...
My boss took me flying. Then my wife went to Girl Scout camp for 6
weeks and I needed something to do while she was away.
--
Gene Seibel
Hangar 131 - http://pad39a.com/gene/plane.html
Because I fly, I envy no one.



EDR wrote in message
...
Reading Rich Bach's book, "THE GIFT OF WINGS".
I had been skydiving for eight years and was tired of just going up and
down. I was 26, single, had the time, had the money, so I did it.

A 15 minute ride in an old radial engined airplane on Cape Cod on my 16th
birthday back in 1990. I loved every single second of it. A contributing
factor was one of my best friends getting his ticket. With lots of
part-time jobs, I was able to start lessons three years later, and by 20,
was a private pilot.

"Wizard of Draws" wrote in message
...
EDR wrote:
Reading Rich Bach's book, "THE GIFT OF WINGS".
I had been skydiving for eight years and was tired of just going up and
down. I was 26, single, had the time, had the money, so I did it.

I turned 42 and realized that I had the disposable income available
thanks to my websites, and since the kids were fairly well grown I had
the time.
--
Jeff 'The Wizard of Draws' Bucchino

"Cartoons with a Touch of Magic"
http://www.wizardofdraws.com
http://www.cartoonclipart.com

In 1968, I was a 24-year-old single engineer. One day at work, I was
invited to go flying with two co-workers and another young engineer
who was going up to maintain his night currency in a 182.
Originally, there had been somebody else scheduled, but he dropped out
at the last minute and the other guys happened to think of me. I was
thrilled. I even broke an engagement with my old college roommate,
who was in town for that night only.

It turned out that the pilot had an instructor's rating from
Switzerland and was thinking about getting his US rating -- but he
only wanted to teach engineers because he didn't want to have to
explain basic physics.

How much would a license cost, I wanted to know. I was surprised by
how reasonable it was and jumped at the chance. (C150s were $14/hr
wet. I don't remember what Jean-Francois' hourly rate was, but I
wound up getting my private for $800. I had my first lesson on April
13, soloed on June 13 and passed my checkride on September 13.)

Prior to that, I had always figured that flying was for people with
lots more disposable income than I had.

Don

"Don Tuite" wrote:
Prior to that, I had always figured that flying was for
people with lots more disposable income than I had.

I still think that, but it doesn't stop me.
--
Dan
C172RG at BFM
(remove pants to reply by email)

My friend and flying "mentor" (who was also a customer, now my partner)
had been telling me stories about his flying experiences even from when
he was training. While always enamored, I never thought I had the time or
money to do it.

One day we had to go to a meeting in the Philadelphia area (I live in NYC
area, between LGA & HPN, he lives at the Jersey Shore area). I didn't
want to drive, so I took the train and he picked me up in Trenton and we
drove the rest of the way in his car.

On the way back from the meeting, we wanted to "debrief" in the car, so
we planned for me to get dropped off at the train station near his house.
When we got nearby, though, he said, "Hey - what time is your train? Do
you want to check out my airport a minute - it's right nearby!"

Well, I had plenty of time, and thought it would be fun, so we did. As we
were there, one of the instructors was planning a flight to HPN with a
friend of his, and let me make it a discovery flight and tag along...
(Now that I am a pilot, I suspect this may have been questionably legal,
but at the time I didn't know better...)

We flew up over the Verrazano, up the Hudson River at 1500' (through the
Class B, but at the time I didn't know the difference.) and up over to
HPN. It was about 6pm in March of 2001 - just dark enough to have all the
lights of the city come on, but light enough that you could see
everything. It was a CAVU day, and the ride was amazing. I was completely
taken in. By the time we landed, I said, "I GOTTA DO THIS!"

The next day, I scheduled my intro flights at the two flight schools at
HPN, and started my training. In December 2001, I got my PPL. Last week I
got my IFR.

It was one of the best things I ever started!



EDR wrote in :


Reading Rich Bach's book, "THE GIFT OF WINGS".
I had been skydiving for eight years and was tired of just going up and
down. I was 26, single, had the time, had the money, so I did it.

I know a guy who's big into RC, and from his knowledge of aerodynamics and
manuevers, I would agree that the flying part is probably about the same.
Maybe even more liberal in RC since you can do some relatively scary
maneuvers with severely less risk.


But I suspect the view is a little better when you're inside the cockpit,
and your gut is twisting with the G's...


"Maule Driver" wrote in
m:

Model airplanes and destiny. My Dad was a RC hobbyist who loved the
electronics and the construction. Turned out I loved the sky and
airplanes. Turning 16 allowed me to play in the sky with airplanes that
I could actually get inside.

'Full Scale' flying just requires more formal training so I took 'full
scale' flying lessons.

I still don't see a clear dividing line between models and full size
a/c.
Same sky, same pilot, different a/c.

"Judah" wrote in message
...
I know a guy who's big into RC, and from his knowledge of aerodynamics and
manuevers, I would agree that the flying part is probably about the same.
Maybe even more liberal in RC since you can do some relatively scary
maneuvers with severely less risk.


But I suspect the view is a little better when you're inside the cockpit,
and your gut is twisting with the G's...

Most that fly both will tell you that RC is harder. Perspective and
feedback issues.
--
Jim in NC


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"Morgans"
I know a guy who's big into RC, and from his knowledge of aerodynamics
and
manuevers, I would agree that the flying part is probably about the
same.
Maybe even more liberal in RC since you can do some relatively scary
maneuvers with severely less risk.

But I suspect the view is a little better when you're inside the
cockpit,
and your gut is twisting with the G's...

Most that fly both will tell you that RC is harder. Perspective and
feedback issues.
--
I'd agree. And more demanding in terms of eyesight and reflexes