The allure of the skies beckons wannabe pilots.

They just want to fly
The allure of the skies beckons wannabe pilots.


By George McLaren

March 8, 2005


Many of us stay glued to earth and are quite content about that. If we
have to take to the skies, we're glad somebody else is at the controls.

But pilots know the special feeling they get when their planes rumble
down the runway, one second on the ground, the next second pulling up,
up, up.

"That moment when the ground falls away from you, for a pilot, that's
the magic. . . . it never gets old," said Tim Tormey, 44, a
Far-Southside transmission specialist who took up flying four years
ago.

"Like warm cookies and cold milk, it's good when you're 5, and it's
good when you're 45. It never stops being magic."

A growing number of pilot wannabes are taking to the skies, according
to statistics from the Federal Aviation Administration.

The number of student pilots was up 1.5 percent in 2003, the most
recent numbers available. Nationally, there are more than 87,000
students and 241,000 private pilots, according to the FAA.

Local flight instructors say students range from teenagers to people in
their 70s.

A large number are baby boomers, looking for a hobby or a way to ease
business travel -- and with the $5,000 or more of disposable income
necessary to get licensed. Boomers like Tormey.

He was sitting on his couch watching TV one day when an ad for a flying
program came on. He went to a small airport at Greenwood and signed up
for an introductory flight.

It was a windy day, and the small plane began bouncing around as soon
as it left the ground. The instructor didn't seem to notice.

"After we first took off, I was convinced, in a few moments, this is
how I was going to die," Tormey recalled. "He wasn't getting too
excited about it so I figured, if he wasn't too concerned, then I
wouldn't be. And if he jumped out, I was going with him."

After his initial fears subsided, Tormey was hooked.

"It was like, man, I'm going to spend a lot of money on this."

And he did: $7,000 for all of the training and testing over a year and
a half before he got his pilot's license. Plane rental, flight
instruction and fuel alone cost up to $130 an hour.

It's a pricey hobby, but training expenses are unavoidable. The FAA
requires 40 hours of flight time before a pilot can be licensed, but
instructors say most students require at least 45 to 50 hours of time
in the air.

Pilots don't have to wait that long to fly by themselves, however. All
must "solo" to get a license, and often do so halfway through their
training.

Aaron Morrow, 30, soloed after about 25 hours of flight time. That was
just three years ago. He has more than 1,000 hours of flight time now,
and is a full-time flight instructor for Greenwood Aviation.

As a kid, Morrow flew with his dad, who was part owner of a small
plane. He thought about other jobs before realizing he could make a
career out of flying.

He hopes to end up working for an airline or a charter company.

"I like flight instruction, but I want to travel a little bit and fly
some different airplanes," Morrow said. "I'm single and I can pretty
much go anywhere."

Heather Colledge, 21, also got bitten by the bug at an early age. The
Warren Central High School graduate went to air shows with her family
and flew with an older brother.

Now, after graduating from Indiana State University with a degree in
aviation flight technology, she teaches students at Indy Aero at Mount
Comfort Airport, east of Indianapolis.


"Out here, it tends to be older people, people who have other careers
but have always wanted to fly and are doing it as a hobby," said
Colledge of her students.

Kurt Meyer, 49, a real-estate developer who lives in the Geist area,
said he became curious after hearing about a program called "Be A
Pilot." For $49, a curious passenger gets to sit in a plane with an
instructor and actually fly the thing.

"The guy said, 'You're going to take off and you're going to land.' I
said, 'Yeah, right,' " he recalled.

But Meyer did. And he continued into flight lessons, although he never
told his wife or friends what he was doing.

"I don't know why I did it like that," he said.

Surprised spouse

After getting his license in about nine months, he took wife Cathy to
the airport, under the guise of looking at a friend's plane. He helped
her climb into the passenger seat.

"I walk around and get in the other side, fire it up. She's looking at
me like, 'What in the world are you doing?' " he said.

Cathy Meyer said she was shocked to find out her husband was a real
pilot -- but she sure enjoyed that first flight.

"It was a beautiful evening. The sun was just setting, the sky was
beautiful. It was a nice flight."

Since then, the couple have flown to other states and toured Indiana by
air.

Meyer also has found renting a small plane much more convenient for
business trips.

"It gives me the freedom to get places quicker when I want to get
there, and leave when I want to leave," he explained.

Meyer is not alone. Flying is growing in popularity because of the
ability to mix business and pleasure, said Drew Steketee, president of
"Be A Pilot," in Washington, D.C.

"Most pilots don't like to be characterized as a hobby (pilot) or an
amateur. Most everybody who flies make some use out of it, work or
vacation or family trips."

For non-pilots, there may be major safety concerns, since private
aircraft crashes seem to be common.

But FAA statistics show it's a safe pastime, Steketee said.

He acknowledged that there is an average of one fatal crash per day in
the U.S. among all private aircraft, but he said numbers have declined
in recent decades.

Accidents are relatively rare, and fatal crashes are highly unlikely,
he added.

Among student pilots, an FAA spokeswoman said, there have been 53 fatal
crashes in the past five years.

Risks are relatively low

But the FAA's Web site also cites statistics showing that more people
are killed each year in boat and train wrecks -- not to mention in cars
and on motorcycles -- than in private aircraft crashes.

Still, accidents can happen, even to the best of pilots.

Indianapolis pilot Martin Fall, 60, learned the hard way that even
longtime fliers can have rough landings.

Fall and his wife, Mary, were about to land at an airstrip in western
Indiana last summer when the engine on his home-built plane suddenly
conked out.

"We went through some treetops and smacked the ground," Fall said.
"I've got about 6,000 (flight) hours, and that's the first time I
scratched an airplane."

He and his wife both suffered broken backs, and the plane was seriously
damaged; he's hoping to restore it some day.

A couple of months after the accident, he was flying again.

"I've been around airplanes 44 years. Did you ever crash a car? Did you
drive again?" he said.

"Flying is just kind of a fraternity around here for all of us. The
freedom to go out."

Call Star reporter George McLaren at (317) 444-6232.

http://www2.indystar.com/articles/3/...-6323-047.html

Flight instructor Heather Colledge, a recent Indiana State University
graduate, instructs student pilot Don Hardman as he flies a four-seat
Cessna. -- Sam Riche / The Star

Take to the sky
=B7 How to get started: Sign up for a $49 introductory flight through
the Be A Pilot program (www.beapilot.com).
=B7 Cost: Expect to pay about $5,000 for the flight lessons and plane
rentals required to get a private pilot's license, although it can be
done on a pay-as-you-go basis.
=B7 How long: It varies widely depending on how much free time a
student pilot has, but most people take several months.
=B7 Requirements: To get a private pilot's license, a prospective flyer
must be at least 17 years old and pass a medical exam (corrected vision
is generally acceptable). Flight requirements include a minimum of 40
hours of flying, though most new pilots require more, plus flight and
ground testing and a lengthy solo flight.
=B7 Whe There are dozens of flight schools in Indiana, including
those at Indianapolis Metropolitan Airport in Fishers, Eagle Creek
Airpark, Mount Comfort Airport and Greenwood Municipal Airport. To find
an airport offering flight lessons, go to www.beapilot.com.
Source: Be A Pilot