Who flies a plane?

toutbrun · April 2011

Someone here drives or has once drove a plane?

Mr Martini · April 2011

I haven't flown a plane, but if you have a question about airplanes or how they work one of us may be able to answer your question.

thesecretagent · April 2011

I was given a flying lesson for my birthday when I was in my early twenties. I followed it up with four more which I paid for, but they were expensive and time was difficult then. I took off and landed unaided on the third lesson. it was a Cessna 172. On the fifth lesson I took off and flew a circuit and landed unaided. It was surprisingly easy, but just a small part of flying. Knowing about how to keep it in the air is why it takes at least forty lessons to fly solo. I'd love to do it again, but it will have to wait until the kids leave home now! 8-)

Wilde · April 2011

I'm a PPL (UK) holder with 59 hours logged.

Regards,
Wilde -{

toutbrun · April 2011

Wilde wrote:

I'm a PPL (UK) holder with 59 hours logged.

Regards,
Wilde -{

I have ONE hour logged. I loved it. I'm jealous.

Wilde · April 2011

It's stupidly expensive here. Very affordable in most parts of the US, mainly due to the weather being good for most of the year.

In the UK it's only really worth it if you have aviation aspirations or are blessed with a healthy pocket-book and lots of free-time. It's great fun though.

Sell that Tom Ford tie of yours and buy some more flight-time!

Regards,
Wilde -{

SpectreBlofeld · April 2011

Got my Aviation merit badge in the Boy Scouts by going airborne with my uncle, a Navy pilot, who put me through the qualifications. Then I became affiliated with the Young Eagles program, which meant that I got to 'steer' in the co-pilot's seat as a child a dozen times or so (in the Young Eagles program, pilots take children up and 'get them interested' in flying).

Then, by happenstance, I found myself flying my boss's planes (yes, planes, he owns two). No taking off or landing, just circling around open airspace during 'test flights' while he fiddled with the new navigation systems I installed for him in both planes.

Why did I get this assignment? During my first month or so working for this millionaire in a minor position that consisted mostly of menial labor tasks, like mowing his lawn, I somehow mentioned that I'd installed my fair share of car stereos, so when he upgraded the stereo in his Range Rover, I was the guy - and it was easy enough; a simple wiring harness, stereo connectors, etc. So when it came time to install a new aviation GPS system in his personal jets, he again asked me if I could do it. I accepted the job, but was scared shitless. I had no idea what I was supposed to do.

It was a surreal experience - I went to the airport, to the private plane hangars, announced who I was and why I was there, and was told that I was expected - and was escorted out to a private jet that had already been pulled out of the hangar and prepped - given a pre-flight inspection, in expectation of my arrival - sitting there on the runway. So here I was, this kid that installed a few car stereos, walking across a tarmac, with planes taking off around me. A fold-out staircase is descended, and I climb on board, wondering what the hell I managed to get myself into. I felt like I had stumbled into a world I didn't belong to, and was going to fail spectacularly. Here I am, in the cockpit of a private jet, with a navigation unit clutched in my sweaty palms and the most basic of toolkits (a few screwdrivers and some wire-snips), wondering what the hell I was supposed to do.

To my immense relief when it turned out that the job was no more difficult than the typical car stereo. It was the same arrangement - the standard DIN or double DIN slot cutout in the dash; the same (more or less) accepted universal wiring color codes, etc. It took me an hour or so, but I was able to get the thing installed and running by the time by boss and his personal pilot showed up (which I wasn't expecting). Seems he was really excited about the upgrade and wanted to test it out immediately. I end up in the co-pilot's seat when the takeoff was negotiated with air traffic control, and I guess it amused him to offer me the controls. I can't stress this fact enough - this guy has thousands of people working for him, and I'm the kid who mowed his lawns and the like, and as far as I know, I'm the only employee that has flown his personal jets.

(the second install came later, pretty much the same story, and I flew that one too). The most incredible part was flying over my own house, and banking in a turn, so I could look down upon my own rooftop from the air. It was incredible.

That was nine years ago. Rather proud to say that my entry-level position as lawn-mowing, stereo-installing guy has turned into a career that has put me in me in cities across the United States, and that I've since been a passenger on those same planes, engaging in business ventures, as a guy wearing a suit, rather than as a scared kid in a t-shirt.

I'm not here to brag about how well my career is going (the day to day nonsense of which would bore most readers to death), but when the topic is raised asking whether anyone has ever 'driven a plane', it invokes memories about some key elements in my life.

Tokyo Matt · April 2011

SpectreBlofeld, brag away my good man.

That was a good short story. I like to hear of people doing well.

From lawn mowing to suited and booted in a private jet.

Can't say that it makes me wish I was you though.

I wish I was your boss.

Not that I want a plane.

I want you to mow my lawn.

toutbrun, nope, I don't fly a plane. I imagine everyone is wondering why are you asking?

toutbrun, surely you don't "drove" a plane. You "flewed" a plane innit!

jimmybondi · April 2011

@SpectreBlofeld
Very nice story indeed.

Never driven a plane myself - but quite a few Helicopters...

"You are now flying Remote Control Airways..."
"I trust you had a pleasant... fright."

SpectreBlofeld · April 2011

Tokyo Matt wrote:

I wish I was your boss.

Not that I want a plane.

I want you to mow my lawn.

If I consider a career change, you'll be the first to know

007DAN · April 2011

Tokyo Matt wrote:

toutbrun, surely you don't "drove" a plane. You "flewed" a plane innit!

That was laugh out loud funny. Well done, Tokyo Matt.

Got me a private pilots licence by the way, why do you ask?

thesecretagent · April 2011

When I was hanging out at the airfield quite a few people suggested doing an intensive course in the US. Many knew people who went to the southern states where the weather was good and conditions were clear. It worked out at half the price to do the forty or so hours of lessons, plus a few once passed. Then to transfer the qualification to UK licence. My daughter has recently started private school, and my boy's only eighteen months away from school, so unless there's a country that does it for free, I'll have to wait.

Gliding is a good alternative - I did a bit as a teen, but where I went it was very informal and you had to help out all day before getting a flight. Some flights only lasted five or six minutes, and although I later parachuted a lot in the army, I found the winch-launching of a glider really scary as a thirteen/fourteen year old.

Who flies a plane?

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