01/09 - You Only Live Once

01/09 - You Only Live Once - Why Waste It?

By Patrick Lofvenholm

What are your thoughts when you hear people talking about flying their own plane? “Those guys must be rich!” “Who can afford to fly with gas prices the way they are?” “I wish I could fly!”

Well, even if you don’t have these thoughts, you should still consider flying. There is no greater thrill than taking charge of an airplane, lifting off into the sky, leaving the earth below and getting to your destination quicker, and in a more exciting manner than in a ground-trapped vehicle, even if your destination is nowhere.

Flying can be very rewarding - not only for you, but also for your friends, family, and loved ones. What better way to go on a date than to fly somewhere for a meal with a romantic flight back? Flying allows us to escape the ground and feel a part of nature more so than any park visit. By flying, you can see the beauty of nature often hidden. Instead of hiking for days looking up at the tops of trees, you can look down and see thousands of trees in under an hour. Breathtaking sights await you as a pilot.

My parents are both private pilots, and although they have not actively flown for 25 years, they are pilots nonetheless. The benefit of having pilots as parents, or having parents who are at least interested in aviation, is that they do most of the hard work for you. They may have a plane, know people at the airport, or know whom to ask about flying. That is the biggest step in becoming a pilot.

The airport may seem like a scary place, especially the big commercial airports with airlines and big jets landing and taking off every few minutes. Small airports are much friendlier. The local, small airport will have many friendly folks that just like to tell stories (“hangar flying”) and like to listen to stories about flying. These are the folks to get to know.

If you are a little shy, you can talk to the people behind the desk at the local airport’s FBO (fixed-base operator). Ask the person behind the counter who you can talk to about flying. Usually the person behind the desk doesn’t consider his or her job as just another job; a job at the airport is a dream for any beginning pilot or people who just like aviation. They will talk to you about flying and point you in the right direction toward a flight school or flight instructor.

The best way to become a good pilot is to find a good instructor and flight school; not just any instructor, but an instructor that clicks with you. Trust me on this one; you want a good flight school that cares about you as a student and future pilot.

So now what do you do? You have found a flight instructor you like. Great! The next step is getting to know the flight syllabus. The instructor should already have one laid out for you. You can talk about your learning style with your instructor, who can fine-tune the syllabus to fit your needs. I found that although the ground school portion of training can be taken anytime, most of it will not make sense until you have done some flying. I took ground school and flew at the same time. Other people learn differently, and this is where that fine-tuning comes into play. Either way, when ready, your instructor will endorse your logbook granting you permission to take (and pass) the written exam.

As you progress through your flight training, you begin changing in ways you never imagined. Everywhere you go you look to watch the plane you hear above. You will find yourself reliving flights you have had, and you end up becoming totally fascinated by airplanes. It’s happened to a lot of us, including me. I can’t get enough planes. This all helps with your flight training.

Now you are beginning to take flight lessons, cover the ground school information, and are getting closer and closer to becoming your very own pilot. You know you have to solo first, and your flight instructor continues teaching you maneuvers and emergency procedures. When is he going to solo you? You might think you’re ready to solo; you want to do it now. But flight instructors have been there, too, and they will know when you are ready. Do not worry if it seems to take too long, you will eventually solo and you will ultimately get to fly by yourself and with passengers.

Your flight instructor will continue working with you on emergency procedures - the stuff that you hope you’ll never need to use, but that may someday save your life. You may get nervous when you feel the engine go to idle, but you will get used to it. As long as you do not panic when it happens, you can continue to fly the airplane; that is the most important thing in an emergency.

So you have soloed! That means you will begin making cross-country trips, flying to new airports, and seeing how similar they all are. These are the airports you will use when you become a pilot visiting friends an hour away or a whole day’s flight away. It is the time in between landing facilities that will be different on every flight.

Now you realize you are getting close to becoming a pilot. All the possibilities are closer than ever before—close enough that you can taste it. You need to keep your mind focused on flying. Your instructor will begin preparing you for your check ride. Everyone naturally gets nervous about the check ride. This is the first time you’ll be with the FAA (or designated) examiner, one who has the power to grant or deny your license to fly. This is a milestone and being a bit nervous is expected.

After the successful completion of the oral exam, the check ride will begin. Remember, the FAA examiner is merely along for the ride. He will want to see you fly to required FAA standards. He will tell you how he performs his check ride flight, what maneuver he will ask you to perform or what he will do, and you need to respond. This is all not a big cause for concern. Your examiner may say: “Put these foggles (which limit your vision to only the instruments) on, now follow this radial from this VOR station, climb to this altitude and turn to this heading.” Then he may take off the foggles and tell you to perform turns around a point or S‐turns. These are all maneuvers you have already practiced; now you just need to be on top of it, performing them with precision. After the flight, the examiner will tell you to land, and tell you if you have passed or not. If you did not pass, the examiner will tell you what to work on, when he will examine your flight skills again, and tell you some other tips or pointers. If you passed‐CONGRATULATIONS!

You have just joined the ranks of a very select club. Less than one-tenth of one percent of US citizens are pilots! But remember, getting your license is really getting your license to learn, so do not let your skills get dull. Continue testing yourself little by little as you fly.

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