A Facepuncher Learns to Fly - General

Pics of your instructor :q: [QUOTE=Zeraux;19464239]My father can fly a small plane. I remember flying it when I was small. It's not hard to simply fly (except ofcourse taking care of all the little things), but it looks damn hard to land and takeoff. That's allways when I crash when playing Flight Simulator games. I hope it doesn't go so bad for you.[/QUOTE] For some reason I read that in Kim Jong IV's voice.

Good for you i plan on learning for to fly and get my license someday

[QUOTE=Luleychan;19480210]I would tell you to do a barrel roll, but I'm not sure if its a meme or not. :saddowns:[/QUOTE] I asked my instructor if I could do a barrel roll by my second lesson. The answer was disappointing. Fuel is typically stored in the wings of an aircraft, and high wing aircraft generally deliver that fuel using gravity alone - unlike mid or low wing planes, which use mechanical or electrical pumps to deliver fuel. This means that most high wing aircraft will stop pumping fuel when inverted. Which means your engine putters out. If your engine doesn't want to start again, you may be landing a bit sooner than the airfield. [B]edited[/B] Though you [I]can[/I] do some pretty wicked spins in a Cessna.

sweet perth what suburb you located in

Awesome, I wanna join the RAF I wont if they throw out the Tornado GR.4 To hell with the F.3, GR.4 is awesome.[IMG]http://www.mod.uk/NR/rdonlyres/9CB7FE66-4BF4-4820-BAEA-AF5A81BE1703/0/GR4.jpg[/IMG]

Flying thread needs bompor :)

There are actually a lot of FP pilots, I remember a thread from last year. Not one of them, myself though. If I ever get the money I'll get a pilots license one day. Grats, by the way!

Hello again, flying fans! Well I today was the supposed to be the day of my second flying lesson, but as I was making my toast in the morning one other instructor called (we have two) telling me they had some rostering issues so my lesson got canceled. I apologize that there won't be a proper update today but tomorrow's lesson is still on (hopefully), so today I shall give you a brief history of the beginning powered flight. Most people would start at 1903, with the Wright Brothers, but I'm not like most people so I'm going to go bit further back. I'm going to start in the 19th century with a bloke by the name of George Cayley. Old Georgie-boy is important because he's considered the first person to look at aerodynamics in a scientific way. This lead him to establish some important things for aviation; namely the four forces that act on an aeroplane in flight: lift, drag, weight and thrust. He also invented the cambered aerofoil (the shape of a wing) and discovered that having a low centre of gravity is important in stable flight. It's worth noting that Cayley also invented a bunch of other things like seatbelts and automatic railway crossing signals. Later in the 19th century came a German bloke called Otto. Otto Lilienthal to be precise. While there were a few gliding pioneers in the 19th century I'm going to focus on Lilienthal because was perhaps the most important. Lilienthal followed Cayley in using his methodical, scientific approach to experimentation. This paid off because Otto made several successful glider flights. Perhaps his most important achievement was to make the world realise that powered flight was indeed possible. And then, of course, came the Wright brothers. We all know their story, but what many don't know is that the brothers invented the method of controlling an aeroplane in three axes, a method that continues to this day. The large amount of detailed wind tunnel tests was also fundamental to their success. And that was how powered flight was born. Later on I'll probably continue this history lesson with things such as the work of the NACA (predecessor to NASA), the advent of the jet engine and supersonic flight etc. I may also be changing flying school if my current one can't get their act together.

I've flown an ultralight before (it belonged to family, you legally need a license to fly them in Canada so don't tell anyone) and had a hell of a time. I'd love to learn to fly something larger. What kind of careers are there in this, outside of military jobs or just flying jumbos?

I'm considering becoming a pilot, but I am still tossing up between that, a lawyer, graphic designer, or something else. Not sure whether I'd be a commercial pilot, or try the Air Force, I'm not sure about pay and job availability, but it is something I'd like to do.

[QUOTE=K1ngo64;19461978]Do a barrel roll.[/QUOTE] This is probably the most appropriate time to say this.

Lesson Two: Straight and Level Flight Flying in a straight line parallel to the surface of the earth sounds easy, and it probably is after several years of experience. However there is a bit involved and it's probably a good idea to get it right early. It's not just flying straight and level either, it's also achieving straight and level flight from climb/decent efficiently. I've said it before, but it's becoming apparent that keeping your eyes on reference points [b]outside[/b] the cockpit, as well as trimming to keep your arm getting tired. Because the four forces that act on a plane don't actually meet at the same place (Don't think about that too much for now, I'll explain in a later edition), changing them will make the nose pitch up or down. At some point you're going to have to change altitude, so now we learned how to go into level flight from a climb or dive. Here there are three things you have to adjust: Power, pitch and trim. It's important not to let the engine over rev, but you also don't want to loose too much speed. Balancing these two things is key to leveling off efficiently. When climbing your engine rpm will be raised to provide the extra power, and your nose will be high to provide the lift to climb. You'll probably be out trimmed to climb as well. To level out from a climb, you first bring back the throttle until you reach your cruising rpm. Then bring down the nose to your cruise attitude, i.e. you're flying level. Finally trim the plane, and if you you've done everything correctly, you should still be in straight and level flight even without your hand on the control column. Decent is almost the same, but the order in which we adjust the throttle and attitude is reversed. You don't want any power in a decent, you just let gravity work its magic. So, when pulling out of a decent you get on to the correct attitude first, then increase power. Trim is always last. Next my instructor demonstrated a fast and slow cruise, and cruise with flap. This was mainly to show the change in the the picture you see with different power settings- lots of land with a fast cruise, lots of sky with a slow/flap cruise. And that was today's lesson. The next one will be climb and decent, and then I have two more after that before I go to Melbourne for a week or so. Hopefully I should go solo (about 15 hours worth of flying) before I go back to tafe. I'll also keep up with the history/theory lessons for those of you who care.

Hopefully you get to solo at the bare minimum, but don't bank on it. It's definitely possible, but most people end up at about 25 hours of flight before they go up alone for the first time. It's the landings, man. Theoretically, it should only take two or three flights to learn how to land your aircraft, but landings hem people up more than anything else. It took me seven or eight flights to get my landings perfected (granted, I had a two month hiatus in the middle to be an exchange student). You've still got a [I]lot[/I] to cover before you're ready for your license- most of it outside the actual cockpit. If you're not enrolled in a ground course, then trust me, [I]take studying seriously[/I]. Take it upon yourself to study hard and often, as there is a metric fuckton of shit you'll need to know. It's all too easy to simply study for fifteen or twenty minutes a day and call it a night. You'll be ready to pass the check flight long before you're ready to pass the written test if you're not careful, and [I]that[/I] would suck- having the skill and know-how to fly, but not being able to. That's what hemmed me up, and prevented me from acquiring my license when I wanted it. Study, study, study. I would seriously recommend buying the following books, if you haven't already: Jeppeson's Private Pilot Manual Gleim Private Pilot FAA Knowledge Test Federal Aviation Regulations and Aeronautical Information Manual (FAR AIM) These three books will have nearly all the information necessary to effectively study for your written exam. Also, ask your instructor for a study packet for the oral exam, because there will be many questions which are not covered by your Gleim Private Pilot book. You won't have to learn how to fill out navigation charts until you start doing cross country flights, but ask him how to do weight and balance checks on the aircraft as ear;y as possible, so you can do it with your eyes closed once it comes time to do it for real.

I soloed at 10.9 hours, but my first instructor was fired for trying to do a barrel roll in the companies Cessna 150 (a plane you should not be doing aerobatics in). My point is I probably wasn't really ready. Now I have my private certificate and 82 hours TT. I'm not sure how it works in other countries, or even if anyone else cares about this, but the FAA issues certificates, not licenses. [editline]11:03AM[/editline] [QUOTE=SBD;19586951]To level out from a climb, you first bring back the throttle until you reach your cruising rpm. Then bring down the nose to your cruise attitude, i.e. you're flying level. Finally trim the plane, and if you you've done everything correctly, you should still be in straight and level flight even without your hand on the control column. [/QUOTE] As long as you don't over-rev keep the power up until you reach cruising speed. Then you'll be able to get the trim dialed in sooner. It's a trick I just learned that saves some time especially in low powered training aircraft, they take forever to get to cruise.

A friend of mine can fly, and he's 14. :v: Congratz anyway though.

Best of luck to you flying, but you wait until you get to stall and spin recoveries... THAT is where the fun really starts. I speak from expirience (looong ago) when I say don't eat onions or any kind of pasty before doing such.. [QUOTE=DrLuke;19464298]I fly glider dude, high five! That's me, my friend is flying, I am filming: [URL="http://www.facepunch.com/#"]View YouTUBE video[/URL] [URL]http://youtube.com/watch?v=6buRVFqmpD8[/URL] [/QUOTE] Glider pilot high five!

Nice man!Best wishes! Do some barrel rolls for us.Or make a FP logo in the sky! :v:

[QUOTE=Zeke129;19568485]I've flown an ultralight before (it belonged to family, you legally need a license to fly them in Canada so don't tell anyone) and had a hell of a time. I'd love to learn to fly something larger. What kind of careers are there in this, outside of military jobs or just flying jumbos?[/QUOTE] There are loads. Police helicopter pilot I know is quite rewarding, a friend of mine is a pilot for the police here in the UK and he loves it. Helicopter tours, aerial surveying etc, and also shuttle pilot is pretty cool (Island hopping in the Bahamas and the like). I also know of a guy who flies supplies to a remote British colony somewhere in Africa, across the Desert. He loves his job. And of course, flight instruction. Which I would HIGHLY recommend.

I'd love to learn how to fly. Got about 12 hours of flight time already though =D

On a related note, I'm taking an FAA ground course as part of my military training and passed the first exam with a 97%. I could very well graduate among the top three of the class- which would mean I could put in a serious application to fly this baby: [img]http://www.defense-update.com/images_new1/sky_warrior.jpg[/img]

It takes 6 months to get all the licences needed to be a comercial pilot. At a cost of about 60.000$ Then you need to log lots of flight hours and take a short lesson about airline specific protocols. Or join another academy that will train you to become an airline pilot for 20.000$-30.000$ more. Then if you want to be a airbus A380 pilot you'll need to take a lesson in multi turbojet propulsion and log a fuck load of hours in all kinds of conditions. But the pay is 250.000$ a year. Plus the bragging rights. :smug: You could start today and be an airline pilot in 1 and a half years. As opposed to 6 years in college/university paying rent and paying fees. Ending up without a job because most of them require experience. I say it's not that expensive as oposed to for example becoming a vet. It's just a whole load of money in little time. If i'm lucky, next year i'll learn how to fly. And hopefully I won't crash too soon or spend all the money on whores.

Climb and Decent Learning to climb and descend is particularly useful, as the ability to go up and down is mainly what separates planes from cars. That and propellers. Anyhoo, Today's lesson was about the different types of climbs and descents, and how things like flaps effect them. There are three ways a plane can climb. with a best rate of climb, with best angle of climb, and as a cruise climb. Best rate allows the plane to gain as much vertical distance as quickly as possible, and has a moderate nose-up attitude. Best angle allows the plane to gain height without much horizontal displacement, so it's useful for avoiding obstacles. A cruise climb is the fastest climb in terms of ground and airspeed. It's useful because it allows engine cooling to be maximised, and the nose-up attitude isn't as great as the other kinds of climb so visibility is still good. It's interesting to note that the aeroplane, like the rocket climbs on thrust, not excess lift produced by the wing. If you think about it this makes sense, because we know that lift is always produced perpendicular to the chord of the the wing, so if you pitch the nose up the climb, the lift vector will be pointing backwards. Sure there'll still be a vertical component, but a sizable chunk of your lift will actually be sucking you backwards. So to climb the engine has to work against this horizontal lift, drag and weight. Wind will effect what happens to your climb as well. Assuming you maintain a constant rate of climb, flying into the wind will increase the angle of climb while decreasing your horizontal speed and distance covered. Climbing with the wind will do the opposite. Like the various kinds of climbs, you can choose how to descend- power on or power off (there are few variations on these but they aren't important right now). The two are pretty self-explanatory, but to summarise briefly power off is what you would use if you wanted to save fuel or if you happened to be out of fuel, or you engine is otherwise out of action; a powered descent is what we normally use because it increases the range of the descent and it's more comfortable for passengers. Like the climb, the wind will play with your descent- descend with a head wind and your angle and speed drop and vice versa. Descending with flap will also make your descent steeper and slower. The lesson over, it was time to return to Jandakot. I managed to climb and cruise back all by myself, and as we approached the airfield my instructor asked me if I would like to land. At first I was apprehensive, but I figured if she thought I was ready I may as well give it a shot. So she talked me through it as we went over the airfield, and onto the final. Lowered flap to slow down, played with the throttle to get the right path, came over the runway, flared, and I was down. It felt really good, despite the fact that she was talking me through the whole way. She seemed pretty pleased with how I did, especially noting that we haven't even covered turns yet. There will be a slight change of plan for my following lessons, I will have one next week and then I'll be in Melbourne for a bit. So far I think I'm doing alright, I don't want to lull myself into over confidence, a folly that has ended the career, and indeed life, of many a pilot.

Hooray! You didn't crash! Awesome!

[QUOTE=SBD;19644512] It's interesting to note that the aeroplane, like the rocket climbs on thrust, not excess lift produced by the wing. If you think about it this makes sense,[/QUOTE] Does it? :D [QUOTE=SBD;19644512] It felt really good, despite the fact that she was talking me through the whole way. She seemed pretty pleased with how I did, especially noting that we haven't even covered turns yet. [/QUOTE] Awesome, first landing is fun. On Wednesday we had 15 knots gusting to 25 at 90 degrees to the runway heading. Maximum crosswind component for our plane in the POH is 15 knots. Those are the fun landings if you're into adrenaline, you come in with almost full rudder in, opposite to wind direction. Slips are really fun too.

[QUOTE=Erp;19474523]i wanna fly[/QUOTE] I can help, meet me on my roof.

i love flying but as far as i'm concerned [b]fuck[/b] civilian planes, i won't even bother getting a license unless i somehow obtain a warbird or at least somehow get a chance to fly one. don't want to fly a bus. plus you have to know all manners of extraneous bullshit. whatever happened to navigating using a map, compass, and stopwatch. fucking hell.

[QUOTE=rossmum;19659352]i love flying but as far as i'm concerned [B]fuck[/B] civilian planes, i won't even bother getting a license unless i somehow obtain a warbird or at least somehow get a chance to fly one. don't want to fly a bus. plus you have to know all manners of extraneous bullshit. whatever happened to navigating using a map, compass, and stopwatch. fucking hell.[/QUOTE] Tough cookies, If you want to fly you'll spend most of your time in a 'bus' whether you like it or not. You think even warbird owners fly their favorite crates every day? They're not exactly cheap to run, you know.

i wasn't born yesterday, i'm painfully aware of the costs and also of the amount of training it takes to fly one. in my book, though, one flight in a spitfire is worth a lifetime of relatively uneventful flying in something that (to me) looks ugly, is slow, and doesn't really do much worth note. yes, it does feel amazing to be in the air; yes, the earth does look pretty from above. but given the amount of money that goes towards a pilot's license, no way am i doing it for anything less than a warbird or other vintage plane. obviously you think otherwise, i'm not saying there's anything wrong with that; just that it's not my cup of tea. having a spitfire or mustang rocket over my head at 400mph brings tears to my eyes. watching footage of the first flight of the avro arrow makes me well up like you wouldn't believe. watching a cessna putter about the sky doesn't do it for me at all, i'm afraid.

Then just book a flight with one of those air adventure companies who fly Nanchangs or something, and save yourself the cost and boredom.

Hey, I'm a student pilot as well! Though I'm about 4 solo hours away from my private license. I would've had it by now, but I don't have the time/money to keep getting hours at college. My plan is to finish over maybe spring break, go fly banners at the beach (which pays a good $25-$35 an hour), that way I'll rack up money and hours, then maybe get an instructor rating and teach others to fly for their private license, then I'll have enough money and hours to work on my multi-engine and commercial ratings. Or I'll be stuck doing aerospace engineering and lots of physics and math. We'll see. Best of luck to you, man.