A Facepuncher Learns to Fly - General

Haha, there's more interest in aviation on Facepunch then I thought there would be. Flight instruction doesn't really appeal to me, I don't know why. I've started to think about what kind of work I'd be doing, in Perth we have everything from shark spotting to agricultre. Obviously things like agricultre flying needs ratings, but the work's there.

Heh, I'm doing Aerospace Engineering at a polytechnic (2nd year), but I never got the chance you did. :saddowns:

[QUOTE=SBD;19662485]Then just book a flight with one of those air adventure companies who fly Nanchangs or something, and save yourself the cost and boredom.[/QUOTE] i was thinking more along the lines of just buying a spitfire in the unlikely event i ever win the lottery :derp: those flights are also ridiculously expensive, and it's someone else doing the flying (some of the dogfight ones let you fly but i'm not sure if we have those out here, and in any case they still take over at times). it's kind of hard to explain, but for me, flying about in civvy planes (be it a cessna or an a380) is pretty routine by now. take-off and landing are kinda fun, but otherwise the only real appeal is looking at the view outside. on the other hand, i went to the alberta aviation museum this week and holy shit, you should've seen my eyes light up when i saw a beautifully-restored de havilland mosquito. better yet, they didn't have a barrier around it; you could walk all around it and under it and peer into the cockpit through the open hatch. being so close to one after so long felt fucking amazing because it's just such a special machine. little runabouts are common as fuck and a lot of them look more or less the same; the mosquito is just something incredibly special, same as any other warbird. for me, a lot of the magic of flying comes from the machine itself. come on, tell me this isn't fucking beautiful: [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TK6uNQoBAGY[/media]

Oh dear god we're evolving faster than little 11 year old christians that hate 4chan have anticipated.... At this rate.... Ve vill destroy 'im. Ubermensch should read this!

I want to fly a plane... :sigh: I would actually do it if it weren't so damn expensive. Aviation is the most expensive hobby out there.

[QUOTE=rossmum;19659352]plus you have to know all manners of extraneous bullshit. whatever happened to navigating using a map, compass, and stopwatch. fucking hell.[/QUOTE] Nothing, you [B]must[/B] learn dead reckoning navigation with CASA, they don't even recognise GPS.

[QUOTE=Big Dumb American;19623545]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][/QUOTE] Blind fish with wings?

[QUOTE=rossmum;19665037]i was thinking more along the lines of just buying a spitfire in the unlikely event i ever win the lottery :derp: those flights are also ridiculously expensive, and it's someone else doing the flying (some of the dogfight ones let you fly but i'm not sure if we have those out here, and in any case they still take over at times). it's kind of hard to explain, but for me, flying about in civvy planes (be it a cessna or an a380) is pretty routine by now. take-off and landing are kinda fun, but otherwise the only real appeal is looking at the view outside. on the other hand, i went to the alberta aviation museum this week and holy shit, you should've seen my eyes light up when i saw a beautifully-restored de havilland mosquito. better yet, they didn't have a barrier around it; you could walk all around it and under it and peer into the cockpit through the open hatch. being so close to one after so long felt fucking amazing because it's just such a special machine. little runabouts are common as fuck and a lot of them look more or less the same; the mosquito is just something incredibly special, same as any other warbird. for me, a lot of the magic of flying comes from the machine itself.[/QUOTE] You're awfully picky. But I know what you mean. If you're into performance and tricks, why not just buy an aerobatics plane? The Mudry Cap is a relatively inexpensive aerobatics platform, and allows you to pull off some crazy fun tricks. I plan to get one once I'm back in the civilian world. [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTh4XN6fE28&feature=related[/media] [QUOTE=evilweazel;19678115]Blind fish with wings?[/QUOTE] You're just jealous. I get to fly around robots with missiles.

[QUOTE=Big Dumb American;19679113] [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTh4XN6fE28&feature=related[/media] [/QUOTE] That guy makes that look so easy.

[QUOTE=Big Dumb American;19679113]You're awfully picky. But I know what you mean. If you're into performance and tricks, why not just buy an aerobatics plane? The Mudry Cap is a relatively inexpensive aerobatics platform, and allows you to pull off some crazy fun tricks. I plan to get one once I'm back in the civilian world.[/QUOTE] Yeah, you want all the benefits of a long, successful and probably lucky career in avation without actually having to put in any work. Edit: Hell, even a two-stroke kit aerobatic plane would be wicked fun. Edit Edit: Look, I can see what you're getting at. God knows I damn near tear up every time I hear a Battle of Britain vet talk about his experiences, and yes, there is something magical about warbirds. A couple of months ago I got to see a Harvard in action. The sight of that great old kite with her big thumping radial was awesome (in the proper sense of the word). Yes, I would love nothing more then get behind the stick of something like that Harvard, or perhaps even a Spit if I ever got the chance; but I know that to get a chance at that I'd need to work for many years, because it's not a cheap goal nor is it something I could attempt without anything less a shitload of experience in the aviation game. So you may not always enjoy sitting behind the yoke of a 172 for hours on end, get used to it because it's the only way to achieve your goal.

Say I wanted to just buy a good section of land out in the country one day and just fly my ultralight whenever. 1: Is it legal? 2: How much money am I looking at? 3: If it's illegal, how and where could I fly it legally?

Throw yourself at the ground and miss.

[QUOTE=SBD;19678105]Nothing, you [B]must[/B] learn dead reckoning navigation with CASA, they don't even recognise GPS.[/QUOTE] oh, that's cool then. nothing angers me more than seeing a warbird with half the instrument panel ripped out and refitted with modern bullshit. [QUOTE=Big Dumb American;19679113]You're awfully picky. But I know what you mean. If you're into performance and tricks, why not just buy an aerobatics plane? The Mudry Cap is a relatively inexpensive aerobatics platform, and allows you to pull off some crazy fun tricks. I plan to get one once I'm back in the civilian world.[/QUOTE] but that's the wrong kind of performance and they don't have the history and arghhhhh :smith: i wanted to join the raf and then the raaf when i moved, but alas, my eyes are shit. as much as i love planes, i'd rather be flying one than sitting behind a desk looking at them out the window (with my luck i'd land the worst job), so i went infantry instead. not regretting it at all, but still wish i could fly fast jets for a job.

[QUOTE=slashsnemesis;19685030]Say I wanted to just buy a good section of land out in the country one day and just fly my ultralight whenever. 1: Is it legal? 2: How much money am I looking at? 3: If it's illegal, how and where could I fly it legally?[/QUOTE] 1. Mostly legal, you can fly ultralights on a car license. Just stay below 1,000 feet, don't bother anyone else and no one will know the difference. You still need to learn to fly though. 2. Well, a few grand to fly an ultralight, I'd say anywhere up to 40k for a new, relatively low-tech kite (one of the ones with hang glider wing), and then perhaps another few grand upkeep every year. 3. Well like I said I doubt you would have much trouble flying just an ultralight, but having said that ultralights don't really give you much. You can learn to fly Light Sport Aircraft which a step up in terms of cost and performance, but for that you get more range and load capacity.

[QUOTE=smurfy;19468621]Can you fly to my house? [IMG]http://imgkk.com/i/fcb.png[/IMG] There's a map.[/QUOTE] This map only has 1 Bahama...

[QUOTE=ratman_122;19679252]That guy makes that look so easy.[/QUOTE] I would imagine that flying a plane is something you eventually just ease into, and it becomes natural for you. Nevertheless, aviation has always been a field that has sparked an interest for me.

Congratulations! Fly WW2 style and bomb London.

[QUOTE=SBD;19701731]1. Mostly legal, you can fly ultralights on a car license. Just stay below 1,000 feet, don't bother anyone else and no one will know the difference. You still need to learn to fly though. [/QUOTE] Don't know about your country but here in the US this is definitely legal, just know the regulations [url=http://ecfr.gpoaccess.gov/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=ecfr&rgn=div5&view=text&node=14:2.0.1.3.16&idno=14#14:2.0.1.3.16.2.9.5]14 CFR part 103[/url]. Stay below 1200 feet above ground level for most of the US.

Next flying lesson is in a couple of hours with an update here following that. I'll be in Melbourne for a week so you'll need to entertain yourselves until I get back.

So, how'd the lesson go then? You're not dead, so that's a plus.

Turns I've made smaller turns before, and I know the theory and method behind them, but steeper turns (this time around 30 degrees) and turning while in a climb or descent really requires its own lesson. Maintaining level flight while the nose turns through 90 degrees or more (hell even a complete 360 as we did today) is more involved then just moving the stick to one side. The pilot needs to balance any turn he makes, because when you roll, the wing that goes up has its aileron deflected downward. This effectively changes the shape of the wing and means this wing now has a higher angle of attack then the other wing, more lift is created and thus the wing rises. However with the increase of lift comes an increase in drag, and seeing as it's only on this side, it has the effect of making the plane want to yaw in the opposite direction of the roll. This is known as adverse yaw, and is countered by using the rudder to keep the nose where you want it. But the work for the pilot doesn't end there. Lets say you enter a balanced turn, the outside wing will be traveling faster then the inside wing. Because it's traveling faster, more lift is created and thus again the pilot needs to counter this be 'setting' the turn- deflecting the ailerons to the desired amount and then taking them back in just a little. Yet again, the pilot can't rest now. If lift is always created at a right angle to the wing (i.e, more or less upwards), when you turn this lift vector is point at a diagonal and thus the its vertical component is no longer completely canceling the weight of the plane. Therefore the pilot must also hold a bit of back pressure on the column during the turn, as well as keeping the nose at the same spot relative to the horizon to keep the plane level. Turning during a climb or descent is really just a matter of doing things in sequence- establishing the climb/descent first and then making the turn, then rolling back out and leveling off. Remember that back pressure you normally apply during a turn? Well during a descending turn you still need to keep it, the lift going into the turn, as well as the lift lost because you want to descend might make the plane go faster then planned. And that's how you make more complex turns. It's not a very long lesson, but I guess it's important. I didn't get to land today because the weather wasn't great (lots of thermals) and there was more traffic then usual. At one point we turned to get out of the way of one plane, only to find ourselves behind another. Next update will be in a week.

Just don't doze off and overshoot the landing strip.

My brother is currently in the process of training me for my small engine pilots license :D

You're pretty lucky, I would give anything to fly.

3 words: Totally Fucking Awesome.

Big Dumb American should fly an F-22 :v:

oh man, that sounds quite exciting to learn how to fly. good luck

I want to have a pilot license :saddowns:

Stalls Ok, so today I went for my fifth lesson however my instructor was late coming from another flight so I didn't get to fly today, we just did the the briefing. As I was waiting for her to turn up, I went out and practiced getting my pre-flight checks done quickly (I think the key there is efficiency). As I was going through it my instructor comes along in another plane and parks, walks over and says hello. Now it was pretty hot today, mid 30s maybe. My instructor must have undone a few shirt buttons because to my delight pretty much her entire right boob was hanging out. Sure she was wearing a bra and everything, but i could still see a substantial amount of boob, I was like "Damn." She looked down and did them up and carried on talking, I pretended I didn't see. We were both wearing sunnies so I don't think she could have seen my eyes. I pray she never finds this thread. Well I might make a lesson update later tonight, but I thought you'd all enjoy that little story for now, Facepunch.

I came into this thread actually thinking he was going to learn to fly hitchhikers guide to the galaxy style. I am disappoint.