HOW TO FLY - No Really!

[Student Pilot]

I have seen people struggle learning to fly, no doubt there are some people who should not. Both young and old, oldest I've seen start from scratch was 65, he had a battle but struggled through and used to fly his own Auster. I know another 65 year old who struggled through, bought himself an aircraft with his retirement money then died in that aircraft shortly there after. You can still enjoy aviation without actually flying. I found models great fun, drones are one way of experiencing the 3D world without leaving the ground. I have only flown with a tablet, it is an amazing way of looking at the world. I'm sure the imersive world of 3D goggles would transform the experience.

 

Everybody is different, not everybody is suited to piloting an aircraft. Ultimately it's something you have to decide for yourself, if others who have an idea of such things suggest maybe it might not be for you then to be true to yourself you should take that into consideration when making your mind up. 

 

Remember the "Grass is always greener on the other side", piloting an aircraft is not the be all and end all of the universe.

 

 

[spacesailor]

"Everybody is different, not everybody is suited to piloting an aircraft. Ultimately it's something you have to decide for yourself, if others who have an idea of such things suggest maybe it might not be for you then to be true to yourself you should take that into consideration when making your mind up."

 

Isn't it like riding a bicycle.

 

Dam hard to learn, Then it clicks, after that You never forget, " how to ride that bicycle"

 

Some of us seem to be natural cyclist, & hopefully fly "by the seat of our pants".

 

My instructor thought I was abut ready for "solo",

 

Then a check ride with the senior instructor, 

 

AND my world came crashing down. Wasting his time, and my money.

 

Just have to find the PLACE without all this Bureaucracy, And just do my thing. 

 

spacesailor

 

 

[Manwell]

To kick off as quizmaster, I'm starting with something easy, or so it would seem...  

 

Without going into long explanations, aerodynamics, or anything fancy, post answers below in one sentence.  The shortest correct answer wins.

 

The more you know about flying, the harder it is to describe it simply, at least until you know everything.  Then it's easy.

 

[ATTACH]39669[/ATTACH]

 

Here it is Wirraway.  This post refers to the title, How to Fly.  

 

Your reply describes how to get a license and maybe even a career driving aircraft around the sky, not how to fly.  Don't let that discourage you though.  Have another shot.

 

 

[Manwell]

"Everybody is different, not everybody is suited to piloting an aircraft. Ultimately it's something you have to decide for yourself, if others who have an idea of such things suggest maybe it might not be for you then to be true to yourself you should take that into consideration when making your mind up."

 

Isn't it like riding a bicycle.

 

Dam hard to learn, Then it clicks, after that You never forget, " how to ride that bicycle"

 

Some of us seem to be natural cyclist, & hopefully fly "by the seat of our pants".

 

My instructor thought I was abut ready for "solo",

 

Then a check ride with the senior instructor, 

 

AND my world came crashing down. Wasting his time, and my money.

 

Just have to find the PLACE without all this Bureaucracy, And just do my thing. 

 

spacesailor

 

You're absolutely right Space.  Without all the bureaucracy, we would have learned how to fly a damn sight better than we do now.  

 

Yes, it is like riding a bicycle, and it really should be that simple.

 

 

[spacesailor]

I think, if All students were to only do the "school education", instead of spending heaps of $ on their practical flying skills, The pass rate would go up, & drop outs decline.

 

Great to learn to fly, 

 

But

 

Devastating to fail the education bit.

 

spacesailor

 

 

[Manwell]

I don't get your point Space.  What "school education", and how would they learn how to fly if they didn't spend anything on practical lessons?

 

 

[spacesailor]

I was looking at Facebook forums about the "to Pilot Practice Exams Australia - Student Pilot &"

 

And there seems to be a lot of work to get A pass, On each segment of the exam,

 

Far Far more advanced than I would ever accomplish.

 

I applaud those that get a pass. But a lot of "Their" questions have me baffled.g

 

If I did that schooling first I would have saved lots of money from the practical flying.

 

spacesailor

 

 

[Student Pilot]

I was looking at Facebook forums

 

spacesailor

 

That's your problem there ?

 

 

[spacesailor]

One (large) school had 88 dropouts in a year (if reported correctly). " On the figures in the article 88 people signed up to the full course (funded) and didn’t finish. I know this club has some success stories (even on this forum) but 88 people is a lot of people and a lot of money to pay back without a qualification."

 

It seems a lot, SO how many nationally, 

 

A tenth or more, That didn't get their licence Or RAA certificate.

 

spacesailor

 

 

[bexrbetter]

Did you deliberately spell Manuel wrong too?

 

Irrelevant, no one reads the manual.

 

The sky is a liquid through which we can swim.

 

 

[Student Pilot]

SS it's hard to work out what you are trying to say. Are you saying anybody that has a desire should be able to fly without any pesky exams or check flights? Are you saying SS that those dropouts you mention in that flight school would be OK to have a flying career if they didn't have to do pesky exams? Everybody is suited to pilot an aircraft no matter what coordination, motor skills or mental capacity you have?

 

 

[facthunter]

The idea that everybody CAN fly a plane was extensively promoted in the 60's and many of the"normal' quirks  etc were designed out of the successful planes. but a completely foolproof plane is unlikely to ever be designed as fools use such ingenuity at  negating the good safety points. The BIG difference in a plane is that once you get it in the air you are FORCED to be able to get it down again safely on certain specific areas, and if something goes wrong  you cannot just park it almost anywhere and lift the bonnet and get the RACV.

 

       There's probably only a small % of people who should not fly aeroplanes. EVER. That's not just being able to operate the controls more or less instinctively in a co ordinated way (as one does when riding a pushbike) which makes you learn something not instinctive when learning to balance and steer a two wheel machine. ie you turn it by leaning it in the direction you wish to turn and maintaining that lean in the turn. Initially you wobble a lot, later only when riding very slow.

 

" Instinctively" pulling the stick back is what kills people, more than anything else. Not properly managing risks is also pretty unforgiving in an aeroplane. Good, SAFE pilots ( Isn't that the same?) don't say "she'll be right" too often. IF there's a doubt about something , they CHECK it.  Nev

 

 

[M61A1]

Are you saying anybody that has a desire should be able to fly without any pesky exams or check flights? Are you saying SS that those dropouts you mention in that flight school would be OK to have a flying career if they didn't have to do pesky exams? Everybody is suited to pilot an aircraft no matter what coordination, motor skills or mental capacity you have?

 

I think that would be perfectly fine as long as it's like the so called "bad old days",  under 300' out in a paddock away from the public.

 

 

[M61A1]

The sky is a liquid through which we can swim.

 

Ashley, it's a fluid.

 

 

[facthunter]

  There's 3 states of matter. Solid, Liquid and Gas.  Temperature affects which  state they may be in. . In our normal earth environment which one is it that we fly in? It's an exam question. Nev

 

 

[bexrbetter]

Ashley, it's a fluid.

 

 

 

The sky is a fluid through which we can swim.

 

(Thanks Shirley).

 

 

[kgwilson]

If snot a liquid and ashley a fluid then shirley it's gas.

 

 

[M61A1]

If snot a liquid and ashley a fluid then shirley it's gas.

 

Ed Zachary....

 

 

[facthunter]

Shirley you can't both be right. Poor old Shirley. She gets the blame for many things. Ashley make get burnt out with the passage of time also  and turn into an OX hide.

 

  This is another one that sat, apologies  but just to confuse Glass is a super cooled liquid and does flow slowly over time. Don't sit there watching it but it's true. At the time when the material changes state strange things can happen. Heat can be involved gives or takes and  a dimensional VOLUME change can happen. When water becomes ice it expands . This is the only material which does this . If it were not so all the ice would be at the bottom of the seas, and our world would be nothing like what it is.Nev

 

 

[spacesailor]

Mercury  expands in your thermometer,

 

The expansion  makes it go up the  tube.

 

The  only metal that melts at room temperature.

 

spacesailor 

 

 

[Garfly]

The idea that everybody CAN fly a plane was extensively promoted in the 60's and many of the"normal' quirks  etc were designed out of the successful planes.

 

 

I presume that it will be autonomous multicopter machines that will finally realise the dream of flying for all. 

 

No skills necessary. Jump in. Choose destination. Press go.  The era of those magnificent men in their flying machines is reaching its sunset phase.

 

 

[spacesailor]

"The era of those magnificent men in their flying machines is reaching its sunset phase."

 

With lots of help from our-lord bureaucracy.

 

With help from them, the day of recreational aviation itself, is doomed.

 

spacesailor

 

 

[Garfly]

 

With help from them, the day of recreational aviation itself, is doomed.

 

I think the point is that technology will make recreational aviation commonplace.  (Which, you could say, amounts to the same thing.)

 

 

[facthunter]

Aren't WE involved to develop the ART and skill of designing, building and flying aircraft?  Who wants to just press buttons and hope the" GAME over" popup doesn't appear.? Nev

 

 

[Garfly]

Yes, I'd agree, Nev, but I fear that ours is probably a dying art - a bit like swordsmanship was at one point in history.

 

That's why my pessimism focusses less on a hostile bureaucracy than on unstoppable technologies.

 

That Cessna advertisement from the forties is absurd, at many levels, because it downplays the skill and judgement needed to safely fly aeroplanes -as we (still) know them. 

 

But autonomous flying - and road, and rail, and marine - vehicles are already with us - and it won't be long before the 'game-over' calculation swings in favour of the new. I had a ride in a Tesla in Norway recently, and I think I've seen the future.  And I think it works.  And I think it's sad in some ways.