Nightmare

A one arm chopper pilot, hope you're left handed.

Wow! 6 hours... that's what I'll have in my log book after my next lesson!! I don't think I'd be ready to solo just yet

My Dad got his PPL in the 1960's and I remember going up with him as an ankle biter in his Piper Cherokee. Sadly he passed away in 2003. I kinda think he'll be there in spirit when I get to solo, hopefully later this year.

What a day to be in the air! What a flight, so smooth up there in the big blue. How was the lesson, David? I was thinking that may have been you that had the lesson just before mine at 9am? Tony

Hope you're not speaking from experience

Thanks for your thoughts Tony, you have much more experience than me, and your comparisons informative and interesting, I look forward to flying a Jab myself. If I ever enter the wonderful world of aircraft ownership, I think I'd be looking at a Jabiru J160 or J120, they are currently $63,000 to $80,000 new, or about $30k second hand, may have to investigate syndicate options in the not so distant future. But, at this stage, it's knuckle down and get that certificate. Tony

I have to admit that the sims have helped me in my progress in my flight training. I had purchased a Saitek yoke, throttle quadrant, trim wheel, and foot pedals about 6 months before I started my flight training. Getting used to the pedals has helped me greatly retraining my co-ordination, making my taxi skills good from the outset of my training, and I was used to balancing the aircraft when in the air. The yoke was a bit of a waste at the moment as my training aircraft has a joystick, I have a joystick as well so no probs. I configure and place the equipment I have to resemble the aircraft I'm flying, setting and positioning the switches and controls in the approximate position they would be in the real plane. This actually helps. I read up on the up coming lesson material, and practice it on the sim until I understand it. Of course you don't feel the forces on the stick and the pedal that you do on the real plane, but it still helps.

I noticed one big difference with sims vs the real thing on my last lesson. My instructor was teaching me how to set the plane up for an approach descent in the Tecnam P92, power to idle, when the speed reaches the white arc, flaps to 15', trim nose up all the way, and let it settle. The plane then naturally goes into a perfect approach descent at 65 kts. I did exactly the same in 2 sims, FSX and X-Plane 10 and the speed continues to drop past 65 kts to stall... too much travel in the trim in the sims, I'm thinking. In the the sim, you have to stop the trimming when you reach 65kts.

9am

In my limited experience as a student pilot, so far, I find that the real planes are much more forgiving than the sims.

Hey Tony (good name) How does the Jabiru's compare to the Tecnams to fly? There is a Jabiru available for hire in my local area, that I might get to fly when I get my Cert. A year off flying! That must have hurt? Tony

Hey David,In my humble opinion, Wayne is a very professional, skillful, and competent pilot and instructor. On one of my previous lessons, he landed the plane in an almost 90' crosswind to the runway, blowing at what seemed to be around a 15kts. At about 100' from the runway threshold he said he wasn't going to land on the tarmac, but on the grass beside it as it was softer on the plane, it was a perfect and smooth landing in my opinion, it impressed me. All the best with your next lesson David... my next one is "Turning", I'm hoping my takeoff will be a little better this time, I wasn't happy with my last one, which was my very first one. Wayne agreed, I could've done better, I kind of got carried away with the thrill of my first takeoff, did a lot of over correcting .... Wayne said to me after it, "You do know that from now on you are doing every takeoff." suits me fine, I need the practice. I think my exact words in reply were "COOL!!!!"

You can download and use programs like Opentrack or FaceTracknoir for free instead of the TrackIR system... it's not that bad with the right light and a reasonable webcam. Rudder peddals are a good investment.... of course nothing beats the real thing!

How far along in your training are you 2tonne?

Hey David, Next Wednesday for me, I've had my lessons with Wayne, but I did a TIF with Mahl, both top blokes and professional trainers. What about yourself? Tony

A friend of mine actually scored a scholarship in aviation, about 20 years ago, and was offered lessons at $17.50 an hour!!! Still good value back then! And he quit before he got his PPL!! He regrets it now. I think two weeks between lessons should be the longest as you may start forgetting the previous lesson with a greater time between them... besides, I think you'll get the withdrawals after about a week... I know I do. Well done on taking your first flight, it's awesome isn't it? All the best, Tony

Hey David, I'm training in the same aircraft (24-7600). Small world hey? Maybe we'll run into each other at Fly Now. How far along in your training are you? Tony

Welcome fellow new member, I have a friend who flew Foxbats. He loved them.

Hehehehe Nev, Nightmare was the nickname given to me at work... long story short, it's derived from my surname, so nothing to be wary of in my opinion, I could've done a whole lot worse in that department :) I did the take off on my last lesson, it was a bit rough, but we got airborne ok. My instructor said it was as good as can be expected for a 1st take off, and stated that from now on, I'm doing all every one of them from now on ... COOL!!! Can't wait for my next lesson.... thanks everyone for all your warm welcomes

When I took my trial introductory flight, I was passenger for most of the flight, but it added a new dimension when he gave me control... I'm now coming up to my 4th lesson... highly recommended hobby to get in to!

The Eaglet I'm training in has a hand brake, I echo what other people are saying, toe brakes seem to be an option.

Hi there, I just started my pilot training to get my RA certificate. I'm training in a Tecnam P92 Eaglet... so far I have 3.6 hours logged.... The fun and enthusiasm meter is off the scale! Cheers, Tony