Anybody here fly planes, helicopters, ultralights, paragliders, etc.?

[Creepy Green Light]

I was curious if we had any pilots (of any type of flying contraption) on these forums. I learned to fly single engine airplanes when I got out of the Navy in the summer of '95. I also took a few helicopter lessons (which are way more expensive to fly - about $300 per hour & you need a minimum of 20 hours before you can even solo). If Doc Brown pulled up in the Delorean, I'd go back to 1989 when I graduated high school and would have joined the Army instead of the Navy but specifically for their Warrant Officer Helicopter Pilot program. I could have been like my good friend; retired at 38 and now a medivac pilot out of Baltimore - which is skate duty.

 

[Kchoo]

I like planes. I am not a pilot. My Brother was. I was riding in his plane when a I was 10 years old... and for my birthday, he bought me a glider flight also.
So I learned a little... but I never saw a practical reason to get a license... my career has always been a day job that didn’t afford me a reason or the extra cash.
I have gone up every few years for a intro flight, always thinking I could take lessons... I love Cessna 172 and 182...

Have ridden in a Cherokee and a Mooney as well, but I love something about that high wing... don’t know why...

Never explored learning helicopters, but I suspect that would be a better gig for the reasons you mentioned.

 

[Creepy Green Light]

I like planes. I am not a pilot. My Brother was. I was riding in his plane when a I was 10 years old... and for my birthday, he bought me a glider flight also.
So I learned a little... but I never saw a practical reason to get a license... my career has always been a day job that didn’t afford me a reason or the extra cash.
I have gone up every few years for a intro flight, always thinking I could take lessons... I love Cessna 172 and 182...

Have ridden in a Cherokee and a Mooney as well, but I love something about that high wing... don’t know why...

Never explored learning helicopters, but I suspect that would be a better gig for the reasons you mentioned.

Very cool. When I got out of the Navy I got my license just for fun. I'd take off and then fly over my parents house and do donuts around it while they waved to me. Or fly over my friends 90' boat out off the coast of New Jersey - stuff like that. I wasn't planning on doing it for a job. Like I said earlier, in hindsite - I wish I learned to fly helicopters at a young age and did that for a profession. Seems like learning to fly in your 20's is a piece of cake compared to when you are 45+ and have a family, etc.

I never got to fly a Mooney or Cherokee - you are very lucky. I did however get to fly a Cirrus SR22 one time which the cockpit looked like the space shuttle compared to the Cessna 152 I learned in.

 

[Kchoo]

Very cool. When I got out of the Navy I got my license just for fun. I'd take off and then fly over my parents house and do donuts around it while they waved to me. Or fly over my friends 90' boat out off the coast of New Jersey - stuff like that. I wasn't planning on doing it for a job. Like I said earlier, in hindsite - I wish I learned to fly helicopters at a young age and did that for a profession. Seems like learning to fly in your 20's is a piece of cake compared to when you are 45+ and have a family, etc.

I never got to fly a Mooney or Cherokee - you are very lucky. I did however get to fly a Cirrus SR22 one time which the cockpit looked like the space shuttle compared to the Cessna 152 I learned in.

I like the SR22... never flew in one, but have looked inside one... they are cool looking.

I remember reading an article that talked about the SR22’s popularity with movie stars. Angelina Jolie had one, but later, rumor has it she had a hard landing. It scared her So she sold it.

 

[Creepy Green Light]

I like the SR22... never flew in one, but have looked inside one... they are cool looking.

I remember reading an article that talked about the SR22’s popularity with movie stars. Angelina Jolie had one, but later, rumor has it she had a hard landing. It scared her So she sold it.

Nice. The way I got to fly one was interesting; my wife at the time was working at a flight school at King Co. Airport (just south of Seattle). Cirrus had a promo going where anybody that was interested in owning one, could go up on a demo flight for free. So one day when I went to the airfield, one of her friends looked at me and said "Hey, you were maybe interested in buying a SR-22 right?" (wink wink). I shook my head north & south and then we both climbed in the plane and took off. He got us going but then he let me fly around. I remember things got a little hairy when he was bitching about the incompetent controller we were talking to. At one point we were flying south and flying right past us the other direction was a UPS 747. I remember my friend saying "Ok, this is getting unsafe now - I don't care what the controller says but we are going this way...." and we left and headed back to the airport. But all and all it was an amazing experience.

 

[Kchoo]

Cessna’s Always felt so light... and the low landing speed is kinda sweet...
The biggest scare I had was in a Piper... the pilot was a nice guy and was pretty talkative for the first half.... then he got quiet... we headed back to the airport and on approach, suddenly flipped around like we got caught in a vortex... pilot radioed in, “ mayday... Mayday... lost lateral control... I am going to bring her in hot... tell any planes In The area to circle around until runway is clear... “

Then he slowly cut the engine throttle way back, and did a line up and a dive straight at the end of the runway, and with ailerons and tail only, pulled up even with the runway and coasted down the center line. He managed to land us to a smooth rollout on the center of the runway.

“Well.. what do you know? I have wheel steering... will Taxi in and tie her down...”

 

[pigfarmer]

Not a pilot - just as well for all concerned but the Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome has been a lifelong favorite and I've been up in the 1925 New Standard D-25 several times. It's an experience
Curse you Black Baron!

 

[pigfarmer]

anyone within range ought to see this place