Introductory Flight
 

Hey guys, I'm brand new here and have dreamed of being a pilot for as long as I remember. My second cousin flies for American Airlines and when I was four years old she took me up in a Beechcraft. Ever since then, I've been hooked but constrained by money etc. I'm in college at UConn right now, and will be done next year. I met a kid here who's a CFI who I'm going to talk to him within the next couple days, but I'm wondering if I can get some info on something really quick.

I want to take an intro flight. My birthday's in a week and my parents asked me what I wanted, and when I mentioned this they were pleasantly surprised. However, everytime I try to search for details on it it's just advertising for it. What should I expect? Anything to do to prepare? Will I get to do an actual takeoff, or just fly at 3000 feet? Things like that...


I'd really appreciate some help..sorry if this information is around but I'm having trouble finding it. I hope this is just the beginning of a long aviation hobby! Thanks!

Oh you poor, poor soul...

Familiarize yourself with the flight controls and what their functions are. Other than that, enjoy the experience. I would let you do everything from taxiing to landing while helping you out. However your instructor may be different. Read the stickies in this subforum before you embark on this journey.

Good luck.

Welcome to APC, Red Sox. You are going to be seeing something really new on your first flight and I hope you enjoy the experience. Knowing the basics of the airplane would be the best use of your time until your flight. Perhaps you could find a book at the library on basic flying. Your instructor will gauge how well you mesh with what you doing and they will decide how much control to give you. The general rule is to give students as much control as safely possible though, so expect to fly the whole time. Disco flights are usually around 30 minutes. He or she will "ghost" the flight controls and tell you what to do. You can even land the airplane. The hardest thing to control when ghosting a student in these airplane is the throttle, so keep a light hand there and don't resist if the instructor does something over your hand. Have fun. Take a camera. Offer the instructor a tip.

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and to everyone else, thanks! that was really helpful

Your GoogleFu is a bit weak. Here is a commentary on my discovery flight back in 2006.

http://www.airlinepilotforums.com/ha...ht-report.html

Have fun! You'll really enjoy it.

He was alluding to the abysmal state of the airline industry. Go learn to fly and enjoy yourself in the process. If you start thinking about a career as a professional pilot at some point, make sure you do enough research to understand what you are really getting into...there are a lot of myths and misconceptions out there.

I'm just looking to get a private license, I'm getting an MBA from the UConn school of business so I'll probably do something with that full time

Rickair is correct on my sentiments. Sorry for the overly brief reply - I'd been up all night positioning to Europe and just couldn't formulate a serious reply (I also forgot to add the :D, which would have clarified my intent).

Now, more rested and only slightly more insightful, I'd pretty much echo what the others have posted to you. Personally, when I did discovery flights, I let you do as much as you were comfortable with (some people I actually had to coax to get to fly the airplane). As others have said each instructor is different, but it SHOULD NOT just be a sightseeing flight where you never touch the controls.

Have a great flight, and if you decide to take lessons check back here as needed for advice from a good group of people from diverse backgrounds.

If you decide to pursue aviation as a career, try cutting your arm off with a potato peeler first - it's likely to be less painful! :D

He said as a hobby...don't be such a tool