BUILDING A PILOT

[Guest disperse]

In this thread i want to detail my experiences throughout my training. starting from the very begining

 

we have a number of building threads on the forum. so i thought i would try something similar, only it's building a pilot (well i HOPE thats where it go's) ..

 

THE VERY BEGINING ......THE DECISSION TO DO IT

 

this is a very individual decission for everyone but this is a breif of mine

 

im 35yo and have been a truck driver for around 14 years. ive always had a thing for anything with a engine . and planes is no exception....as a teenager i was lucky to had have a mate who's parents opperated light GA (general aviation)planes.

 

now heres some truth....FLYING SCARED THE S__T OUT OF ME. i did it, i loved it, but i was freaked out the whole time ......

 

so anyway some years later and only 4month's ago. im standing beside a smashed car(no i wasnt in it) , talking to the driver saying things like "it's allright mate", "just try and relax, you'll be right".. then without any warning what so ever . there is aloud smashing noise, and the car i was just standing next to was now three feet in the air and sailing past me.....oh yeah , and im airborne as well with a leg flopping around like a dead weight.....(hence the crutch'es)

 

I STOPPED BEING SCARED OF THE FUTURE THAT NIGHT ! hell ive smoked cigerettes for 20 years.....why in the hell should i be scared of falling out of the sky ?.. and with a lot of time on my hands at the momment. that little fire inside was re-lit and so the journey begins .;)

 

 

[Guest David C]

Troy ,

 

A great post mate ;).... and a great idea too . Let the journey begin . Once the flying bug gets its teeth into you , most of are caught , hook line and sinker !!

 

Have fun .

 

Dave C

 

 

[Guest Decca]

gifted...

 

Troy you have an obvious talent for writing - especially with your own twist of humour, sometimes about the worst circumstances. I too am looking forward to your continuing story.

 

Regards, Decca.

 

 

[Guest disperse]

THE T.I.F trial instructional flight

 

so before i got to the TIF i had spent many hours GOOGLING everything and anything about rec flying (recreational)...i googled planes , i googled rules both on pilot requirements and plane requirements , i googled planes , oh yeah i googled more planes...but most of all ive been wondering around this forum for over three months now... and everytime i saw a new plane or a word i didn't quite know or completly didn't know....I GOOGLED IT. then after i had googled it , if there was still any doubt i would turn to MY FRIENDS HERE AND THE WEALTH OF KNOWLAGE THEY BRING and post a question. normally there would be answers within the hour....THANKS GUYS

 

so the first step to physicaly flying, is a TIF.

 

first i looked at all the places that were close enough for me to get to easily, then i googled them. what planes they had, HOW MUCH were there fees etc.

 

i also asked the members here on there thoughts and experiences with the different schools, just trying to get a feel for each place

 

in the end i took the drive down to the oaks airfield near camden, where DAVES FLYING SCHOOL is.........what a nice place with extremly friendly people

 

"hi are you dave" no im john ,daves over there can i help ? "yeah i was hopeing to have a trial flight" well you get the point . anyway when dave did come over i did the introduction thing again and said that id like a trial flight if i can......dave stands there quietly and slowly looks down to my feet and back up again (WELL I AM STANDING THERE WITH CRUTCH'ES STUCK UNDER EACH ARM) "can't see a problem" he say's.........SWEET. turns out dave was in a similar situation not that long ago (due to computer probs...must be continued)

 

 

[Guest disperse]

continued

 

sorry about that , i was using a phone as a modem and the batt was going flat.

 

(dave was on crutch'es too not that long ago)

 

anyway dave introduced me to jabiru 3190 (3190 is the rego number, and if you don't know what a jabiru is YOU HAVE'T GOOGLED ENOUGH ) first impressions "S#$T it's small" . he first took over to the buisness end and showed me under the bonnet so to speek. first impressons "S#$T it's small" cause here we had a 2.2 litre 4 cylinder engine that was smaller then some motorcycle engines. we probably spent 15 to 20 minutes looking and talking about various parts and functions of the plane with no rush at all on daves behalf to get it over and done with....I on the other hand was just thinking "MAKE IT GO, MAKE IT GO".

 

next is the cockpit (thats where we sit) after i was seated. dave proceded to show me the various controls and instruments and explain how they are used and more important WHY we use them...i was amazed to find out that, the flaps were not something that moved up and down continuously to create flight:laugh:

 

Okay, we've had a good look around , we've played with a lever or two, and we've flicked some switches....but there was no pushing of the pedals (well i do have a sore leg you know) and now it was time to MAKE IT GO !!!

 

to do this , the seat belts are fastened, we both put on a headset each , the master switch was turned on and two ignition switches were flick on.....CAN I PUSH THE BUTTON DAVE ?........VROOOM

 

(oops nearly forgot..look to make sure no-one has got there hands on the propeller and call out "CLEAR PROP"

 

up to now, ive been nervous , courious , and down right scared of what to expect and how it would feel. and my biggest concern was WHAT DO THESE THINGS FEEL LIKE WHEN THEY FLY ??.

 

QUICKLY ON THE CONTROLS : between me and dave we have a stick, this is called (INSERT CORECT NAME HERE) well i call it the stick. this controls the ailierons which there is 1 located on each wing . these are what make the plane roll from side to side (side to side movement on the stick)and it controlls the elevator which is on the tail (the flat thing at the back)the elevator makes the plane point up or down (WE HOPE).and this is controled by moving the stick forward or backwards. on the floor down near your feet are two pedals. these are linked so as one is pushed in the other is pushed out and vice versa. these control the rudder and the front wheel. while on the ground you use these pedals to steer the plane(some planes are steered by the brakes. but you can learn about them later or google it). and once we are in the air the rudder which is on the bit standing up at the back, controls the yaw (pronounced YAW)i don't know look it up. anyway yaw is when the tail swings left or right.

 

there are other controls but you can learn about them later

 

ONCE WE WERE MOVING dave controlled the throttle and i was useing the pedals to steer. we taxied down the taxi way towards the end of the runway and stoped just short of the strip (i think they call this holding)so we held short of the runway, where dave took me through a list of checks that are made before launching yourself into the hands of god.

 

LETS GO, when all was clear dave made a quick anouncement over the raidio and we taxied onto the runway and lined up for take off (the prefered result at the other end of the runway).

 

im sure dave's feet were very close to the pedals as he opened the throttle but basicly I WAS IN CONTROL

 

the plane seems to drift a little left or a little right of where you realy want to be, but a light pressure on either foot will find the plane drifting the other way. and also as you bring the power on the plane tends to want to go left due to the tourque of the engine (if you want to know why it does this , GOOGLE IT)

 

so now were realy moving and with daves help i start pulling back on the stick until we lift the front wheel off the ground (it feels like we've lifted it about a foot or so off the ground)and then he says "hold it there" ( the stick) so we hold this angle and keep accelerating until jabiru 3190 just starts to fly.......

 

NOW IM FREEKING OUT cause ive got the stick and im still not realy sure what i should be doing with it

 

LEFT,RIGHT,FORWARD,BACKWARDS,LEFT.....UMM UMM...I KNOW PUSH A PEDAL AND SEE IF THAT WORKS...OH S#$T THAT DIDN'T FEEL GOOD,LOOK AT THE AIR SPEED,S#$T, S#$T,IM POINTING THE NOSE TOO HIGH,CRAP,PUSH THE STICK RIGHT AND TRY THOSE PEDAL THINGS AGAIN.....

 

I MANAGED TO KEEP ALL MY FREAKING INSIDE BUT THERE WAS PLENTY (and everyone on this forum is laughing and saying NO WONDER YOU GOT NAUSIA)

 

WHY WAS I FREAKING OUT SO MUCH.........because i thought that at any momment i was going to do something wrong and crash the plane.....i mean hows a experienced pilot seating next to me with his own set of controls going to help if i stuff up..? i wasn't totaly aware of how i was reacting at the time but looking back on it now. it's pretty bl%$dy funny.

 

i was stoked that i had finally done it......but i didnt really enjoy it. during the flight we pretty well much flew in a straight line , we did a few turns and dave asked what i thought "OH THIS IS GREAT I SAID", ha ha all i wanted to do was land again . THEN I GOT SICK , dave started to show me a turn, and i said "im feeling a little sea sick mate" in other words. dont do that again or im going to paint the inside of your plane

 

with this dave intelligently made a very hasty return to the strip for a straight in approch (you'll learn about these. but basicly , he got me on the ground as FAST AS HE COULD.....CLEVER MAN

 

i don't think dave expected to ever see me again after that.

 

now i did say i didn't really enjoy it, and i tell you it was far from my most enjoyable flight. and i went home feeling some what let down because it wasn't the magical experience i had hoped for(especialy the puke feeling. but i just love being way up in the air and always have AND THAT PART I DEFINETLY LOVED AND BECAME EVEN MORE DETERMINED TO RETURN.

 

 

[BigPete]

Loved it TROY. ;)

 

I'm sure we all remember our first flight as being much the same.

 

You really are a true story teller.

 

Keep it comin' :)

 

regards

 

 

[Guest disperse]

TWO LONG WEEKS

 

After i got home , the not enjoying it part faidded pretty quick and the STOKED feeling grew heaps more.And after three month's or more of being on this forum, i couldn't wait to jump up and down and tell all my mate's. i mean ,after all I WAS ONE OF THEM NOW !!! yeah i know only just, but thats good enough for me:big_grin:.

 

Now for the first couple of days i thought my biggest problem was MOTION SICKNESS. so i googled that for a good 6 hours or more, went to bed then googled it again. Just like to mention here, that when i say "googled". posting questions on this forum is a big part of the wonderfull process of googling. because the amount of imformation and knowlage i have got from the members here, is astounding.SO THREE CHEERS FOR THE REC FLYING FORUM AND EVERY SINGLE MEMBER, HIP HIP ! now back to talking about throwing up again. a number of members here,mentioned there own experiences with feeling sicky. and suggested that it had more to do with NERVES AND (im gunna spell this wrong) AINXIRITY as opposed to the motion of the plane.HMMM, NAH I WAS AS COOL AS A CUCUMBER :yuk:. but truely, i didn't realize just how freaked and stressed out i truely was. and to proved this i spent about $25 at the local chemist on pressure straps and ginger tablets. and also did a lot of research (google) on spew bags. cause i figured that if worse came to worse, id just keep flying until my body got sick of throwing up every time i got in the plane.....HOPE DAVE'S GOT A STRONG STOMACH

 

IN THE END... I did come to the realization THAT I WAS JUST FREAKING OUT ABOUT EVERYTHING THAT DAY. mainly because i was trying to do everything. like watch every gauge including the CHT (cylinder head temp). WHY !!! i mean the owner of those cylinder heads is sitting next to me. and if he aint watching them . then why the hell should I. and that go's for all of them at the momment. and so what if the plane isn't flying level or im still gaining height when i think im flying straight. who cares. IT'S NOT AS IF IM GOING TO RUN OUT OF SKY.and if i were im sure dave's natural sense of self preservation. is going to kick in before that happened. and one more thing troy why your having this momment of self enlightenment.STOP TRYING TO SMOOTH OUT ALL THE BUMPS , IT AINT GUNNA HAPPEN

 

 

[Guest disperse]

just a quick thanks for everyones reply's and encouragement . ;)

 

Troy

 

 

[Matt]

A great story and a very entertaining read Troy, keep it coming. As Chris said, you've managed to capture what we've all been through and (while having a good giggle at your expense) I can recall very similar moments in my flying history - you'll never forget those feelings and experiences.

 

Cheers,

 

Matt.

 

 

[sain]

Great story Troy, and very similair to my own experience, except I think I lasted through a couple of extra turns before getting sick. Dave will probably have sick bags a plenty, and a very strong stomach so I wouldnt stress about that too much. Apparantly most people get a little airsick to begin with.

 

Anyway, congratulations - looking forward to seeing the next installment, and this in print in the RA-AUS mag.

 

 

[facthunter]

Motion sickness.

 

For what this is worth, Disperse, my wife, (who I take flying with me whenever possible) suffers motion sickness, and she copes with it by taking some pills just before we take off. These may have side-effects & we always take sick bags with us.( Haven't had to use them yet ).

 

I try to make sure she is as relaxed as possible about the conduct of the flight.

 

When you first start flying, you are VERY aware of the motion of the aircraft, as it is a new experience to you. If you tilt your head over in a turn, it has an adverse effect. Looking out of the side and down, when in a turn , will sometimes cause nausea.

 

Your concern with the possible safety outcome of your actions on the controls, will cause anxiety, which doesn't help.

 

A lot of these effects will diminish as you become more familiar with the sensations of flight ie. the accelerations will still be there but you will regard them as normal, and they will be part of the "feel" of the aircraft, which will later on help you to fly the aircraft more sensitively, so give it a bit of time. N....

 

 

[Guest disperse]

FIRST LESSON

 

one of the main hold ups since the TIF has been, (the old story) waiting for some money to come in. as i was expecting a bit of a lump sum and was planing on having enough to outlay the whole 20hrs worth in one hit. HA, HA, HA, LIKE THAT EVER HAPPENS. by time the $$$ arrived a number of other things just happen to conveniently pop up which sucked over half of my allowed funds away.FUNNY THAT

 

Anyway I figure it's still a B#$DY good start .

 

my thinking was that if i can pay up a bunch of lessons, i can fly when i want and not when i can afford it.

 

TWO WEEKS AFTER THE TIF. I tell you it was just meant to be. and from about Wednesday on it just started to fall together piece by piece. first Darren Masters started to talk to Ian about picking up his CT. and then Matt & Kazz said that they were coming up as well......so Saturday was looking good. Ginnete Mrs Sperse...or as i like to call her "DATPERSE" (DIS and DAT) got her shift hours for the weekend which meant ......WAIT FOR IT.............SHE WAS HOME TO LOOK AFTER THE KIDS....YES.....YES....YES ! and to top it off the money turned up on Friday too.

 

ok quick make some frantic phone calls at about 7:30 Friday night, to organize a lift down and back (i cant drive at the momment).....nope .... nope....nope....BINGO. Dave my excellent instructor actually sort of, almost, go's past my place on the way to the oaks. HOW SWEET IT IS ;)

 

DONE , DONE AND DONE ! Im going flying tomorrow

 

that night i was thinking about the way i was using the controls during the TIF. and although i was using rudder in a turn. I was only using ailerons to level the plane. so i was forever producing ADVERSE YAW . and when this little light bulb went on inside my head the solution to my shocking control of the plane was oh so obvious...use the rudder when using aileron, even if you don't want to turn.

 

TO BE CONTINUED...

 

 

[planedriver]

Good on yer Disperse.

 

Loved your thread, very ammusing.

 

You'll get there for sure, Hopefully I will too one day, when I get my medical problems sorted out. The last time I went up with Dave, I was all keen to go for a bit of a fly and left home early without any breakfast. Just before I arrived at the air-strip, feeling like I could eat a horse and chase the jockey, I stopped and bought a steak?-sandwich from a local milk bar which was 99% greasy onion (no doubt left over from the night before) with 1% shaved steak. Soon after, I got in 3190 and having a super-sensitive sniffer, commented to Dave that it smelt like someone had "expressed" their breakfast. Poor Dave was very appolgetic and said that someone had been crook the day before on a flight down the South Coast, but they had cleaned it up and sprayed air-freshner inside the aircraft. After take-off and climbing through turbulence, much to the consternation of the onion sandwhich which was about to head up and back to the shop where I bought it, Dave apolgised once more about the smell, and said he could'nt smell a thing because he had a broken nose. I handed him a showel and said "smack me across the chops with this, because I need one too!!!

 

After taking control and having the old brain-box doing a bit of work I felt a little better, not a lot, just a little, and suggested after 1/2hr that it might be better to get back on terra-firma in case his can of air freshner was running out.

 

Anyway, it was just one of those days where it seems like you've been for a ride in a washing machine, but you get that, and the more experience you get, you no doubt get used to it.

 

I'm looking forward to that bit!!

 

Keep the threads coming.

 

Regards

 

Alan

 

 

[Guest Head In The Clouds]

Disperse,

 

mate, this is great.

 

just a tip, motion sickness is nearly always beatable with a cold bottle of Bundy ginger beer. helps me heaps. dont be cheap, make sure its got the little bits of ginger floatin about.

 

have fun mate,

 

Adam

 

 

[Guest disperse]

BUNDY GINGER BEER.......what a chapion idea ;)

 

and seeing as it comes from the same town as the jabiru...they must go together

 

ps will get back to the story tonight i hope

 

 

[chrsq]

Disperse

 

This is my first post and your thread is the first i have read and have found it very inspirational.

 

I am up to doing circuits(lots of them) and trying to perfect my landing.

 

I too felt sick for my first few flights but found that the more time i was given in control the less i had that feeling and now dont feel sick at all.

 

Also every time we slighly banked or lowered the nose my nails (and bottom) would grab as much seat as they could till we leveled out but that has passed and am really enjoying flying.

 

Wish u all the best and hope u enjoyed todays flight.

 

 

[Bigglesworth]

Disperse,mate, this is great.

just a tip, motion sickness is nearly always beatable with a cold bottle of Bundy ginger beer. helps me heaps. dont be cheap, make sure its got the little bits of ginger floatin about.

 

have fun mate,

 

Adam

Long Live Bundy Ginger beer 'be'

 

'The beer you can, and should, drink and fly'

 

Good story, will help a lot of newcomers realise what its like. Most people have no idea before they start.

 

Hope you are flying soon

 

 

[Guest disperse]

Sorry about the delay, but a certain little laptop meet with a very dismal and final end two days ago....YES , YES VERY SAD not to mention EXPENSIVE.

 

OKAY so ive thought about what i DID, and ive thought about what and how im gunna attack MY FIRST REAL LESSON.....BRING IT ON !!

 

i stood up straight, stuck my nose in the air and strutted around with absolute confidence that i had this licked...(it's a INNER thing..im not a a-hole)

 

i absolutly didn't give a ****e if i got sick, cause i was going up there for a HOUR.

 

;););););););););););););););) ....IT WAS SSOOO GOOD !!!!

 

I WAS CONFIDENT, I WAS POSITIVE, AND I FLEW WEELLLL !!!

 

WHAT A BLAST......DOWN THE RUNNWAY NICE AND CLEAN.....AND PULLED BACK FOR THE CLIMB...i didn't give a RATS what the gauges said, but every time i did look.....well what can i say.....IT WAS GOOD.. and then it was time to lay her done for a left turn......................................SWEEETT .

 

infact, Daves words were....."SPOT ON, YOU COUND,T WANT FOR ANY BETTER."

 

and then the "NAUSIA" ......ha ha, it's was so scared that it didn't come anywhere near me........NOT A BIT.

 

i can honestly say that THIS WAS THE BEST FLIGHT OF MY LIFE ..and i think i will have to whach my girls, fly for there first time to experince the passion and self forfillment that i wallowed in for EVERY MINUTE OF THAT TREMENDOS , MOST EXCELENT HOUR. THANKS DAVE, AND A HUGE HUGE THANKS TO EVERYONE HERE, FOR THIER FRIENDSHIP AND MATESHIP.....THUS FAR...

 

im sorry for maybe getting a little over passionite. but i realy want to try and convey the absolute PASSION of that flight. and im completly sure that everyone here that has taken that first flight.....KNOW EXACTLY WHAT I MEAN..

 

this was posted elsewhere on the forums.....but was taken as i was getting out just after THIS FLIGHT...........THANKS TO DARREN MASTERS for the snap

 

 

 

[sain]

Congratulations Disperse, awesome stuff.

 

I'm pretty sure we all feel that passion. After my first lot of circuit training I went home and crashed pretty much straight away (amazing how it tires you out when you first start). The next morning my lovely lady was looking extremely grumpy . Naturally I asked her what was wrong - she replied with 'You spent the whole night saying "goulburn traffic ultralight gazelle xxxx turning downwind for 26" and then turning over, followed a little while later by "goulburn traffic ultralight gazelle xxxx turning base for 26" and another turn and then "goulburn traffic ultralight gazelle xxxx turning finals for 26, touch and go" with another turn. Over and over and over!'.

 

Unfortunately she was even more grumpy with my response "damn, sounds like I was forgetting to do my downwind checks."

 

Eventually she forgave me, and even went for a TIF herself a while back.

 

Hope you keep loving it!

 

 

[Guest disperse]

SAIN........yeah i know they just don't seem to get it I tell you though...THAT FLIGHT WAS GOOD.!!!

 

 

[DrDexter1975]

Sain - love your post....nice to read about someone else that lives, breathes and SLEEPS aviation! :)

 

 

[Guest disperse]

JUST WAITING FOR GEORGE BUSH AND ALL IS PLANES TO BUGGER OFF......SO I CAN GO FLYING AGAIN

 

ps..... can't believe that bloke has a empty 747 following him around as a spare

 

 

[Guest Fred Bear]

You know what mate? I did not even know this post existed. You know how I found it? Googled my name The power of that little Yankee search engine...Anyway, you did not discuss this with me tonight, even with your $70 bourbon. I know how the laptop met it's maker though ;) I can bribe you now you know that don't you? You know all, Troy is an inspiration. Meet the bloke in real life. Crutches, busted leg? Who cares? We can still fly and overcome those fears deep down inside. hey Troy, if you can survive a flight with me you have no fear of anything else in life that ever comes your way By the way, this quote from you:

 

ADVERSE YAW

Is this a cousin of yours?

 

 

[Guest disperse]

Is this a cousin of yours?

What can i say buddy...........GOOGLE IT:laugh:

 

 

[Guest disperse]

you know i haven't added much here in the last week or so. due to our dearest friend (W-bush) being in town and oh so much more important than you or I. but i just realized, i have made some more progress with my flying...

 

MATESHIP / FRIENDSHIP / BUDDIES and lets not forget that wonderfull word PAL'S.

 

Through this forum ive kept in touch and got in touch with more and more people who shall i say a just a little nuts about flying themselves:laugh:

 

those that i already knew, i got to know better. and those that i meet or exchanged words with for the first time.

 

So if your new here and maybe new to flying ......i give you this suggestion

 

wonder around this forum and meet some really nice like minded people. and go down to your local field and just hang around ,say g-day to a few strangers. poke your nose in a plane or three. and most of all ASK SOME REALLY OBVIOUS QUESTIONS like "so thats a plane huh"? ........well you will get a answer and someone else will get a free laugh at your expense.. Sounds like a fare exchange to me..........seriously though.....GO AND TOUCH A PLANE IF YOU HAVE'NT ALREADY

 

and if you ever get the chance.....TRY SOME OF EMMA MASTERS COOKING....;)

 

well thats me for the day, have fun Troy