Hi

[Guest vhinov]

Hi all.

 

I am 42. At my 11th hour of flying. Still haven's done solo. Fly out of Metro airport in Fishers, IN "KIND" Was passionate about flying since I was a kid. Up to 1 year ago never had a chance to actually fly myself. The feeling is great as you all know. This site looks like a great place to read and share interesting stories and learned from more experienced pilots about the life in the sky. :) I fly Cesna 172S and feel very comfortable with this plane so far. Would love to find out how is flying with diferent airplanes feels. Well, see you at the forums and hopefully at the airports.

 

Viktor

 

 

[Guest Qwerty]

Welcome Victor. The 172 is an excellent training aircraft as I am sure you have been told. It is a good intro to flying and flying it will be good background for when you upgrade into recreational aircraft which you won't be able to resist after you have flown one.

 

Cheers, Qwerty

 

 

[Guest Decca]

Welcome Viktor.

 

You nailed it with your initial impressions of the friendly forums.

 

Enjoy.

 

Regards, Decca.

 

 

[Guest vhinov]

Thank you all for the warm Wellcome.

 

I just checked the Lightwing aircrafts on line and it looks like a very nice plane to me. Wanted to ask you Qwerty did you train on it and how do you find it's operation compared to cesna for instance? What do you mainly use it for besides fun to fly? Also noted that you are from Tasmania. I have never been there. It is an island close by Australia. The pictures of the island that i see on line are beatufull. I can imagine what is it to fly there.

 

Decca, I noticed that you fly a Helicopter. How does it feel to fly this thing? I have never even been in one. It seems like they fly in bad weather much better then the airplanes.

 

 

[Guest Decca]

Hello again Viktor.

 

The Gazelle (you'll see many references to these under other's personal details) is an Aussie made high wing ultralight very similar to the Kitfox but with a nosewheel.

 

It's an absolute delight to fly, Rotax (80hp) powered. Unfortunately the manufacturer folded. Don't know the history but it may have been unfortunate circumstances. The same airplane is made in Europe now in slightly modified form and imported here as the Eurofox.

 

Helicopters & autogyros do tend to ride rough weather better than fixed wing aircraft, it must be the way they thrash the air and beat it into submission.

 

Regards, Decca.

 

 

[Guest vhinov]

Sorry for the missunderstanding. I checked on line and there is a Gazelle heli. However I found pictures of your plane on line now and let me say it is one great looking plane. It looks very elegant which maches the name. I like high wing miself but I never flown any low wing to compare. Do you have an experience with these type of planes? How are they different in the way of handling?

 

I also like the way you reffered to the helis beating the air into submission versus the airplanes gliding through. Thank you for the explanation!

 

Wish you all the best.

 

Viktor

 

 

[Guest Decca]

HaHa. Understandable Viktor. Yes most of us here would have heard of that model helicopter too.

 

Sounds like you’re on a vertical learning curve, but don’t worry because everything will fall into place.

 

The Gazelle manufacturer started business making the Skyfox (a tailwheel version), then produced the Skyfox Gazelle with nose wheel. Some say they fly so well they almost land themselves, and they are very stable without being hard to maneuver. Very difficult to stall.

 

I only have 9hours experience on the Gazelle but have had some hands on low-wing aircraft. All planes have different characteristics, most of which you’ll learn about in Theory of Flight (we call it Basic Aeronautical Knowledge) but you really only find out about an aircraft’s “personality” when you fly it - that’s the best part!

 

To make sure I answered your question in that rant, I’ll just close with; all aircraft are built with a certain degree of stability, some just fly better than others and it’s generally a personal choice what you like the best.

 

Regards, Decca.

 

 

[Guest Qwerty]

Hi Victor

 

I trained in a Lightwing 582 which is a lighter version of the 912s that I now own. When I first got hold of a 172 it felt like driving a school bus compared to the Recreational a/c that I was used to. They are all good, just some are better at some jobs than others. the 172 is a bit of a work horse and the Lightwing and the Jabiru are more for flying just for the pleasure of flying. I like em all.

 

 

[Guest vhinov]

Hi Decca

 

Currently I would love a plane that lands itself since I am in a process of learning to land and haven't gotten a hold of it yet. :-))) But I better learn how to land this Cesna myself before i get to easier to handle airplanes. :-))) I have done 3 assited landings so far and I am really eager to start doing it completely on my own. Of course as the books say learnig to land on your own airfield is only half of the learning to land. But it seems that flying is never ending learning curve. Which is a part of it never ending fun. :-) Do you have any advice for me as far as landing process? I am trying to get a hold of it, but for now it seems like a lot of things to do and pay attention to at the same time. I am trying to build a feel for where I am descending to, which way the wind carries me and pay attention to my airspeed. It almost seems like building an additional sence to the air. I just love this learning! And thank you for your replys!

 

All the best to you!

 

Viktor

 

 

[Guest vhinov]

Hi Querty.

 

You really got me thinking in a new direction. It seems like it is a lot of fun trying diferent airplanes and choosing the one for you. If the Cesna feels like a school bus to you compared to Lightwing, and it surely feels like a bicycle to me after flying as passenger in comercial jets, I can only imagine how much more fun it is to fly the Lightwing. How many hours do you tipically fly a month? How expensive is it owning and maintaining airplane in Tasmania? Thank you for you responce!

 

Best wishes!

 

Viktor

 

 

[Guest Decca]

You’re up late tonight Viktor.

 

My training is spasmodic to say the least, and even in the latest few of many assisted/unassisted landings my instructor’s hand is never far from the controls even when the approach/touchdown is looking really good.

 

The transition from 2 dimensions on the road to 3 dimensions in the air, as you’ve discovered, involves attaining a new familiarity with the vertical element. A few honored students with some natural ability, usually younger, may achieve this familiarity early, but for most of us it will certainly take a lot longer.

 

Your instructor will know when you have the approach & touchdown in your grasp, with little or no input from him/her. At this stage you have almost learned to ride your new “bike”. But the instructor will have you do many more landings, in different configurations, in different conditions. (Have you done a side-slip yet?)

 

The only advice I can give you is to be patient with your own progress. Unless you have serious concerns, don’t be impatient with the rate of progress dictated by your instructor. What I have personally found helpful is mentally going over every action of each training flight and doing a self analysis, looking for anything that I thought could be improved upon. And discuss every doubtful area with my instructor, who in turn always finds time to give a considered response.

 

Hope this is helpful, Decca:thumb_up:

 

 

[Guest Qwerty]

I think that you might have things a bit backwards. The Cessna is easier to fly an land than Recreational c/a. lighter a/c are more affected by wind than heavier a/c. have you ever noticed that most passenger jet landings are carbon copies, thats because they are more predictable and therefore easier to land.

 

I fly most weekends and do about 10 or 20 hrs per month. Owning a rec a/c in Australia is about the same cost as owning and running two or three cars but its much more that 3 cars' worth of fun.

 

 

[Guest vhinov]

Decca and Querty.

 

I had my next lesson today. We did some instrument flying, but most of the fun was from the grownd refference maneuvers that my instructor Alex showed me. It is tricky i tell you. :-) I can not even fly arrownd a barn in a nice smooth circle :-) Closer to the grownd more turbulence you have got. Also it get you looking outside at the refference point and you have to feel the pitch and the behaviour of the plane. Got to watch this altitude. The airspeed was always very important for me but how easy is it not to pay enough attention when you have your eyes elsewhere. I stopped worriing abot the bank as much since it varies and you can roughly see it and also feel if it is getting too steep. Better learn to add power rather then pull on that yolk if loosing altitude with too steep of a turn. Well here I am thinking that I am doing a pretty good job with it since Alex mentioned it several times, proudly entering the pattern for landing, thinking this time I am going to nail the last turn to final. Ha. I overshot it by at least 45 degrees and imagine me comming to the runway doing S turns at the last moment. At least I did not loose airspeed so I can write you now. :-) But it was the most independant landing that I have done so far. Of course assited by Alex but less so then the last time. Next time we will be learning the pattern and I have to start doing it wright. It seems like the good landing depends mainly on the good approach and patern flying. I will take your advice and start going mentaly over every lession that I have. Not that I have not been doing it so far but I will make it a special point and in a way sharing the experience here with you can help me sort it our. Your replys and advices are greatly appreciated. I also feel that one of the pleasures of flying is sharing your experience with people who have the same passion.

 

All the best to you!

 

Viktor