Flyin for the first time

[NavyOCS]

I went flying for the first time this afternoon. It was a blast. We were in a little low wing Cherokee. I got to take off and almost land. Up to about the last 30 feet or so and then my buddy took control. Its not as easy as I thought it would be even keeping the plane straight and level. I was always overcorrecting. He would tell me to turn to a certain heading keeping the plane at 1500ft. I would always lose altitude :icon_tong I actually had control for about 45 min. How may hours does it take to start to get the hang of the yoke and judging how much to correct? Cant wait to do it again.

 

[mules83]

It is different for many people. Only time will tell. I usually have my students doing everything (with me right there with them giving "ghost" inputs to the controls) by the third/fourth flight. Some people take hours upon hours to get it and some take minutes, just stick with it.

 

[beau]

I'm not a CFI, but I could tell you that for some it just clicks right away, and others it takes a while....and others still dont get it.

Personally I started flying on a computer (a flight simulator) when I was in sixth grade and by the time I had my frist real flight...it felt really natural. I swear to god that flight simulators will help you....if only to a degree. Especially if you are only talking about monkey skills. I'm not saying be a computer nerd, but try some flight simulators......some of the ones these days (even WW2 types) are much more realistic then sims of the past.

Ask your instructor if the FBO has a flight sim for students...

 

[nugget81]

I am a CFI and I can see a correlation between those who play aviation simulator games and those who do not. Given that there are exceptions to every rule, but the students who've played around typically know a little more in the early stages of training. Instead of "Oh WOW! Push the stick forward and the houses get bigger, pull back and they get smaller," there isn't a strong need to reinforce the basic fundamentals of flight as much. I played nintendo games like Pilotwings, Top Gun, AfterBurner, etc and my first flight instructor said that I was a natural also. Little did he know that I was just some 15 year old prophead...

 

[mules83]

Some of my friends who play flight sim. all the time (the ones who go to riddle) say that they can land a better crosswind than i can if we both go flying real airplanes (Im always flying the real things, not computers). They think flight sim is that accurate. I say b.s. but games like that do help with procedures, and getting the basics, but nothing can beat the real thing.

 

[eddie]

I'm learning to glide, and I'll tell ya' that flight simulators, if played copiously sans rudder-pedals, will give you bad habits. Of course, this is coming from a guy who thinks that, on the computer, a landing is a mini dive bombing run in which recovery is the flare.

But yeah, flying is quite a good time. This last weekend was my first time in an instructional setting, and I can't wait to get up again.

 

[NavyOCS]

Lucky for me this is my buddy giving me lessons and I am just paying for gas money, which last time was about $33.00 for about 1.2 hours. I called the int'l airport and they want $90 an hour!

 

[squeeze]

I'll tell ya' that flight simulators, if played copiously sans rudder-pedals, will give you bad habits.

uh ya... REAL airplanes have aileron-rudder interconnects that coordinate turns for you, so you don't mess with the rudder much in flight.

 

[DairyCreamer]

uh ya... REAL airplanes have aileron-rudder interconnects that coordinate turns for you, so you don't mess with the rudder much in flight.

I've never met a 172 with which I didn't have to coordinate turns by stepping on the rudder.

~Nate

 

[Fly Navy]

uh ya... REAL airplanes have aileron-rudder interconnects that coordinate turns for you, so you don't mess with the rudder much in flight.

Not.... really. Larger, complex, high performance.... yeah....... not so in the GA fleet. Unless you're flying a Beech Muskateer.

 

[squeeze]

wasn't referring to bug smashers

 

[eddie]

uh ya... REAL airplanes have aileron-rudder interconnects that coordinate turns for you, so you don't mess with the rudder much in flight.

But the glider does fly, even if it isn't a REAL airplane. That you must concede.

 

[DairyCreamer]

wasn't referring to bug smashers

I see, so the mainstay of the GA training syllabus isn't a "real" airplane eh? Mwahahah

I think you need to get into some pretty hefty / expensive aircraft before the rudder really becomes a non-issue for normal operations.

~Nate

 

[virtu050]

yeah cessna's require a lot of rudder input. so do t-34's. if you fly t-44's not so much.. but a lot of elevator trim. p-3's are a trim whore and very difficult to get stable.