Why are you a pilot?

"You haven't seen a tree until you've seen its shadow from the sky" --Amelia Earhart
 
Since I started pilot training, I feel I am more organized. I have daily lists that I check off, throwing away personal clutter from the house, detail oriented at work, and better communication with relationships.

Amazing what the training has done for me.
 
Last edited:
Sport Pilot said:
Since I started pilot training, I feel I am more organized. I have daily lists that I check off, throwing away personal clutter the house, detail oriented at work, and better communication with relationships.

Amazing what the training has done for me.
Click to expand...

I feel im a much better driver, being trained in maintaining situational awareness..
 
Aaron Trueblood said:
I just love aviation. Always have and always will. The opportunities it can present is crazy. It's hard for me to explain.
Click to expand...

No need to explain with this group, we understand that portion we cant explain in words that draws us skyward
 
The old saying is "Time flies when you're having fun." All I know is an hour long flight lesson generally seems about 5 minutes long. Five minutes on my simulator feels like an hour. However, electricity is a lot cheaper than Avgas!

Also, I did the rotation. I flew those old balsa gliders, balsa wood and doped tissue paper rubber band powered free flight models, balsa and paper U-Control models, balsa only U-Control, balsa and paper free flight, and balsa and paper and plastic RC planes.

This was while Dad was building Cessnas at the Wichita factory.
 
I was bored and didn't feel good.

Rewind to summer 2002. I was hanging out at a buddies place, and suddenly did not feel well, told work I probably wouldn't be in the next morning. Crashed at his place, and woke up feeling OK the next morning. Was about a 45 minute drive from his place to mine, and I drove past Z98 again, which I probably drove past 1200+ times, since I also used to drive past there nearly every day en route to my previous job. Today, I said "what the hell, let's learn how to fly a plane, I need a new challenge." So I stopped in, said I wanted to learn how to fly, and they said not so fast, let's do an intro flight first to make sure you're up for it.
"OK, can we do it now?"
"Sure."
So I went up with a guy named Chris in a Cherokee 140 and we did the intro flight thing. I nailed all my turns and whatever else he had me do while we were up and coming back to the airport he asks if I want to land the plane. He talks me through the checklist, and he never touches a thing. I nail the landing, taxi and park and buy the Jeppesen pack they were selling.

Less than 3 months later I was signed off for the check ride. At the time I was also in the middle of training/teaching MA and the next spring there was a seminar in Charleston, WV. I was thinking this is sweet, I can rent a plane, go to different seminars, get a bunch of training and flying in. Well that trip I got weathered out. That month I started working on IR. The flight school sold off its planes and closed down in the middle of my IR training, but by the next spring (2004) I was signed off for IR. In the meantime I had looked at how much I had spent on plane rentals over the past year, and saw I was on the wrong side of the renter/owner line. Passed my IR ride and that week I was on a plane to Charlotte, NC to pick up a Cherokee 180.

A year later I did an XC trip in that plane trip that covered 4000+ miles, 18 states, and 40+ hours. My dad, who always wanted to fly since he was little (I had no such compulsion) decided after seeing me do all this, he was going to get his certificate. He was talking about how he wouldn't be able to do the flight training because of his work schedule. I opened my mouth up and before I could finish my sentence he said deal. So within the next year I got my commercial and CFI and started training my dad. While all that was going on, we had the whole 6Y9 acquisition and reopen and I was an airport manager as of the summer of 2006. Then in 08 I got my ASES, and in 10 I got my AMEL. I've since sold the 180 and acquired a Comanche.

Now, I'm just invested in it and keep doing it.
 
Fun. Challenge. And a little bit of adventure. A big dose of wonder at how cool it is to travel so far so fast with a great view . Even 120 kt is fast compared to driving.
 
An early immersion in model aircraft with my Dad instilled a lifelong fascination with everything that flies. My Dad liked designing and building things, especially electronic stuff. His modeling buddy liked flying things, especially engines.

My focus tended to be on airframes, birds and soaring. Engines and motors were a distraction. Nothing more beautiful than a hand launch glider thrown to maximum height, immediately establishing a left hand circle, fluttering in a bit of convection and flying out of sight on a morning thermal.

I’m a pilot because it allows me to continue to play with aircraft. I flew gliders until I got my fill. Now my focus is on the joy of exploring the ocean of air we fly in and enjoying the view of earth from above.

(I bet I answered this question earlier... will have to go back and see what I said then)


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro
 
Sport Pilot said:
Why are you a pilot?
Click to expand...
Why WOULDN'T I be a pilot?
A real man is not afraid to kill a spider, ride a horse, motorcycle, shift a stick or fly a plane.
Those who can't, have to get married or pay professionals (real men) to do it for them.
Those of us here are lucky that we were born with this gift of all these being natural to us. Not everyone is so lucky. Majority of the population isn't.
We should be happy we can fly planes. *thumbup*
 
Long story short, I want to become an airline pilot. I've been fascinated by aviation ever since I was little.
I was able to start flying last year, and the moment those wheels left the runway, I knew this is what I want to do as a career.
 
Until recently I thought this was a DaVinci quote, its usually attributed to him, though evidence is not there it was actually him, but from a theatrical reenactment of his life, regardless I love the quote and every one of us here "gets it"

"For once you have tasted flight you will forever walk with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been and there you will long to return.. "

Story of my life :)
 
I was always fascinated by the clip "High Flight" and the narration of the poem written by Maj. Gillespie that was shown at midnight before the TV test pattern and sign-off. I was mesmerized by that F-104 rolling through the sky accompanied by the narration and music. I would sneak into the living room after everyone was asleep and turn on the TV just to watch it and sneak back to bed. I later tried to join the military to fly jets and was turned down because of colorblindness. I later earned my Private and learned that flying Cessnas and Pipers was more than enough of a challenge for me! I believe that something small triggers a fascination with flying and once the hook is set, it's set for life.
 
Huckster79 said:
I was 5 on a trip to Arizona from Michjgan, security was of course far different and part way into the flight the flight attendant asked if i would like to see the cockpit, and i strode on up. I instantly was overwhelmed in aww of all those guages and dials and the captai turned around and say, "hey there Tiger" ...
Click to expand...

Was the co-pilot about 7 feet tall and introduced himself as "Kareem"?;)

Ravioli said:
Truth be told, I got my PPL because I was a really ****ty golfer!
Click to expand...

Same thing here, wife bought clubs and said quit working so much ... didn't like golf much ... still have the clubs, my son uses them occasionally.
 
I always wanted to fly. One of my earliest memories was going for a ride on some guy's little high-wing... this would have been the early 60s, I couldn't have been more than 3 or 4. Always wanted to be a fighter pilot. Built and flew R/C planes with Dad the whole time I was growing up... he never liked flying though. Was crushed when I found out that the military wouldn't let me fly with my -6 (and worse) correction. No LASIK back then, you know. Stupidly decided that if I couldn't fly, I didn't want to work on the planes either. I was a dumb-ass kid. Got married, had kids, had more kids, had another kid, didn't have the money or time to learn to fly until I was past 50.
 
I guess it all started in the early '30s. I believe 1932, when my grandpa brought home his brand spankin' new Eaglerock Longwing. (see avatar)
Fast forward to the '60s, when as a toddler (about 3 or 4 years old), I was "helping" My Dad, and Uncle, make repairs to the Lockheed flying clubs Cub that had nosed over due to a tailwind gust while taxiing. Then a year or two later restoring the V-77 in our basement. That v-77 was a fine family traveling machine, while the kids were all young. But as we got older, we got bigger. So dad sold his share of the Stinson to my uncle, and bought into a T-50 project, and a parts bird. 5 years of hard labor later, we had a fully restored, to better than new twin Cessna. And yet another fine family hauler, and a bit faster than the Stinson. We flew that bird on many adventures. Dad got a 2nd place trophy at a fly-in with it, and we all had a blast flying it.
About the time 80 octane was being phased out, and Avgas went up to about 75 cents a gallon, Dad decided he needed to sell out, for something more economical. All us kids were more or less grown, and out on our own, (except me, the youngest) so he could downsize. enter the '56 182 that he kept into the 2000s.
So, I guess you could say "it runs in the family". :cool:
 
So I could look down on people.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top