Do we have any pilots in the house?

[Ian]

I've been thinking for a while about how proper badass it would be to fly a jet.

Anyone have any experience?

What type of planes do you fly?

Is it hard to get your hands on a fighter jet?

I imagine it to be a ridiculously expensive and time-consuming hobby. Is that correct?

[Ian]

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/328891/th ... _jet_ever/

No need to reiterate how awesome fighter jets are. That's obvious.

[Gary]

Kind of a side tangent but...

My son is attending an aviation trade high school provide through the county we live in. It's a free public charter school. So when he graduates he will have a ground clearance license. These kids can get training towards being a pilot, engineer or mechanic.

I'm so jealous!

[Darthwing Teorist]

I am going for a 40 min motorglider ride in 2 weeks. I will get the chance to pilot it for a bit.

[Ian]

dude I might get the chance to go for a glider joyride in a week. fingers crossed.

gary, I'm jealous too!

[Steve James]

First thing you need to do is join AOPA. Get their magazine, and you'll find flight schools and teachers in your area. In general, you can get a "visual flight" rating for $3,000, maybe less. That'd be divided into flight hours. I.e., you pay for the training, then you work out when you can get the hours. There's some home-schooling you have to do, even though you'd only be going for a VFR (a visual flight rating) that would allow you to fly during the day under clear conditions. To get an "IFR" (instrument flight rating), it will take a lot more hours and training, and will cost more. So, if you've got the cash, you can go to school and become a jet pilot. Unless you're being training by a carrier, however, you'll have to pay for all your time. With fuel prices the way they are, jet training will cost even more.

Your first step is AOPA. Btw, most if not all filght schools will take you up --in order to get you into a class-- for less than $100. They might even let you take off, but they'll give you the controls while you're up.

I wish I had the time to finish my training, but family things got in the way.

Best of luck. Let me know when they rip off your shirt-tail. You'll find out what that means someday.

[Darthwing Teorist]

Ian is not from the USA, but I guess that overall the procedure is similar in most countries (except for details).

[Steve James]

Ooops, I don't know jack squat about how other countries do it. The training procedure, as far as schooling goes (i.e., the things that every pilot absolutely "MUST" study are the same. Straight and level flight: If you can do that, you're good ... enough. But, that means learning how to control and adjust for pitch, roll and yaw; and to understand what that is, ground school is necessary. You've got to understand "air speed" (aopt ground speed), "attitude" and "angle of attack." To manage those, you need to control throttle and pitch (of airframe and propeller). Jets are way harder because of the higher speed. Well, referring back to 9/11, once you're off the ground, you can program the plane to go whereever you want with the autopilot and auto-wing leveller. What I'd bet 1000 bucks you couldn't do is land that baby. Anyway, long and drawn out way to say that the basic principles of flight (the 4 forces) are universal. Different machines, however, react differently --which is why there's always a knee pad that gives specific details for the rig you're flying. Sorry, this may be my oldest hobby. I've even been privileged to meet some of the Tuskegee Airmen.

Anyway, whew, fwiw, Ian can go to an local airport in his area and probably find an instructor. There'll be ads for them hanging up. Instructors are always looking for work.

[Steve James]

Hey, I just remembered. There are ground schools that come as DVD training programs. There are some flight schools that allow you to study online, as well. Though, I think you'll have to go to the airport to take the written test. Google "on line flight schools" or something like that, and I'll bet you find something (in English, too). Also, almost every pilot has used or studied on a pc flight simulator. There is a free one online somewhere --I just haven't been looking, but I know it's there. It's different from Microsoft FS --which is actually quite good.

Here, I did the google on my other browser. This may help:

FirstFlight virtual flight school and flying lessonsFirst Flight is a virtual flight school providing online flying lessons and information about private pilot training.
http://www.firstflight.com/ - 19k - Cached - Similar pages

Student Pilot - Flight Training OnlineThe one stop teaching tool for student pilots on the web.
http://www.studentpilot.com/ - 22k - Cached - Similar pages
flighttraining.aopa.org - Learn to Fly - Be a Pilot, Student Pilot ...This section—like an online tutor—will give student pilots like you lots of flight training resources, tips on flying lessons, information on flight tests, ...
http://www.flighttraining.aopa.org/ - 19k - Cached - Similar pages

AOPA Online: Learn to FlySearch AOPA's Airport Directory for flight schools near you. ... Learn about AOPA Flight Training magazine and a free offer for student pilots. ...
http://www.aopa.org/learntofly/ - 21k - Cached - Similar pages

AOPA Online - Search For A Flight SchoolIf you do not find a flight school that you feel should be listed in this directory, or you believe information presented to be incorrect, please let us ...
http://www.aopa.org/learntofly/school/index.cfm - 24k - Cached - Similar pages

Just Flight Schools Online Aviation Training Directory

[Ian]

Steve, thanks a lot. Really appreciate the time you took to give me all that info. I'll think it over. Cheers.

[Steve James]

My pleasure, Ian. Really, get yourself a good flight sim. If you've got the cash, also get a yoke and rudder pedals (CH Products made a great set. You could try to find some on ebay. They'd be about $200 bucks ... well, that's what they used to cost. But, if you really want to practice, they're the only way to go. I.e., if you want to translate skills from the sim to the class (or vice versa), you should be using relatively similar controls.

However, when people get sims, they often get flight-sticks or HOTAS controls because they want to play combat simulations (and that's the way combat aircraft generally have their controls. Okay, P-38s use yokes, if you wanna be picky). The only thing that rudder pedals and yoke don't have is "force feedback" --but the sticks often do. The ff sticks are not as accurate for combat sims (because you feel the plane shake when cannons are fired, for ex., making it harder to aim).

Flight sims can cut down on your ground school time ... because you can practice on your own. I wouldn't be surprised if most schools had their own or recommended one.

[Darthwing Teorist]

Yes, you are right about flight sims. A few years back, there was a kid who passed flight school with very little real practice because he used to play MS Flight Simulator.

[chud]

Yes, you are right about flight sims. A few years back, there was a kid who passed flight school with very little real practice because he used to play MS Flight Simulator.

I have the old MS Flight Simulator, the good one they used to carry before 9/11.
It has very detailed video tutorials, I don't doubt that someone could pass flight school with it.

[Darthwing Teorist]

I did the motorglider thing a few weeks ago. I forgot to post about.

I think that "WOWEEE!!!" sums it up nicely.

It was awesome. I got to control it with engine on and off. We did a tour of a a small mountain, a slalom between the clouds and I even got to make a tight turn. We followed a river. I got to do quite a bit of piloting. We tried climbing a thermal, but the weather was too calm, no big thermals.

When we landed, I had a big smile on my face, like a kid. I will eventually put the pics on Facebook and post the links here.



PS:

It was one of the single most awesomest things that I did in my life!

[Ian]

Nice!

I didn't get to take that ride after all.

Green with envy, I am!