Learning to Fly

There is nothing cooler than flying. I had my first *real* flying lesson on February 28th. It has only been a little less than 5 months but, it seems like a *lot* has happened since then. My plan had been to start taking lessons in a Cessna 172. I picked that aircraft to train in because I figured it would be the easiest thing to find to rent when I eventually get my pilot's license and it was a plane I had heard of. I had ridden in the right seat of a couple 172's when I was in high school so it felt at least a little familiar.

 The first few hours in the 172 were fun. (Really, 99% of everything I get to do in the sky is fun but, whatever.) Mostly spent learning basic maneuvers like turns, climbing, descending, stalls, etc. Gradually, introducing more and more aspects of normal flight. Learning the traffic pattern and operations around the airport and getting more comfortable with takeoffs and landings. Every lesson a little more would be added to the growing list of things to learn. Simulated engine failures seem to happen on a fairly regular basis and you never know when your instructor is going to get grabby with yanking back the throttle.

I liked the 172 but, it wasn't a match made in heaven. I swear Cessna made their planes to fit basketball players. There were two 172's available to me and each had their issues. The one pictured is a nice plane. 180 HP so it has a lot of power for a 172. Problem was I did not fit in it very well. My short little legs and equally short torso meant that I had to be sitting on a bunch of cushions to see over the instrument panel but, then my short little legs had trouble getting full rudder deflection. Added to the fact that with all those cushions the yoke is now crammed in my lap. Not very comfortable. There was another 172 that due to where the yoke was located on the instrument panel fit me a little better but, it was still a bit of a stretch. Plus, it seemed everyone liked flying those two aircraft and the way my luck went I had a fair amount of trouble getting the plane when I wanted it.

My first flight instructor that I had up to this point I found out was going to be leaving to take a job in another state. I was sad to learn this as I really enjoyed flying with him but, it opened up a window to try something new. With a new instructor and a suggestion, I was going to take a ride in a plane I had never heard of. A Diamond DA-20. With adjustable rudder pedals, I could finally be half way comfortable. I consider myself a very lucky person. Not only did I find an aircraft that fit me a hell of a lot better than the Cessna, I ended up with another amazing flight instructor.

To say I had to learn to fly all over again would be an exaggeration but, I had a fair learning curve switching from the Cessna to the Diamond. I didn't have all that much time in the 172 but, the DA-20 feels entirely different. Much lighter on the controls and a stick verses the Cessna yoke. Also, no nose-wheel steering meant I had to learn how to taxi all over again. For more than a couple hours, this was the hardest thing for me to get used to. It was like trying to drive a shopping cart with a leaf blower. 

There are things that spoil me in the Diamond though. Fuel injection means no carb heat to worry about. It has 3 flap settings to keep track of: Take-off, Landing, and none. It performs very well. It loves to fly. It more so loves to glide though. 37 feet of wingspan and a fairly light, sleek airframe. Simulated engine failures in this aircraft are almost glider lessons. My instructor yanked my power at 3,500' one day and I landed at a local airport. 8 miles away! It is also pretty. the view from the cockpit of a Diamond beats the pants off a 172. (Pictured right is the view from the right seat of a DA-40 I took last week.)

 After a few hours getting used to the new airplane, things started to get more serious. Now I have to get comfortable taking off and landing this thing and flying a proper traffic pattern. While the takeoffs aren't so bad, landings proved to be a big challenge. (They still are.) There was a point during a lesson when I was in the 172, where I landed and looked over to my instructor where with a big grin told me that the landing had been completely mine. I kind of looked at him with this gaze of joy and shock that must have been fairly comical. It took me *much* longer to get to that point in the DA-20.

Those light responsive controls that make the Diamond so much to fly when I am a few thousand feet off the ground were awesome for making me really nervous closer to the ground. The more nervous I got, the tenser I would get, and the worse I would fly. (Funny, still works that way I notice.) Add in those big glider-ey wings and some now summertime float from the heat of the runway and maybe a bit of wind, and this plane doesn't *want* to land.  I spent many a sweat filled hour up in the pattern doing lots and lots of touch and goes with my instructor.

All of this pattern work was in preparation for an aspect of my flight training that I was having a hard time wrapping my mind around. The initial solo. Basically, all I had to do was make three trips around the airport with a full stop landing and taxi back to the runway each time around. Trouble is by definition, solo requires that I have to do it by myself. I have wanted to learn how to fly really bad for a long time. When I am with my instructor I feel perfectly safe. Learning to put that same trust in myself was (is) something that was (is) harder to learn that I thought. It did get easier though. As me and my instructor spent more and more time grilling the hell out of pattern work I did start to relax a bit and become more confident. My landings were starting to not suck so bad and I had fewer and fewer instances where he had to intervene or where I heard the words "That should have been a go-around".  On June 23rd I did it. I was able to fly away with only me in the plane. (Pic above taken by my flight instructor on the ground) It was a beautiful and perfect day and it was an experience I will *never* forget.

It is just a little over a month since I solo'ed. I have flown about 12-ish hours since then and solo'ed one more time. This time out to our practice area. That flight was less joy-filled towards then end when changing winds, a mystery radio fiasco, and a jet made my trip back into the airport a little more stressful but, it worked out. Lessons are continuing adding more and more things to learn to get me to my next hurdle, cross country flight.

Had a couple random for fun flights in there too. Went up with a friend on a commercial multi-engine lesson and got to ride along in a twin engine Piper Apache. Last weekend got to take the cyclic of a R-22 helicopter for a few minutes. Also got to fly (for the second time now.) in a fancier version of the plane that I fly, the Diamond DA-40 (pictured below). So far I have had some pretty awesome opportunities. Flying is cool.