Well...it finally happened. After 4 years of school in preparation for Mission aviation I took my first flight as a student. Not to say that the last 4 years haven't been in preparation as well, but this is the first time flying.
Let me share some of my first impressions.
1. In an airplane you steer with your feet only while on the ground. It is tempting at times to turn the yoke, however that doesn't get you anywhere.
2. There is a flurry of activity around this airport, airplanes taking off and landing and even cars driving on and around the taxi ways.
3. Radio communication is fast and abbreviated and i have to strain my ears whether people are trying to talk to me.
4. Our class has deemed the radio push-to-talk button as the "brain erase" button. As soon as you key that button to talk to the tower, your mind draws a blank.
5. There are too many checklists to remember. We memorize our checklists and then only use the written down version to double check all that we've done. My mind is swimming with checklists.
Overall the first flight was a lot of fun and i'm looking forward to going back up tomorrow. It looks like i will be flying about an hour every day for the next month.
The days are long and go somewhat like this.
0545-Alarm
0605-Bike to school (4.5) miles and shower at school
0645- Chapel
0730- First group of guys go flying the rest of the guys study
0900- 2nd group of guys fly
1030- 3rd group of guys fly
1200-lunch
1230-fly again if the weather is ok...otherwise briefings with instructors
1400-1545 class time
1545- make sure airplanes are fueled and ready for the next day and
1630-bike home
So overall it's usually a 10 to 11 hour day with homework afterwards. It is difficult and busy but its also fun.
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