• GluWu@lemm.ee
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    7
    ·
    5 months ago

    Flying and landing planes, and even helicopters is actually really easy. Turning them on is the complicated part. Every craft has a different startup sequence that’s like 50 steps and you’ll break something if you don’t do every step in the correct order.

    • Captain Aggravated@sh.itjust.works
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      6
      ·
      5 months ago

      Flight instructor here. It usually takes 5 or 6 flights for students to become comfortable working the startup and shutdown procedures. By the tenth time they climb in the plane I can normally say “okay start up and let’s taxi out” and that’s detailed enough instruction for them.

      It takes about 6 to 8 hours of practice flying the plane, from straight and level flight, turns, climbs, descents, slow flight, stalls etc. before I even try letting them land, and then usually another 6 to 8 hours of practice before they can put the airplane down gently more often than not.

      Landing a plane isn’t particularly easy.

      • /home/pineapplelover@lemm.ee
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        5 months ago

        Is it worth it getting a pilots license? Would it be better to just fly commercial rather than a dinky Cessna or something? I wonder if it’s a good financial decision.

        • Captain Aggravated@sh.itjust.works
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          4
          ·
          5 months ago

          Becoming a private pilot is a stunningly terrible financial decision.

          That “dinky Cessna?” I want you to imagine an 80’s Honda Accord that costs as much as a Lamborghini to buy and maintain, and that’s on top of the $8,000 or so you’ll put into training.

          A better financial decision would be to buy a brand new Lexus every time you go out of town.

          • Obi@sopuli.xyz
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            2
            ·
            5 months ago

            $8k sounds cheap, I looked into it for where I live and it was €15k minimum, probably more like 20… I gave up on that idea real quick and stuck with flight simulator and my drones haha.

            • Captain Aggravated@sh.itjust.works
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              2
              ·
              5 months ago

              All told I paid about $5,000 for my private pilot certificate in the early 2000s, though everything is more expensive and the US dollar is cheaper now. Since you used Euro, I wouldn’t be surprised if it is cheaper in America; we get a lot of commercial pilot students from around the world at places like ERAU.

              • Obi@sopuli.xyz
                link
                fedilink
                arrow-up
                1
                ·
                5 months ago

                Yeah that would make sense, car licenses are also much easier/cheaper in the US so I guess this is an extension of the same logic. Anyway the older I get the more anxious I become when flying (even commercial), and my vertigo keeps getting worse, so it’s probably for the best haha.

                • Captain Aggravated@sh.itjust.works
                  link
                  fedilink
                  English
                  arrow-up
                  1
                  ·
                  5 months ago

                  One interesting thing: American private pilots are trained in night VFR as a basic requirement, so any American private pilot can fly at night under VFR rules. In other countries, it either requires additional training or they do not allow VFR at night at all and so to fly at night you must be instrument rated.

    • sp3tr4l@lemmy.zip
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      3
      ·
      5 months ago

      This is the most correct answer.

      The silliest answer is that the most difficult part of flying a plane is attempting to taxi while avoiding Blimps buzzing the tower at Mach 2.

      =P