Why did you learn to fly?

[pikey]

Following on from the thread asking for advice on where to learn to fly, I'm trying to understand WHY one should do it?

So far I've picked up:

• Sociable
• Can fly over a mates house, but this soon gets boring for £200 a pop
• Useful as a starting point to become a commercial pilot, but only if you want to and have £75k
• Not much good to fly your family to the South of France as it will cost more than £1000
• Once people have the licence it soon expires (and so doesn't seem worth it?)

Not from a pessimistic viewpoint, but why should one do this? I've always wanted to, but don't really have a reason to (and would like one!)

Thanks

Ben

[Fidgits]

so you can save 400 lives when the pilots, who both got food poisioning from eating the fish, die, leaving the plane with no-one to fly it but you.... you hero

[anonymous-user]

Fun?

[Gylen]

To fight crime?

[Buster Bakdorzin]

To escape from crocodiles. On those occasions when you find yourself with naught but an aircraft to make your getaway.

[GTIR]

Fidgits said:

so you can save 400 lives when the pilots, who both got food poisioning from eating the fish, die, leaving the plane with no-one to fly it but you.... you hero

what about the auto pilot?

[Buster Bakdorzin]

Gylen said:

To fight crime?

Or seagulls!

[ewenm]

To beat the traffic.

[Jasandjules]

To bomb things?

[minimax]

oh come on, it's to pull girls!

[MonkeyHanger]

Parachute failure ?

[Deltaf01]

minimax said:

oh come on, it's to pull girls!

Ive got a tow rope for that.

[DIW35]

I took up gliding - more challenging and a lot cheaper.

[Buster Bakdorzin]

To tow gliders to great heights...

[anonymous-user]

DIW35 said:

I took up gliding - more challenging and a lot cheaper.

Gliding is easy peasy, that's why children and girls learn to fly in them.

[645ci]

DIW35 said:

I took up gliding - more challenging and a lot cheaper.

Gliding is proablly the easiest think in the flying area.

I've done about 12 hours in Cranwell, mostly acrobatics, but the thrill and smiles you get are jsut plain incredible!

Nothing puts a bigger smile on my face than sitting in one of those planes and doing loop the loops and barrel rolls, ahhhh

Proablly one of the most passionate industry to ever work in imo.

[Buster Bakdorzin]

El stovey said:

DIW35 said:

I took up gliding - more challenging and a lot cheaper.

Gliding is easy peasy, that's why children and girls learn to fly in them.

Isnt flying also relatively easy, only becoming more complex as air law, metereology and the other half dozen studies inc navigation etc, come into play before getting ones license? On all the occassions that Ive flown fixed wing microlights and light aircraft, I had the controls and all inputs until 20 feet off the ground on final approach, as most people do Id imagine.

Sure, it takes a lifetime to become proficient, but I cant see why women/kids would find a glider easier to handle(?) - but then ive never done any gliding...

[645ci]

Buster Bakdorzin said:

El stovey said:

DIW35 said:

I took up gliding - more challenging and a lot cheaper.

Gliding is easy peasy, that's why children and girls learn to fly in them.

Isnt flying also relatively easy, only becoming more complex as air law, metereology and the other half dozen studies inc navigation etc, come into play before getting ones license? On all the occassions that Ive flown fixed wing microlights and light aircraft, I had the controls and all inputs until 20 feet off the ground on final approach, as most people do Id imagine.

Sure, it takes a lifetime to become proficient, but I cant see why women/kids would find a glider easier to handle(?) - but then ive never done any gliding...

In gliding you just need to know less whereas preparations on properaller driven aircraft is alot longer and more vigrous etc and there is quite alot more you need to know.

With gliding you just need to know the basics, navigation, thermals , ridge and wave lift etc .... and its generally easier to fly imo.

[Buster Bakdorzin]

645ci said:

Buster Bakdorzin said:

El stovey said:

DIW35 said:

I took up gliding - more challenging and a lot cheaper.

Gliding is easy peasy, that's why children and girls learn to fly in them.

Isnt flying also relatively easy, only becoming more complex as air law, metereology and the other half dozen studies inc navigation etc, come into play before getting ones license? On all the occassions that Ive flown fixed wing microlights and light aircraft, I had the controls and all inputs until 20 feet off the ground on final approach, as most people do Id imagine.

Sure, it takes a lifetime to become proficient, but I cant see why women/kids would find a glider easier to handle(?) - but then ive never done any gliding...

In gliding you just need to know less whereas preparations on properaller driven aircraft is alot longer and more vigrous etc and there is quite alot more you need to know.

With gliding you just need to know the basics, navigation, thermals , ridge and wave lift etc .... and its generally easier to fly imo.

Random question - but with regards to aerobatics, and g-force/wing loading, are gliders wings weaker per square meter (or however it is measured) than those of smaller more compact prop driven aircraft?

[DJC]

Work rather kindly paid for me. They figured that if they were going to employ me to design aircraft it might be a good idea if I knew how they flew. I didnt object