Flight School

Last week I took a class at the OSU Flight School - what it takes to be a private pilot. Lots of good information plus getting to sit in a couple of Cessnas and a Piper. To top it off, we had the chance to do a flight simulation. I did pretty well for not knowing much of anything about flying or the instruments. Take-off and flying were fairly easy...the landing is a whole other story with many things to keep under control. I did what they call a porpoise landing - wheels hit and bounce up and go back down just like a porpoise jumping out of the water. Then I forgot that on the ground, the pedals control the plane. Oops, my bad! The virtual emergency services were probably called to the scene...the instructor wisely reset the program before I could stop the plane. I hope that wasn't my entrance exam!

I won't be enrolling into flight school any time soon mostly due to the financial cost. But I am not totally eliminating the option. It takes 6-8 months to get a private pilot's license if doing lessons on a weekly basis. I want to do a "test" flight with an instructor who will take me up in a plane for 30-40 minutes so I experience what it is really like. Then I would need to check out possible scholarships/sponsors or private pilot jobs available around town to see if I could recoup my investment compared to it being a "hobby" (too pricey for that). There are 4 or 5 airports in/around the Columbus area besides CMH plus so many more in Ohio than I ever realized.