A flying start to flight school

A flying start to flight schoolHave you ever dreamt of flying a plane? Do youfantasize being up in the wide open blue skies?Well you donot have to dream any longer. Todaynumerous flight schools offer lessons in flyingfor people planning a career in aviation or forthose just wanting to have some fun. Whatever yourreason may be, learning how to fly can be anexperience that you'll cherish for the rest ofyour life.Learning to fly is divided into two parts: Ground

school and flight school. Ground school teachesyou the necessary knowledge and principles thatyou will put to use when flying an aircraft.Lessons on basic navigation, aerodynamics and thelike are taught here. After the lessons, studentsare expected to take a 60-question multiplechoice test where a passing grade of 70% isrequired.When you begin taking lessons in flight school,it is important to choose the right instructor.An older and more experienced pilot may not be thebest choice. This kind of instructor may notalways relate to newbies and may therefore findit hard to explain the lessons step by step. Youmight learn more from a newer pilot who is ableto understand what you have doing wrong and showyou the necessary steps to improve your skills.But the most important thing of all is to choosesomeone who you will enjoy taking lessons from.The costs of flying lessons are around $70-100 an

hour for the aircraft and $35 for the instructor.Usually the average amount of time it takes fora person to finish all the lessons is about 45hours but for most people it takes them 60-80hours.The whole course can be summed up into phases. Thefirst are the pre-solo lessons which teach you thebasics in flying a plane. It involves planeinspection before flight, taxiing to the runway,take-off and landing the aircraft on your own.When the student has a sound knowledge of thebasics the next phase will begin which is flyingsolo. In this phase the student needs to recognizedifferent weather patterns, in order to determinesuitable flying conditions, and master airporttraffic operations. Students also learn tofamiliarize themselves with the mechanicalworkings of the aircraft during the lessons.The next step involves the different maneuvers ofthe aircraft. Learning how to climb, roll and

strafe are just some of the lessons taught here.The last and the most enjoyable part is flyingcross-country. You are first accompanied by theinstructor during the first few tries and thenyou're on your own to fly. This phase can be themost exciting part as you are nearing thecompletion of your flying lessons. You can thencontinue to pursue your private pilotcertification through taking the practical testand passing the FAA examination.