http://blog.aopa.org/leadingedge/?p=2704 A place to discuss safety-of-flight issues, procedures, techniques, and judgment. Fri, 24 May 2013 18:04:43 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1 http://blog.aopa.org/leadingedge/?p=2704&cpage=1#comment-46653 Jim Tue, 19 Jun 2012 13:58:58 +0000 http://blog.aopa.org/leadingedge/?p=2704#comment-46653 Bruce,
Thanks are due to you and the others who flew those rides on “International Learn to Fly Day”. It is a great thing to put over 200 new heads in the air, and like you I will be interested to see if that crowd results in a dozen or so new pilots by next June.
You indicated that the rides were ‘first come, first serve’ but it is not clear whether the passengers were charged for the flight. Were these run as the routine “Discovery Flight” from the local flight school, or as a free ride courtesy of local pilots? Even nine trips around the pattern would run up a nice fuel bill. It would be worth the investment, to be sure, but still many folks do not fully appreciate something they do not pay for.
I must say, I was a little surprised that I had not heard earlier about the International Learn to Fly Day; I read at least four aviation magazines, get the ePilot newsletter, and hang out at the airport every week. How did I miss this? I would gladly have volunteered at a nearby airport to supply rides, and our club’s Skylane, had there been publicity about a local event. I will be looking out for news about this next year.

]]> http://blog.aopa.org/leadingedge/?p=2704&cpage=1#comment-46425 pranesh dey Sun, 10 Jun 2012 07:48:43 +0000 http://blog.aopa.org/leadingedge/?p=2704#comment-46425 Hi Bruce,
A lifelong love affair with aviation often begins with a joyride. I had my first intro flight in 1995 in a winch-tow glider at our local airport. After that, my life, as they say, changed forever. It was early morning. I had rushed to the airport on a cycle. I was one of 200-odd students hoping to get lucky that morning. Lucky, I did get when the flight instructor waved at me to strap up. Some of the memories that have never left me: looking at flight instruments for the first time, getting airborne, scattered low clouds, view of the ground below. In flight, I was a bit disoriented. I didn’t know where the runway was or where the glider was heading. Then all of a sudden, I could see the runway straight ahead, a black narrow strip at first that gre wider and wider as the glider descended. Now and then, we come across statistics-loaded articles that worry about how the huge demand for pilots, engineers and technicians will be met in future. I feel we unnessarily worry. Intro flights in GA aircraft is the best way to meet that challenge.
Pranesh, India

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