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first flight

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By the way,
Do any of you fly near the Atlanta/Athens area, say Ben Epps or PDK or Gwinnett Airport? If you do, let me know and I'll try to get a private message over to you if you''re logged on.
-eriknorth
 
Congratulations! You're obviously hooked & going to love flying. Don't worry about not having a ground school to go. Everybody has their own way of learning - some like the classroom format, some like videos & some like to just grab the books. Whatever works for you; personally I like to just read about it, ask questions & chat with all of the pilots I know.

There are lots of good books to learn the theory. Jeppesen integrates the FAA knowledge test (i.e. written) questions into their textbook. Also get one of the test books that has all of the FAA questions. The books do a good job of trying to explain them. To prepare for the oral, I'd recommend the ASA books that are written for this. Get the PTS and know what you'll have to fly on the check ride, including the tolerances.

There are lots of good suggestions in all of these posts. I'd like to echo the comments about being prepared for a lesson as the cockpit is a lousy classroom. After a lesson, ask the instructor what you'll do next time so you can be prepared. And take notes right after a lesson so you can refer to them later.

Lots of luck & enjoy.
 
Congratulations!

I'll throw my .02 in here as well,

Erik - congrats! I'd be willing to wager that everyone on here probably will never forget his/her first flight at the controls.

Not to overwhelm you with advice, but of everything stated in previous threads, make SURE you get along with your instructor! I had to switch instructors several times. Most were good, even great, but there were a few bad apples along the way. Don't be afraid to step up to the plate and respectfully ask to try flying with someone else if things aren't working out.

I like the Jeppesen textbooks - expensive, yes, but you might be able to find them in a library if you don't have the $ to burn right away, otherwise used is a good way to go also.

Congratulations again, and keep us updated on your progess. It's nice to read threads like this one when so many people are out of work otherwise!

-brew3
 
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Congrats!

I remember my first flight and my solo! What a time, I was 15 years old and soloed on my 16th birthday.

There is a great deal to learn now for you, the hardest part of all, is to get the written out of the way.

The time to start studying is now, don't fall into the trap of being ready for your checkride but still struggling with the book work.

Ask questions, and by all means hang around the airport with all the airport bums and get to know people, usaually the local airport is a real good place to hangout.

It has been sometime now since all my initial training days and there may be better tools out there now but, I used to use the King video series to prep for my instrument written and checkride. Check into them, they were really informative and answered alot of questions. They are available for most ratings I think.

Also, I used to live in Atlanta and did a ton of flying around there, If I can help you out let me know.

Happy flying,
LR25
 
One thing you might want to do, and there will probably be some disagreement on this, is buy Microsoft Flight Sim 2002....If you have a decent computer and video card.

The flight sim is not nearly as good for your private lesson as it is for instruments, but you could learn the layout of the panel and what the instruments mean, you can practice your preflight checks, and you can learn VOR navigation, reading a DME, setting radios, and even some ATC lingo.

Plus, the graphics are great.
 
Thanks guys,
I have been reading a whole lot, and I realistically won't be able to start my formal training until this summer when I'm out of school and can work all the time. I do indeed own FS 2002, and I love it. It helped me a lot on my forst flight, as I have played it for hours upon hours so I was familiar with the controls and some of the basics and lingo. Hey LR25, I'm trying to decide between PDK and Gwinnett Airports. Any advice? Thanks again, yall, and I'll keep you posted.
eriknorth
 
I did my PPL at PDK. At the time I was working in downtown Atlanta and it was somewhat on the way home from work. I could also take extended lunch and get some practice in.

At the time, they told me PDK was the second busiest general aviation airport in the US. Its very intimidating at first.

I remember going out for a lesson at 5:30 pm and sitting behind five or six business jets and a few single engine props waiting for clearance. They had parallel runways operating and often they were on separate frequencies. It was overwhelming initially.

The downside to PDK is

1) You will spend a lot of money sitting in an airplane waiting for take off clearance.

2) Its roughly a 10 minute flight to the practice area or Gwinnett where we did all our touch and goes (I am sure Gwinnett has grown by now...back in early 90s, it was uncontrolled). You will spend more money flying to and from the practice area.

3) You will almost always need to fly somewhere else to practice touch and goes. Sunday mornings I could stay in the pattern at PDK.

4) The radio communications will take a while to learn.

The upside to PDK is

1) Once you have your private from PDK, you will not be intimidated when you need to talk to a controller. You will be confident enough to fly into almost any GA airport in the country.

I remember one time as a student pilot entering the pattern. The controller told me to expedite my landing because he had a jet on final. I was so worried about expediting the landing that I forgot to slow down and put down the flaps. Then I wondered why I was doing 90 knots over the approach end of the runway.

I floated about halfway down the runway at 10 feet and finally landed. I should have gone around, but I just had it in my mind that I had to land.
 
LZU or PDK???

PDK is a very busy airport and you will absolutely be thrown into:

1) ATC communication procedures
2) Parallel runways / intricate taxiways
3) Holding short of the runway and waiting most of the time...

Now, take Gwinett (LZU). They have a tower, so you will get experience with class D airspace. Also, they are really close to their practice areas, so you won't spend much money getting to / from or even waiting.

Tell you what, though... Above and beyond choosing an airport, you really want to pay attention to what flight school you choose. Even more important than that is the flight instructor you go with.

~Flyer7SA
 
Thanks for the advice. I think that I'm going to go with Gwinett or even Athens, depending on things. I went to the UGA flight club meeting last night, which was only the second one ever. We are planning at least one big trip where we take our "armada" of planes to the beach or something for a few days. We're trying to raise money for this. On thing we are doing is holding a raffle in the campus student center for a free discovery flight. That way, it is recruiting and fund raising. We are trying to think of ideas for fund raising, so if any of you have any ideas or have even done this type of thing before, please let me know. I know from my high school band days that car washes are a big fund raiser. Hmmm....what if we stood on the runway at Hartsfield Airport with a sign that reads, "free jet wash, donations accepted".....:D
 

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