What do you love about flying?

[Mike Litoris]

Everyone, especially newbies, say they love flying.

My question to everyone is what do you love about flying?

For me it is freedom, i love nothing more than going for a hire and fly, to enjoy the view and to forget about life on the ground. No one but ATC telling you what to do or where to go. (plus no traffic lights - I hate those)!!

Also, have any of you lost the love of flying but still do it for work because it is all you know?

Blue Skies

Mike :ok:

[knox]

The aviators, stripes and the chicks.

Knox.

[aileron_69]

My all time favourite part of flying is landing, getting out, and going for a pee. After a 5 to 6 hour flight in a cramped cockpit it is without doubt one of the greatest feelings in the world!!
I think if it wasnt for the pay I would most likely go and find something else to do in all honesty tho.

[DTE]

I guess there's a limitless range of replies to this one; based on everyone's individual experience.

Just as with any career, there'll be good days and bad days. Even good decades and bad. :)

As for flying, purely and simply, without the utterence of the word "career", the answer is many things. The freedom, the ongoing challenge of something that you'll never perfect, but getting a kick out of it on the odd occasion when you get close. The ability to move in three dimensions and the chance to look down at the world from a different perspective to mean sea level. People crawl over each others' backs for the corner office; in the sky it's a different office every day.

I'm probably biased as I've enjoyed nearly every minute whether living flat broke in a caravan in the bush or sitting in Centrelink after the Ansett collapse, to watching the 'Southern Lights' in the Flight Levels. I posted an article on this very thing not long ago, but here it is again. So you want to be a pilot? An Aviation Blog by Owen Zupp. (http://www.owenzupp.com/_blog/Owen_Zupp/post/So_you_want_to_be_a_pilot_By_Owen_Zupp/)

As I said, to each their own and for their own very worthy reasons. This is just my two bob's worth.

Cheers

Owen

[Wanderin_dave]

A crosswind greaser in a Tiger Moth.

The feeling and sound of a radial coming to life.

The challenge of a new type.

Trying to twist the tail off a Yak 52.

The beer at the end of a 10 hour/12 flight day.

The list goes on and on..........:ok:

[DTE]

Well said 'Wanderin' Dave'. On all counts!

Cheers,

Owen

[Plow King]

.......the ongoing challenge of something that you'll never perfect, but getting a kick out of it on the odd occasion when you get close.

Couldn't have put it better myself :ok:

[Triple Captain]

How about those very occasional mornings when you rotate, the nose wheel just leaving the ground and you can tell straight away there is not going to be even the slightest ripple in the sky, smooth sailing.

[Wally Mk2]

As a small boy I used to pedal across the valley to EN & watch planes from the observation deck for hrs. Wander up & down the flight line of lighties dreaming, going unchallenged I might add..........ahhh the good 'ole days!That was my first mistake getting too close to those infernal machines!:)
Planes used to fly right over my house whilst I sat atop my dads wood shed with saucer sized eyes, second mistake as dad used to belt me for getting up there in the first place !:* I played with toy planes as far back as I can remember (still do) as my sister wouldn't let me join in with the 3 girls next door playing 'house':E,third mistake as I could have got my fingers burnt before I became a pilot!!:oh:
Finally when I grew up (debatable I know!) I got a pilots license having worked in & around planes & for many many years aviation ruled my life, not anymore though. Oh I still enjoy flying hope I always do but it's just a job these days that happens to be still connected to that boy that's still in me dreaming all those years ago!:ok:




Wmk2

[Fondair]

The aviators, stripes and the chicks.

Thread closed.

[DropYourSocks]

How about the end of a 12 hour duty on a Sunday arvo to find the hanger locked up, watching the sun go down knowing your friends are still recovering from the night before, and you know your job still beats a 9-5 desk job any day. Love it! :ok:

[Slasher]

Assuming its got nothing to do with any airline or airline aircraft?

That's easy - the freedom. Real pilots will know what I'm talking about.

Umpteen thousands of hours and yet I'll still count down the minutes to
when I take me PA18 out to a quiet patch of late afternoon sky and do a
few stall turns and wingovers and other fun stuff, and because of that of
course I'm always chasing last light back to the field.

For a mate's DH82 I literally count down the seconds like a kid who's told
in the morning he'll be let out of school early! :)

[Jabawocky]

Freedom and the challenge to be better next time.

Freedom......is not free.

Success does not bargain with the price.

The challenge....today's rooster, tomorrows feather duster.

Owen...:ok:

[b_sta]

Freedom.

Rotating and remembering the days (or at least I do as a kid) staring out the window of a jet and seeing the ground rush away from you and the clouds get closer and closer, imagining what it'd be like to get to do this every day (!)

Looking down on the average population and realising how lucky we are to get to see things day in and day out that the punters only wish they could.

And absolutely, the opportunity to continually increase your own precision and perfection (or at least, attempt to do so).

[aileron_69]

How about those very occasional mornings when you rotate, the nose wheel just leaving the ground and you can tell straight away there is not going to be even the slightest ripple in the sky, smooth sailing.


Either you dont fly in Australia very often or you fly really high where the bumps dont go because it is almost as rare as hens teeth that you get a day in this country that it isnt rough flying to some degree

[Ex FSO GRIFFO]

"CAUSE I CAN!!!"

:D:D:D:D:D:

(And, I have 'survived'....so far....) :}:}:p:p

Cheers:ok::ok:

[DTE]

This thread seems to have taken off a little. :)

You're right 'In the Weeds', there's something special about that flight at first light, or right on dusk. I know that they were my favourite times in the Tiger Moth.

"Owen...http://images.ibsrv.net/ibsrv/res/src:www.pprune.org/get/images/smilies/thumbs.gif" Thanks Jabawocky, I'm glad that you liked the article.

Cheers,

Owen
Owen Zupp (http://www.owenzupp.com/_blog/Owen_Zupp)

http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj92/Nostalgair/BlogSunriseatKalbarri.jpg

"Sunrise at Kalbarri"

[Shagpile]

Freedom seems to be the common theme here.

For me it is the feeling that soon as the gear is up, all the crap, idiots, emails and superfluous bull**** at work just vanishes from your life till you land :)

[Trojan1981]

It used to be flying very low, or the moment when you punch up through a layer of cloud, but to be honest my tastes have changed with more flying experience and now its just about getting places faster than I can in a car.

The greatest thrill for me would have to be jumping out! Specifically leaping from the ramp of a C-130 and going through the drills as the rush of accelleration and noise hits you! It's better off the ramp than the side door because you get the "big picture" effect just before you jump. Love it.

[waren9]

As for flying, purely and simply, without the utterence of the word "career", the answer is many things. The freedom, the ongoing challenge of something that you'll never perfect, but getting a kick out of it on the odd occasion when you get close.

Thank you Owen, couldn't have put it any better myself.

I would give 2/3rds of my pay in return for the feeling I get when you get close if it could be that way all the time.

[knox]

Freedom seems to be the common theme here.

For me it is the feeling that soon as the gear is up, all the crap, idiots, emails and superfluous bull**** at work just vanishes from your life till you land :)

Well said sagpile.
My feelings exactly. It's a bummer my sectors are super short <1hr and have to get back to the bull**** sooner.

Knox.

[frigatebird]

These days I like to share.
Have carried plenty of punters in the back in the past, and flown by myself privately a bit, but a flight like todays, when I took the son and his visiting Canadian friend to help reciprocate for past kindnesses to him, by showing them (him again, and the friend for the first time) the local sights and overview of our patch from the Cessna, then following it up by a car tour of the river, the town, and parks and sights from ground level.
Sort of makes us all feel good when the air component is included (and I've put a little back for my other joy-of-flight times)

[Avgas172]

Or being out at the Aero Club, watching the Air Ambo doing an NDB approach from the Foxbat with a new student & explaining the procedures involved from a great vantage point. Gotta love it!

[Tonym3]

Having just come back from a $100 hamburger at Mudgee (at the Blue Wren - I recommend it, easy walk from the airport) and afterwards some time at the Mudgee Nags with three friends, I can say that flying makes me feel like I am not an ant.

Ants crawl in traffic or get bussed or trained in long lines. They pour up escalators and into ant hives where they beaver for hours. Their destinies are completely set for them. This is drudgery.

Now I do some of that for some of my days. But, on the days I fly, I always smile and say "I am NOT an ant".

Today opened my friends' eyes to reveal this sensation. And I find being a part of this revelation a great joy.

I do believe there are other things that can create the same feeling - motorbikes is another one - but nothing that I have tried beats flying.
:ok:

[Aye Ess]

*Departing a cold wet foggy runway,punching up through the clouds and popping out into thousands of square kilometres of clear blue sundrenched sky....and you feel you are the only one there.
*A full moon night and your cruising level is 10 feet about overcast. The incredible rush of 'cloud surfing' at night.
* A very long wet night,no ground visual for hours,just the rain hammering on the windscreen. Down the ILS,heart rate increasing,just reach the minima and there's the lights.

There are many times when a pilot thinks 'and I get paid for this'

[Jabawocky]

..........and then you paint it! :ok:

What have you been painting lately? Any sneaky peaks?

[Aye Ess]

Patience,my little Jabba,patience....
A couple of airliners,a B727 and a Cathay B330....but no peeking :=

[machadotaughtme]

I love the grit and the grime...

...and that's just the terminal coffee

[jas24zzk]

The constant challenge and the camaradarie :ok:

[boofta]

I love the crap
The one whole month of each year spent doing ever
increasing regulatory bullsh!t
Safety days,CRM,medicals,simulators,amendments etc etc
The main challenge in aviation nowadays is sorting through
the layers of dross and regulation inflicted by pretty much
every aspect of the industry.
Whats really amazing is how we still manage to get airborne
in spite of it all. There will never be a ground career as interesting.

[Wally Mk2]

'boof' I have to 2nd that:D It's out of control!!!! They don't want pilots anymore they want circus monkeys!
The best thing about flying these days is setting the park brake:ok:


Wmk2

[Aye Ess]

Well said Boofta. The gloss goes off the career with all the paperwork,amendments,check flights,exams,simulator,upgrades,notams.

No matter how much you study,there is always "ah,BUT,what about when you....?"

I retired early at age 40 after 21 years in aviation. Have wonderful memories of the fun/exciting/rewarding times. If I start to get wistful I just think back to the the layers of dross and regulation inflicted by pretty much
every aspect of the industry. and then I'm satisfied with where I was and am now.

[frigatebird]

Can identify with your #27 post Aye Ess, but don't you and Boof and Wally go and spoil things now..
Have been treated badly by 'colleagues' in the past who I can never forgive, and been sick of the b...s... at times, but NO WAY will those experiences be allowed to overwhelm memories of the good times similar to your 27 post and the true friendships....

[Anthill]

Flying? The best thing about flying came to me on my first solo. Up until then, I was a love of aeroplanes as a machine. For some kids, it was trucks or racing cars, for me aeroplanes. For me, this love affair started on a flight (not the first) in a Pan Am B707 when I was 12 y.o. The technology, raw power and the glam cabin crew had me sold-this was for me.

My first solo was in a Bocian glider at BCS just after I turned 16. It was 42 mins long and I remember every second of it. I had started gliding aged 14 and had 30 hours dual because the club's insurance was for pilot-in-command minimum age 16.For the first time, I was cut loose for the world and fully responsible for the success or failure of the flight: master of my own destiny, fully self-reliant as a human for the first time. First solo in a Citabria 6 months later was only 7 mins, but equally enjoyable.

Solo cross country in a glider gave an even deeper feeling of solitude and self reliance. When the 'mother' airport is out of gliding distance and several thermals away, you have truely cut the umbilicus of easy gliding distance. To complete a 500km cross-country after battling and scratching for lift for 7 1/2 hours gives a sense some thing beyond pride. More like self-knowledge. Others, more spiritual, might call it Zen.

In a similar was, single pilot IFR, flying across the Bass Straight from HB with ice, low cloud, drizzle and turbulence and into MB at 3am gives you a feeling where you know that you are a fully capable human being and that your potential as an individual is being fullfilled. As a Captain, again, the application of knowledge and experience to hold sole responsibility for the flight brings about a further depth of self-realisation. To hold it together on a dark stormy night and calm a panicing FO who is insisting to land, unannounced, at a remote Pacific Island just because the single HF radio has failed en-route reinforces that flying had contributed to my life-long individual development. This personal growth may have not come about had I choosen another profession.

The recognision of 'self' in flying is no longer present in what I do. Company bankruptcy and the Seniority concept have taken the self-satisfaction that comes from running the show. For the next X number of years, perhaps for the remainder of my career, I am now the side-kick for other Captains, some have my respect, others do not. I have always looked to these who were wiser and better than I as mentors. It is resonable to approach life this way. The seniority system has given commands to those who are younger, less experienced and often possessed of a sense of entitlement extending beyond their capabilities. Why else are so many failing their upgrades?

However, to suck up this unfairness and remove myself emotionally from the inherent injustice of the industry is also to be seen as a process of self-development. At the moment, I'm basically in it for the money, but in a few years, I will be able to retire and hang out at the gliding club again. On that day, I will extend my middle finger at airline 'managers' and other self-serving industry wan&ers and get back into real flying :ok:

[Howard Hughes]

I enjoy the view!

Especially dawn, dusk and at night.:ok:

[Aye Ess]

Frigate...no intention to spoil things. Just tried to put a bit of balance in the comments,otherwise any newby reading here will think that it's just pure joy with no hard work.

I guess many of us have sat in cruise and realised that even the worst of an aviation job,is WAY better than any earth bound job.:)

[Bunyan Wingnut]

I enjoy flying my little bugsmasher - an AA5 Traveler - touring around and visiting the beaches, relishing the two hundred dollar hamburgers and good company away. I enjoy taking a few launches, towing gliders up in the Pawnee, dropping them in good thermals or in the wave lift. The fun of doing precision flying, getting it right, is so cool.

But the freedom is the thing. There is no better freedom than when flying the gliders. There are so many extraordinary sensations in soaring flight, lovely chapters of true freedom and enjoyment in a friendly sky. There a days that might feel thumpy and bumpy in the Traveler but a magnificent in a glider, particularly in my single seat sailplane which looks beautiful, feels even better and has lovely long thin flexible wings that give incredible feel for what the air is doing. You feel great sensations, excitement and pleasure as you hook into a lovely strong thermal that carries you and a few hundred kilograms of sailplane up at over ten knots towards cloudbase.

Lovely experiences abound. After flying a few hundred kays, climbing really high, setting up a safe final glide from say thirty to fifty nm out and then cruising home at speed, enjoying the fast panoramic ride. Or racing with friends in other gliders around a quick closed course. Or the joy of finding a really good seabreeze front or convergence line and just fanging along at high speed in the lift, watching the sunset and changing colours. There is a lovely magic feeling when you have flown through all the bumps and lumps and rotor, scratching upwards, then you push into wind and feel the incredible smoothness of laminar flow, the upwards surge of wave lift, the satisfaction of working out the right flightpath to stay in the wave, and the absolute majesty of getting up way into the flight levels, sustained by oxygen, set up with a view from heaven's best armchair. The freedom, the sense of perspective, is so intense and delicious! You know you are really flying!

Yes there are days when you wonder why you are doing it, when you are tired of thumping around or administrivia and more jobs needing doing - but the freedom and magic is what sustains us, keeps us coming back for more.

[DTE]

Well said Bunyan Wingnut; it is often about those special experiences.

I recall late one afternoon after an air show at Caboolture taking one person after another for a slow, extended circuit in the Tiger Moth as the sun got lower in the sky. There wasn't a puff of breeze and the warm air just slipped past the open cockpit. There was no 'hire or reward', just taking some folks for a short hop and sharing what we're so lucky to be able to do.

Cheers,

Owen
Owen Zupp (http://www.owenzupp.com/_blog/Owen_Zupp)

[rioncentu]

I love skmming along the top of Broken Cloud where you just left a drizzly grey day and you are in 8/8th of clear blue !!

Sunsets are another favourite as are 500 feet beach runs with the great unwashed waving madly at the plane.

And like I did yesterday instead of just going from A to B, calling up the great guys at ATC and asking for a BN CBD scenic. And getting it !!

Folk ask "how are you able to fly over the city like that"

Fortunately some common sense (repeat some) still exists in our ability to use the skies and see things that 99% of the population never gets to see.

Cheers

[Slasher]

Freedom seems to be the common theme here.

For me it is the feeling that soon as the gear is up, all the crap, idiots, emails and superfluous bull**** at work just vanishes from your life till you land

There's a difference between freedom and escapism Shag, but I second your sentiments. :ok:

I sometimes get it myself when I'm experiencing the joy
of flight. Looking down on God's green Earth, its cities, its
rural country towns, I quietly mutter "you can all go and
fcuk yerselves!"


....after I've checked the ATC mike isn't open of course!

To previous temp poster - sorry mate. Finger trouble! :\

[frigatebird]

And there was me thinking you were also a finger expert....:ok:

[Anthill]

There is no better freedom than when flying the gliders. There are so many extraordinary sensations in soaring flight, lovely chapters of true freedom and enjoyment in a...

Readability 5, Bunyan :ok:

[Anthill]

From an old RAAF advertisement circa 1970's:

" I'm sailing up here it's a beautiful day,
The Earth seems million miles away,
it seems like only yesterday, I dreamt that I would fly.

On the wing of an Eagle I,
can reach right up and touch the sky,
I've broken all the chains that bind and seen the world through different eyes,

Hey, look at me, I can fly!".

[Arm out the window]

I've been lucky enough (some would say otherwise, I suppose...) to have, in 9000 hrs, never flown anything with an autopilot*, which has been fine because one of the greatest joys in flying, for me, is getting comfortable enough with the machine to not have to think about how you want it to move, just letting your hands and feet do their thing and making it happen with relatively little effort.

Most of my time's been on helicopters or aerobatic fixed wing, where the connection between eyes, hands, feet and aircraft is very direct and responsive; and throwing yourself around the sky in either a full-on or smooth and relaxed way depending on your mood and the situation is a privilege I'm glad I've had.

Then there's the places you find yourself - jungle pads, beaches, rocky peaks, the backs of ocean-going vessels (I'm talking rotary here of course), or the inside of clouds, hanging off the wing of another aeroplane, flaring onto some steeply sloping grass goat track, coming down the ILS over a big city at night - I could go on and on but won't, you'll be glad to hear! All I'll say in closing is I've done some great **** and felt very fortunate about it.


*Apart from a few minutes here and there in AS350s with dodgy heading / altitude hold.

[asw28-866]

There are days when the paperwork is painful, there are days when the things inexplicably break, there are days when the weather is crap, there are even days when the pax are a handful...But I can't get over the ever changing view out of the office window:

http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i155/capthowie_photos/CTI5.jpg

clear skies all,

'866

[Homesick-Angel]

The small percentage of humans that can be PIC and the fact I'm part of the lucky bunch

The first time I was doing ccts when the air was so still and so smooth that I actually thought I could fly for a minute.

Flying at 8500 watching eagles... Above me.

Asking pax to look up the "how to land" section in the POH approaching a destination.

The views.

[Jake.f]

Probably the best part is running up along the coast at 500' on an early winters morning, nothing can really compare to that, looking down at all the people surfing and walking who are also looking up at you, having no idea what they are missing out on.
Also, absolutely nailing a landing - like it's the smoothest you've ever done, then looking over to your instructor to see what he thought of it only to remember that he just sent you solo.....
:cool:

[Bunyan Wingnut]

Thanks Anthill, I enjoyed your gliding story too - and definitely related to your Zen description. It is a real sensate sport with many mental challenges.

asw28-866 - do you own and fly an asw28? Nice! Mine's an asw20L - goes very nicely.

Someone has to do it, and I'm glad it's me! :ok: