What do you love about flying....?
 

Come on peeps. Lets discuss what we love, and also what we hate (if anything) about flying.

There's the obvious responses such as freedom, sense of achievement, the views etc etc but it would interesting to know what really turns you all on about this pursuit.

I'm gonna start by showing you some pics and a video from yesterday and today, UK to Guernsey which show one of the main things I love about flying, the views. No where else can you see things like these.....

Flying pictures by ct8282 - Photobucket

Being paid for a 10am report flight to Palma and getting home before tea-time. Works for me!:O

The 8pm report for a night KOS getting home just after breakfast time sucks, though.

Innsbruck circling in good viz is nice, tight hand-flown circuit into EFL, runway 21 into ACE also give a sense of achievement, as does short finals for a week in Barbados.

Sharing the experience is also fun (kids, pals, anyone)

[IMG]http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j2...homas/kidz.jpg[/IMG]

Blue Up

Are those two your kids ?if so your a lucky guy ;)

For me its often a love hate thing. Sometimes when its all going wrong or a hassle you wonder why you need it other times???
Its the challenge the adventure the buzz after a good flight.
Probably like you I am lucky in the flights I have done and the places I have seen as well as some of the expensive aircraft I have flown.
My favourite trips are the Ferry trips! No PAX amazing sights, different cultures different challenges.
Landing in the middle of Saudi Arabia and then being enveloped in a sand storm.
Landing at a tiny island 400 nm off the Nigerian coast with no one answering the radio.
Flying over Iran at night In an N reg aircraft.
Being escorted by three armed guards to the Loo in Pakistan
Seeing places and sights that no one else sees.
Controlling complex aircraft.
Man and the elements!
The list could go on!
Down sides plenty of those too but the worst five friends lost.

Pace

The freedom to be able to just go anywhere is alluring to me. That's what I love. The ruggedness and utility of being able to land at some tiny field really close to your destination. For some it's acrobatics, speed, challenge or some other thing, but for me it's the utility and travel. Going new places. And the view. I never get tired of viewing the earth passing by below and I think that's why I like high wings so much.

The reality is of course that you seldom can go anywhere without it being a huge rigmarole and ruin you financially. And those are also the things I detest in aviation - the over-regulation, the conservatism, the it's-been-done-this-way-forever-so-why-change, the prices, the illogicalities. My dream as a kid of a future where everyone had their own plane, seems further away than it ever did. It saddens me that we're over-regualting and killing this industry all by ourselves and not realising it.

Adam well said! We are killing aviation by overregulation and the costs that goes with that. I am lucky in the sense that I am paid to fly! Post 2014 or 2015 who knows? Maybe a VLA out of a field for a sunny evening for me ;)
Why? maybe we need more of the French spirit instead of complying with every whim and wish of Brussels which seems the British way. Where is our fight? where is our unity?
We maybe a brotherhood but we are NO fighting machine!

Pace

Me no understand??? I live in a country that is probably even more regulated than the UK. Yet I can get onto the ramp of an international airport (my homebase EDDS for example) by just showing my license to a safety person who will also x-ray my bag. Then I can take off VFR after just two short calls on the radio and fly in an almost straight line to places like Hamburg, Vienna (Austria), Strassbourg (France), Lelystad (Netherland) at any height between 500ft AGL and FL100. And land at my destination after two more short radio calls. Without filling in a single sheet of paper, without talking to anyone enroute (if I don't like to). As PPL holder, my whole "paperwork" would consist in a visit to the doctor every five years (depending on age) and a documented flight of an hour with an instructor every two years. And a line of text in the aircraft log and my personal logbook after every flight.

"Overregulation" and "killing an industry" is something completely different in my understanding.

What I love about flying? The views mainly, the sensation of lifting off the ground (every time again! especially when Mr. Pratt and Mr. Whitney sit in the back) and the challenge to use my (more or less developed) piloting skills in less-than-easy conditions. And of course the fact that after many years I was able to turn this former hobby into my main source of income. I do not even find commercial flying under EU-OPS overregulated or paperwork-heavy, at least not from the pilot's side. Flight planning and preparing of documentation is almost comletely automatic, during flight I have to record a couple of readings and after landing fill in the usual line in the tech-log and sign in two places. All this was much, much worse when I started 20 years ago!

Happy landings,
max

Funny I use London underground a lot thousands of people cramming onto London Underground Tube and I have never yet had my case or bag X rayed ? Why?

Pace

Because there is no direct connection between the London tube and the US of A:
Here in Germany, the security measures as they are now were first introduced after Lockerbie under pressure from the United States (because the bomb was smuggled on board a connecting flight from Frankfurt).

But unlike on British airfields, we don't yet need to wear high-viz jackets in continental Europe.

I've been an aviation nut since year dot. I have a picture of me aged about two with a model of a F102 in my hand, that would have been about 1958, it hasn't stopped since then. It's not just the flying for me, it's the shared experience with others who fly.

There's also that childhood dream of flying and the freedom it brings. I've often sat in a glider watching the world go by below and felt totally remote from it; landing always seems like you have to reconnect however unwillingly to the world of work and bills.

It's a privilege to fly and see the things that we see. I also think it's extremely satisfying to be able to do an activity which although quite safe if done properly, will most likely kill you if you get it wrong. There's no room for error and there's something quite fulfilling in that for me.

What do I like best about flying?
 

Two things. I like flying gliders best, because every moment aloft you are interacting with the elements and using the power of the sun and the wind and the thermals to defy gravity. Not quite silent flight, there is a gentle swooshing sound, and when in a cracker of a thermal, the audio variometer sings a wonderful tune. But (having planned one's cross country flight with due diligence, staying clear of restricted airspace, etc) you don't really have to talk to anyone. Only when coming in to land it is proper to call downwind. Nowadays, being rather ancient, an hours flying is plenty, but I still like to throw it around, negative G, and a couple of spins, just for fun.

And I love being around gliding folk, and yakking in the bar after we have put the toys away.

But I did fly power, got the IR in the US, did long flights, mostly fairly boring unless something went wrong. Also flew my Supercub solo to Spain in February, took 7 days! lots of adventures there - and to Ireland and a couple of times to France.

Much prefer flying the tow aeroplane, lots of skill practice in landings, taking off followed by a glider, being in charge of the combination, knowing how to read the sky and take it to the best place....going cross country to retrieve a glider landed at another airfield. Nice thing about that, the glider pilot has to pay for my flying!

I was just having that conversation today. I've been flying gliders on and off for about 20 years and could probably count on one hand the number of radio calls I've made. Since I started power flying it seems I have to speak to someone if I want to scratch my xxxx. I've managed perfectly well without having to press 'transmit' in the same bits of sky for all that time.

The view.
;)

Great response and totally agree with your comments about feeling remote from the worries and stresses of life. Whenever people ask me about flying this is always something I talk about. As much as I love the landing phase of a flight, that moment when I pull up to park and shut the engine down I realise that its back to real life, work, worries, stress, shopping, house work, etc etc. I then have to wait several days before I get to experience that awesome feeling of freedom again, and that for me is the part of flying that I don't like so much :(.

My best moments flying are either when you climb through the top of the layer of cloud on a miserable winters day enroute IFR, into brilliant sunshine, knowing that below you everyone is wrapped in greyness, mist or drizzle.

The next best is the rush you get after 20 minutes hard aerobatics on a still summers evening.

My top 3 + top 5
 

* arriving on top of the clouds after climbing through dreary weather
* being able to visit places that you would otherwise never get to for lack of time
* sharing the experience with friends and family; and putting them at ease with proper flight planning, positive control and good landing skills.


Unforgettable kicks :
- first solo cross country (the realization that I was going to be able to get from A to B in an unbeatable time from then on).
- first water crossing (recall Fuji's pictures over the Irish sea; the fact that the sky is clear and the sun is setting helps)
- first take-off in an high performance airplane (who needs a bloody expensive sportscar when you can have this ?)
- first controlled shutdown of an engine in flight (hey, I can do this and we're not crashing - hey we're even holding altitude and direction !)
- systematically greasing the aircraft in a (relatively) significant crosswind (difficult to remove the grin on my face whenever I recall that particular fact)

My first solo water landing

The view, the amazing feeling of the acceleration on take-off, sitting up there in the 390kg aircraft I am training in while getting bumped around a bit by the turbulence. What isn't to love?
The best experiences recently have to be my lessons of course. Most of which consist of me turning up at the hangar for a 9am start of briefing and pre-flight inspecting. Usually takeoff is on the shorter cross-runway which points right out to the wide blue pacific ocean, take-off is followed by a lazy right hand turn before flying down the coast a few kilometres to the training area. I cannot find words to describe how much I enjoy sitting in the Foxbat (With the floor to ceiling perspex doors) looking down at the waves crashing and people walking on the beach just 500ft below us...
I only have 2.5 dual so far, but I can definitely tell I have found a passion to do for the rest of my life.

And as for commercial flights, you simply can't beat the acceleration of thundering down the runway on takeoff, nor can you beat the sound of jets or those lovely turboprops...

Realising that whether flying power or gliders, whether upright or upside down, whether under clear skies or 8/8ths that I am a lucky sod & am living in a truley green & pleasant land.

Thing - like you I've only used the radio to an ATC unit twice in my xx years of flying gliders, once to tell Kinloss that I was in their overhead climbing through 20,000ft then again to tell them I was descending through 24,000ft on my way back to Easterton :p

The usual answers as above, plus I love the sense of achievement learning to fly has given me.

At several points during my training, I couldn't envisage actually ever getting to the point of gaining my licence. Yet here I am, 18 months from starting my lessons, with my very own brown wallet, as many hours P1 as dual, a night rating and I've now started my IMC training.:ok:

It's been a journey of self-discovery as much as learning to fly. Long may it continue...

Takeoff.

All checks done, lined up and pushing in the throttle - bumping along the grass and then off the ground and climbing. Words are not enough!

Funny that, I usually take off on one of the longest runways in the UK and it's not much of an event TBH. The few grass strip take offs I've done are indeed superb and grinworthy. Maybe I'm a closet 500m guy. Although I must admit there's that moment where you can feel the tires lift off and you know the a/c is in it's element.

There are many things I enjoy about flying. I have a friend who comes in very handy when we need things like hinges re-bushed. Yesterday, I took him up to show him what it was all about and we went on a typical short cross country, a £100 coffee if you like.

One minute we were at our home airfield with people I know well. Then, after about 40 minutes looking at moving scenery on a beautiful day, we were somewhere completely different, having a spot of lunch and a short walk.

I took a different route back, so different scenery, and then back amongst the familiar at the home airfield and a relaxing drink amongst friends. My passenger loved it and so did I.

If the destination is a foreign country so much the better.

1st solo is the best feeling. The view is great and you cant beat a sweet landing.

Likewise, among many other parts of it. Ultimately, I know that if we've got to that point and everything seems right then the flight will probably be right (2 years flying Thielerts, didn't always get to that point before aborting...). Also getting to that point means leaving everything on the ground behind as the wings bite and the wheels leave the ground. It is after all the ultimate expression of flight, just getting airborne!!

Other high points? First solo, first aerobatic solo, first formation solo, but most of all first MEP solo as a licence holder with no oversight, just an assumption that I could take the aircraft from A to B safely at the end of a course. First flight as an FI with a student - and the 1000th flight as an FI with a student.

Every flight is special in its own right, a real privilege to see a view few people see :ok:

Just the sense of achievement, of having done it - a real ''look ma, no hands feel''.

Also........breaking out of cloud and cruising along in bright sunlight, skimming the tops. Fabulous.

A nice summers day, with wispy puff clouds, and going up and darting around them, slow aeros in between.

All romantic stuff, but that's what it is all about.:D

Anything and everything in a Pitts. (Except the throwing up after over exuberance).

One of the things I hate most about flying is constantly being stopped by the weather!! Another flight cancelled today!! :{

Fingers crossed for tomorrow.

Yeah I'm supposed to be flying tomorrow and Monday. I'm looking out the window at the moment at a cloudless sky. Bet it's pants again tomorrow.

The best for me at this time is to clean & wash my immaculate ATL and remember the fun and the experiences and the views and the challenges it has given me over the last ten years.
The worst is to have to give it up and sell my lovely French aeroplane to a new owner.
Ugly economics finally put paid to a life of flying, first flight at 12 years old last at 72. A life spent flying with the RAF, BOAC, BA, and as an aircraft owner.
Even a BA pension will no longer cope with the savage increase in cost of living & aviating, including doubling of hangarage charges.
To those of you still able to fly, look out for the old guys leaning on the airfield fence. Give us a wave occasionally, we were once sky gods too! :{

If you were nearer, you could fly with me anytime :)

Not sure you would like doing this in an SEP though ;)

I'm just a glider pilot for the moment, but also someone who's saving up for the PPL or microlight

What I love about gliding is the 'I can do this without an engine'. I always have a smile on my face when I find a good thermal. Always. I even talk to the glider in words like 'come on baby, go up'. Being at 1000meters, following trucks on the major roads is a cool thing to do, also the magnificent views. When you enter the circuit again everything is so 'big'.
I also love the final approach. Setting just the amount of speedbrakes needed so your mates don't have to run far. Stop less than 3m from them is also a great feeling, certainly after a 2hrs flight.

What I hate about flying? the price. As a college student I have to work 4 years to have enough money to pay for the PPL courses. This means if I go for the PPL I'd be broke. Luckily enough I graduate in 2 years.
The other part which I don't really like is that gliding takes certainly a whole day. (I don't want to be the person to fly and go away after my flight without helping), but as said, being in college takes a lot of time, and maybe it's just the work for school I hate, not being able to fly as much as I'd love to.

Another minus is the distance of the nearest airfield. Every major city in Belgium has at least an airfield. Except my city, so the closest airfield/airport is not reachable without a car (which I don't have), or motorcycle.

This seems to often be the case near me too. I bought a purple Citroen AX for about £300 for transport, and recently pointed out to my aeros instructor that it cost about the same as an hour in his airplane! It always seems funny to me when I arrive at an airfield and park next to an expensive looking Jaguar or a fake 4x4. The procedure for getting out by the way is to do so as quickly as is possible and fast-walk to atleast 10 feet away before continuing normally! :)

What I love about flying:

• looking at the world in a different way (upside down being a particularly good view)
• That feeling you get of decelerating when ballistic
• Being able to plan a trip somewhere distant and go when you want to (rather than waiting around and adjusting plans to coincide with public transport)
• The look on peoples faces when you take them flying
• Going home with a buzz afterwards and mentally planning the next flight

Things I could do without:

• Bad weather (God will know my wrath one day! :\)
• Slow circuit traffic flying a tour of GB
• Manual squelch knobs on the intercom (yeah, it's personal)
• Stupid charges (trying not to look in the direction of the CAA)

Nothing wrong with flying and having a cheapo car mate. It means you've made considerably more sacrifices than a guy in a new Jag XKR and therefore probably appreciate it more. My old window cleaner had a PPL and the rustbucket he drove was a sight to behold.

There are so many things I love about flying, sometimes they fade in together. But then there are days like today...

You see a rare military liason plane in Jane's as a kid, and dream of flying one. But they are so uncommon, you never think there'll be a chance of that. Then one taxis onto the ramp, and I'm invited for a checkout, as I'll be test flying it later with a modification installed. What fun! Everything I dreamed it would be, when I dreamed as a kid. Three circuits later, I was checked out!

I love flying!

IO540 Thanks for the offer, it would be great to fly with you one day. :)
Where was that amazing winter scene?

It's quite extraordinary how much emotional baggage gets loaded into your own aeroplane. You service it, clean it, throw money at it, pose in it, fly in it, get scared in it, see amazing sights in it, come to love it, and when its gone turn into a blubbering emotional wreck.
Only my 13 year old son understands, all the women in my family think I am quite daft.
Ah well the new owner has offered me the chance to occasionally fly it again, so I can still use the moniker vee-tail :ouch:

It was over the Alps, flying back to the UK from Zadar, Croatia. About FL140-160 or so. In the summer!

I was going to suggest you flog say 50% of the plane to a good mate of yours. Makes it much more affordable.

Just as everyone else has said, the views are second to none. However the part I love is the satisfaction of flying away to another airfield, having a short break, and then flying back again. Although it's an expensive lunch/coffee, it's much more stylish.

Looking down on the BBMF is not a bad experience either!

@willisp Coming up for me real soon, terrified and excited all at the time.Haven't felt like that since my first "real" date

IO540 that pic of the Swiss Alps from up above is really something. For me the closest I have experienced to this so far is the snow covered Highlands of Scotland in Winter. But I still think Switzerland wins:ok:

For me Flying offers an unbeatable escape from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. The views, the freedom and being in full control (or we hope so anyway) of a flight that can begin and end where you want it to.

Downside:- Cost