Quote Originally Posted by A Life Aloft View Post
A 747-400 is a large aircraft. A Cessna 172 is tiny. lol What you should do is go on a Discovery Flight. Most FBO's have a Flight School or more attached to them and you can visit one and pay for an Instructor to take you up for an hour or so and see if this is something you really want to try. If you enjoy the hell out of it, (you will know from the moment you rotate off the runway) if this is something you want to pursue. You should also check out more than one flight school, check on the prices for private instruction (they all vary) and talk to the istructors in person and find one that you click with personality wise and check out his resume/experience. Just don't sign up at the first place you try and don't sign up for a long series of lessons in the very beginning.

Flying is a serious and expensive endeavor. But, it is one of the most pleasurable, joyous experiences on the planet. It is freeing and wonderous. There are courses and books for you to read and study, and some ground classes to take. You will need the basics of the mechanics of flight, the basics of the 172 Cessna (how everything works mechanically), how to operate the radio and make your calls, how to "fly" the plane and how to operate safely in your airspace and what to do in any emergency. Learning to fly a small Cessna is not that difficult. There are tens of thousands of GA pilots in this country and many of them had their first solos, as I did, as a teenager. It is all the other "stuff" that takes a while to learn. That all comes with time and experience and growth.

You can join a flying club when you get a certificate and after you solo and fly with other pilots and build up time and experience. Owning your own aircraft, even a small one, is an expensive venture, but more doable than you would think, if you budget right and have some savings to put into one. There are many pilots who timeshare their aircraft as well and split the expenses (fuel/hangar or tie down costs, maintenance, insurance etc.) Where there is a will, there is a way. You may find out that you love to fly so much and advance in your ability after a time, that you want to own a plane.

There is nothing to be nervous about. Flying is actually a thousand times safer than driving, believe me. There are far better pilots for the most part, in the air than there are on city streets or freeways. The more lessons you have, the more you fly, the more you learn, the more you understand how to fly the aircraft and what to do in any situation, the more confident you will become. Go for it. Take the Discovery Flight. That will tell you everything. You don't want to be one of those guys that always wanted to do something like this and looks back when he's 80 and says, damn, woulda, coulda, shoulda.

I will be glad to help you out any way that I can. Feel free to ask any questions, anytime. I love to hear that someone wants to take the leap.

I thank you so much for your opinion. I think I can do this. I know its not a big deal to you and ladid back who are pilots but I have zero experience. None. Im starting from scratch. Think back to those days life a loft. Im a 50 year old man like a 16 year old kid ready to drive. Im very excited about this.

My local air port has a Cessna 172 to train on. They told me it would be fine even if I had no experience. This is the plane they use to trane new people on. I know what Im talking about is very elemtary to laidback and life a loft but I have to start somewhere.

LIfe a loft, what is the fist lesson like? The 172 looks big to me but they said its relative. I think I can fly it but Im a bit nervous. What pointers can you can laid back give me?