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#16
12-31-2005, 10:18 AM
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The written test is good for 2 years. You don't need it completed to start flying lessons.
__________________
Ali Al-Chalabi 2001 CLK55 1999 Dodge Ram 2500 Cummins Diesel 2002 Harley-Davidson Fatboy Merlin Extralight w/ Campy Record 
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#17
01-02-2006, 05:19 PM
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"You will need to take the FAA test again, it only lasts five years. After that, you can start flight school...."
Not true. You can enroll in a flight training program without having taken the written first, and you can wait to re-take the written for quite a while. The written is goodfor two years. Most people only take it after completing their ground school, and the norm seems to be to take it just a few weeks before the practical (oral and flight test with an FAA-designated examiner) is scheduled. Small airports versus large airports: As far as competency at busy airports goes, I agree that you'll have a leg up at these busier airports if you've operated in this environment from the start. However, if finances are a major consideration (which is what the OP indicated), you're taking a big hit. Plane rental is higher. Instructor fees are higher. You sit on the ground longer waiting for your takeoff clearance -- with the engine, the hobbs meter, and the dollars running throughout. It may take longer to reenter the airspace to land, or you may have to go quite a ways out from the airport before reaching a safe practice area. Additionally, a decent instructor at a small nontowered airport will make a point of taking you into multiple controlled airports during training so that you are comfortable in both environments. I did find many people who during their flight reviews (recurrency training required for pilots every two years after becoming certificated) described or exhibited discomfort about operating in busy environments where there are tower, approach and departure controllers. I always ran them into and out of a busy towered airport during the flight review to exhibit that it really isn't a big deal (and it isn't! Controllers exist solely to assist you in getting into and out of the airspace safely!). I also saw a lot of people who were uncomfortable or confused about what to do at non-towered airports, too, so it goes both ways. I also found that it's easier to work on a standard traffic pattern at a nontowered airport -- you're not constantly having to extend your downwind because there are three other bozos in line to land before you do. And, traffic depending of course, it's easier to practice emergency procedures at a nontowered airport, where you don't have to announce your 'surprise' engine-out simulations in advance to the tower controller. Like anything else, each training environment has its advantages and disadvantages. The best instructor wil expose you to both environments as much as possible, which is where choosing an experienced and committed instructor pays off.
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#18
01-10-2006, 07:44 AM
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No matter what else happens, fly the airplane. Forget all that stuff about
thrust and drag, lift and gravity; an airplane flies because of money. It's better to be down here wishing you were up there, than up there wishing you were down here. If you're ever faced with a forced landing at night, turn on the landing lights to see the landing area.? If you don't like what you see, turn' em back off. A check ride ought to be like a skirt, short enough to be interesting but still be long enough to cover everything. Speed is life, altitude is life insurance.? No one has ever collided with the sky! Always remember you fly an airplane with your head, not your hands. "Unskilled" pilots are always found in the wreckage with their hand around the microphone. If you push the stick forward, the houses get bigger; if you pull the stick back, they get smaller.? (Unless you keep pulling the stick back-then they get bigger again.) Hovering is for pilots who love to fly but have no place to go. The only time you have too much fuel is when you're on fire. Flying is the second greatest thrill known to man.? Landing is the first! Everyone already knows the definition of a 'good' landing is one from which you can walk away.? But very few know the definition of a 'great' landing.? It's one after which you can use the airplane another time. The probability of survival is equal to the angle of arrival. IFR: I Follow Roads. You know you've landed with the wheels up when it takes full power to taxi. A helicopter is a collection of rotating parts going round and round and reciprocating parts going up and down - all of them trying to become random in motion. Or: A helicopter is a compilation of poorly engineered ill fitted parts flying together in loose formation. Helicopters can't really fly - they're just so ugly that the earth immediately repels them. Pilots believe in clean living.? They never drink whiskey from a dirty glass. Things which do you no good in aviation:? Altitude above you. Runway behind you. Fuel in the truck. Half a second ago. Approach plates in the car. The airspeed you don't have. If God meant man to fly, He'd have given him more money. Flying is not dangerous; crashing is dangerous. Asking what a pilot thinks about the FAA is like asking a tree what it thinks about dogs. Any pilot who relies on a terminal forecast can be sold the Brooklyn Bridge. If he relies on winds-aloft reports he can be sold Niagara Falls. The friendliest flight attendants are those on the trip home. Good judgment comes from experience and experience comes from bad judgment. Aviation is not so much a profession as it is a disease. The nicer an airplane looks, the better it flies. There are three simple rules for making a smooth landing.? Unfortunately, no one knows what they are. It's a good landing if you can still get the doors open. The only thing worse than a captain who never flew as copilot is a copilot who once was a captain. It's best to keep the pointed end going forward as much as possible. If an earthquake suddenly opened a fissure in a runway that caused an accident, the FAA would find a way to blame it on pilot error. Any attempt to stretch fuel is guaranteed to increase headwind. A thunderstorm is never as bad on the inside as it appears on the outside. It's worse. It's easy to make a small fortune in aviation.? You start with a large fortune. A fool and his money are soon flying more airplane than he can handle. The last thing every pilot does before leaving the aircraft after making a gear up landing is to put the gear selection lever in the 'down' position. Try to keep the number of your landings equal to the number of your takeoffs. Takeoffs are optional. Landings are mandatory.
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You can get farther with a smile and a gun than you can with just a smile. 1984 300D 1985 300CD 1980 300SD 1993 SL500
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#20
01-10-2006, 07:07 PM
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Quote:
Helicopters don't actually fly, they just beat the air into submission. FAA=Federal Administration Agency The real function of the propeller is to keep the pilot cool. When it stops, just watch him sweat!
__________________
Click here to see a photo album of my '62 Sprite Project Moneypit (Now Sold)
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