Shadepiece

Awesome thanks Vonrd!

I would be, as I haven't picked it up yet.

I think this is a really excellent way to spice up general aviation. It gives you some other real world taskings to accomplish when going up. Stuff you really have to consider. As a student I think this is absolutely an excellent way to practice. I hope they have a realistic weather system, and I also hope the weight and balance isn't just auto calculated by moving some sliders. I hope there is depth in it. All in all it sounds very fun.

I just saw this the other day, and yeah I absolutely agree! WOW! Have you guys ever heard of the upcoming sim deadstick? https://store.steampowered.com/app/771800/Deadstick__Bush_Flight_Simulator/

Wow! Good reaction by you to be sure. I will absolutely memorize the emergency checklists and check out that video! I especially enjoyed the interview with the pilot who had to crashland the P-51 at Duxford last year, so there is usually a lot to learn in these videos.

Ah, okay makes sense

With the school and the degree path I'm doing my PPL is under part 141, so that might change things a bit.

Got my student pilot certificate applied for, and had a full tour and brief at the flight school yesterday. Again very happy with the staff, instructors, and culture there. I expressed a personal goal of trying to solo before the end of August, and they seemed to want to help me achieve it! I am scheduled for flights on 13 days in August! Gonna be a fun month!

Hello guys! I have wanted to get this up for a while, and my intention was to upload some pics here as well as a few video clips I have, but I've been too busy, and I will try to get that situated soon. In the mean time I wanted to share my experiences so far with you guys without being too long winded. So my first experience was in a Cessna 172R which felt right at home thanks to the time I've spent in X-Plane 11 recently. I knew exactly what I was looking at on the plane and what to look for during my pre-flight check, start up, and taxi. My instructor was very open, and could tell I was more familiar with the aircraft than most on my first time in it. We took off shortly after with me pulling the yoke while he handled the rudder. I was not ready for how much it takes to get a plane into the air! It feels like very little input in the sim comparatively, and I was surprised that I was finding myself having to really move the controls a lot to get the intended response from the aircraft. Nonetheless, I was really enjoying my time in the air although, I found myself buried in the instruments rather than looking outside. It was definitely a lot to take in for my first time, but I really tried to absorb as much as I could. Before I knew it we were heading back to the airport, and I found myself relinquishing the controls somewhat reluctantly. The instructor did a very nice demonstration of how to land the Skyhawk properly. Overall, I thought the whole flight was very inviting and informative. I was lucky to not have to pay a dime for the flight as they offer a free one through my school! I did however, purchase my logbook, and recorded my first 0.6 hrs! A few days later, I couldn't wait to get in the air again. I scheduled a flight with the other flight school that I could do my training with, and was very interested to see how their Diamond-20 aircraft felt. I was very excited at the prospect of getting my hands on a flight stick rather than a yoke. Immediately upon arrival I could tell this school was a smaller more tightly knit one. To be honest, I liked the feeling from the moment I walked in the door. I waited anxiously for my plane to return from the discovery flight in front of me, and got some good information about the schools training schedule. Once it was time for me to meet the low-wing bird I did not hesitate to ask a plethora of questions about the differences between the DA-20 C-1 and 172R. My instructor was beyond helpful, and he was also very laid back and I could tell that we jelled pretty well. Before I knew it we were taxing to the runway where he already let me on the controls much more than in the previous flight. I received a little help on takeoff, but did get the bird in the air without much trouble. I made a turn and began to climb out all by myself on the controls, and honestly I was somewhat shocked at the freedom the instructor was giving me. I felt far more comfortable with a stick in my hand rather than a yoke, and once I trimmed the plane out it hit me. Suddenly, all at once I knew this was what I've always wanted to be able to try! I found myself looking around without needed to constantly look at my guages. I could feel if I was slipping, climbing, or wings level just by the responsiveness of the aircraft. Something about that DA-20 struck a chord! The instructor just about never touched the controls the entire time we were in the air, and he only assisted me on the landing. It was a mind-blowing experience! I signed up for the school immediately upon landing. I knew that was the school for me, one where I can move at my own pace and have the freedom to learn by experience rather than demonstration, and I knew that I needed to feel that flight stick in my hand! All in all, I can not wait to get in the air again! I have to say that I absolutely fell in love with the Diamond-20 C-1, and I really cannot wait to spend the next few months tucked securely behind it's lovely semi-bubble canopy!!! -Joseph 'Shadepiece' Ebersohl

That how the College feels too, Brit. I'll have a lot of thinking to do after tomorrow.

That was an awesome video. I'm sure it took many many hours to produce.

To be honest the yoke didn't throw me off as much as I thought it would, but I really can't wait to get some actual stick time to see if it feels more natural. This flight, and the one from Monday will have a significant bearing on what I end up training in, as I have the option. However, once started I can't switch mid way which I was hoping to split my hours between the two as I think diversity in experience can go a long way. I am very excited to see how everything goes tomorrow. I tried uploading a photo from my phone but it didn't seem to stick for some reason. I'll have to get them sorted somehow because, I'm very interested in sharing with you all!

I'm going to post a full write up with some pics later today after I get them off my phone!

He did let me take off! I just didn't pull back on the yoke enough to get it off the deck so he assisted. He did handle the rudder though. You can't beat the price of that discovery flight though, FREE! For students of the school it was free for the first flight. Now going to check out the other school to see how I like them on Friday! Although, that will be in a Diamond Da20.

I will be happy to see the YouTube content that comes off of this for the time being! I'll purchase a bit later most likely.

Well gents it was absolutely amazing! Definitely had a chance to take the controls a bit and get a good feel for the aircraft. A lot more movement than in the sims that's for sure, but wow what a thrill.

Hey gents, Might have found a place to move into today thank god. Also, I will be going up in a 172 in real life for the first time on Monday! I will report in with how it went.

Voted

I don't think you'll regret it Gen! I finally got it up in the air a couple nights ago, and wow was it cool! I have done a lot of studying on proper procedures on the ground, during takeoff, and on landing, and I was able to do all of those things nearly flawlessly first time!! I am pretty happy with the whole experience!

I think Kliegmann could probably shed some light on what they had to do to port them in. I recall a conversation we had about that topic. I think there will be improvement, and I am frankly very excited. When is the pre-order going to be available??

My post just got wiped, but long story short is that no other devs are taking a shot at WWI, and I'd really love to have WWI stuff in the scene to hopefully generate more support for it so that hopefully one day they do decide to update the FMs, and when they do new planes they'll have to do updates anyhow. I'll be buying not because I'm blindly supporting 777 or WWI content, but because I realize that this opportunity doesn't look like it'll come around again. It's not a good argument to convince anyone else to also buy in, but I know I will be. I do hope that in doing so it is to increase that chance of more quality content to be developed.

This is all absolutely incredible advice, and I feel so fortunate to have this insight from the group. Thank you all for the immense help. I am registered to the School and hav spoken at length with the VA Leasion who is really very good, and have successfully applied to and accept to the school. The next step is getting registered, and that also means I have to import my credits. Thankfully, I was able to complete an Associate's degree through the Air Force while I was in. I'm hoping thise credits will transfer in nicely. I'll try to brush up on the math though as it's been a LONG time. I am very interested in speaking with the maintenance guys down there at the airport, and I also know that the most of the instructors are through Moore Aviation. I am not really sure if that's a good thing or not, but maybe you guys can make heads or tails of it. The one drawback to this particular degree program is that the VA dropped a TON of the aviation repated degrees to basically all the schools in the US. There were issues with smaller schools closing before students finished their licenses, but the VA had already paid out in full for the program. This prompted them to drop every school in the nation besides three, which were the ones that own their own aircraft. Now obviously, not many schools can own their own aircraft so the VA has started accepting appeals from the schools as long as they are FAA 141 certified. Now CCBC is not only 141 certified, but also 144, and 146 as well, and they always had those certifications. The VA lady at the school has been giving me updates on their appeal process, and it's looking very good. She seems to be very much on top of it. She is new as of last year however, my brother-in-law, also a vet (we worked together in the AF), is currently in a nursing program which she has pushed some things through the VA to improve the benifits for this program. I have a good feeling about this old retired Army gal, she has been doing good work. Other schools here in Pennsylvania that are in similar circumstances have successfully appealed their programs. Unfortunately, this won't be done in time for this fall semester, but thankfully I should be able to avoid having to take a lot of general education classes that I'll be transferring in. This should allow me to only have to cover my flight costs. I am also waiting to be seen by the VA for my medical claims which could provide me with some benifits that will cover this semester anyhow.

Wow Trev, that is incredible advice. I definitely feel so much more comfortable to have you gents to guide me a bit as I get into this. I am really excited for it, and very anxious to get stuck right in. I think this will be a positive outlet for my excitement. It would also be beneficial to get a jump on the academic side of things as well, but I'm really not sure what all that entails.

I read up on X-Plane 11, and I decided to go with the REP (Reality Expansion Pack) for the 172. Both the base sim and the REP are currently on sale, so gor $55 I thought it would be the ideal entry into GA sims. There is a walk-around and pre-flight feature as with the A2A. I would love to get the A2A and the Airfoil labs 172 as well just to compare and get a well rounded feel, but for the sale price on the REP and XP11 I felt it couldn't be beat.

I've read a lot of good things about the X Plane 11 Reality Expansion Pack for the 172, and for the price point it seems to be very competitive to the A2A. @Butzell I have heard! The checklists are the real thing and are provided with both the XP11 and P3D 172's. I figure getting some familiarity with them would do me well.