Sure, getting on an airliner is interesting but light aircraft are way cooler. The experience of flying in a small plane is totally different than in seat 14F of a jet aircraft. There really is no comparison. And if you happen to be flying the plane yourself...well, that is just "plane" wild (I'm so sorry, I couldn't resist).
I suppose I got my interest in aviation from my grandfather, who was a private pilot for many years, though I never had a chance to fly with him. Nevertheless, he's always told lots and lots of stories, which I can remember from the time I was quite small. And my mother has a few as well, growing up flying with him. Over the years he owned three aircraft, a Classic Yellow Piper J-5 Cub, registration N35784, a Cessna 172, registration N2012Y, and a Piper Comanche, registration N7363P. All three aircraft are still out buzzing around and I'd love to see them someday, especially his favorite Cub (which is still based at his old airport in Allegheny County). So given this background, it is not surprising I took an interest in aviation and flying.
For Christmas in 1996, my grandmother bought me two hours of flight instruction from a good family friend, David Lewis. When I went flying that summer, I knew I was hooked. I've since logged 28.2 hours and 70 landings. That was over a two year period and I haven't flown since May 1998, so I'm sort of out of the habit. I didn't stop doing it becuase of any change in interest, just a difficulty in procuring a trusted flight instuctory. David moved on to another job, flying corporate jets out of Cincinnati, which sounds like more fun than doing touch and gos with me, plus they've got him on a list at Continental. For a while I was receiving instruction from Serge Valin (ex French Air Force and former LearJet pilot in Florida, and an all-around neat old guy and very rigorous instructor) but he became unavailable and I don't know when or if he will be back for me again. So I'm sort of in limbo now. I need to find a dependable flight instructor to "finish me off" now that Serge and David have given me the basics. I think I may have some one rounded up so I'll keep you updated.
I took my lessons out of Clarion County Airport (11D), which is in the town where I was born and where much of my family still is. It is about 60 miles south of my town of Warren. Warren's airfield, privately owned Brokenstraw (PA11), runs along the creek of the same name and is grass. Flying around Warren is nice becuase I am much more familiar with the geography than I am around Clarion County, where I tend to get a little bit lost if I'm not paying attention.
My lessons have all been in the same aircraft so far, a bright yellow 1972 Cessna 150L Aerobat (view a picture of the type), registration N16105. It is a two place plane, tricycle landing gear, and minimal avionics. Very seat-of-the-pants. I made my grandmother take a ride in it with Dave (I wasn't along; only two seats, remember?) and she was scared stiff. She's OK on big ole' airliners even though she really doesn't like to fly very much, but she was pretty intimidated by the size of the Cessna. She did well, though. She didn't close her eyes or black out or throw up at all, even when David made a very hard touch down that sounded like one of mine (I'm sure he was embarassed).
I don't plan on going into flying as a career. I wear (very strong) eyeglasses, which make things impossible in a competitive field, and the lifestyle of the professional pilot doesn't appeal to me very much, but I do hope to get a job that pays well enough I can keep my own plane. As a hobby, flying can't be beat but it sure is expensive.
