I flew an airplane today!

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DaHeckIzDat
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I flew an airplane today!

Postby DaHeckIzDat » July 14th, 2021, 12:28 pm

Today a flight instructor took me up in the air in his plane and let me take the controls for about an hour or so. I'll admit I was scared out of my mind for the first few minutes. Every time the plane moved at all I was half convinced I was going to make it fall out of the sky, haha. I would instinctively pull back on the steering wheel (?) whenever I got scared, raising the plane up even higher. But by the end my instructor was complimenting me on how well I was able to keep the plane level.

I can't remember the last time I was that scared, but I figure that'll go away the more comfortable I get, just like when I was learning to drive. Now I just have to figure out how I'm going to afford all those flight lessons...

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VideoGameCritic
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Re: I flew an airplane today!

Postby VideoGameCritic » July 14th, 2021, 4:30 pm

Now that is awesome. How many people can say they've flown a plane! Well done (not crashing I mean)!

So the question is, how different was it than the various "flying" video games you've played over the years?

DaHeckIzDat
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Re: I flew an airplane today!

Postby DaHeckIzDat » July 14th, 2021, 5:14 pm

VideoGameCritic wrote: the question is, how different was it than the various "flying" video games you've played over the years?

It's a little of both, actually. Imagine driving a car in a video game and driving one in real life, and that's a out how it feels flying. They have the basic concept, but they can't make you FEEL like you're in the cockpit. The wind turbulence, the way the plane tilts whenever you turn — and most of all, knowing that all that's keeping you from plummeting 2400 feet to your death is a rickety, rattling hunk of metal! I was sitting rigid, gripping the steering wheel with white knuckles the whole time, hahaha! I couldn't imagine going up there without an instructor to keep me from killing myself. Hopefully I'll get the chance to become more comfortable.

What really caught me by surprise was how wobbly the plane was. You're constantly getting hit by the wind, and you have to readjust yourself every few seconds. Pulling the wheel raises you up, pushing it in lowers you down, and turning tilts the plane to the side so that I was convinced I was going to slide into the door, knock it open, and fall out of the plane!

My hands are getting sweaty again just talking about it, LOL!

My dad was with me and he took some pictures. I tries to post them here but it says the file size is too big.

matmico399
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Re: I flew an airplane today!

Postby matmico399 » July 14th, 2021, 6:25 pm

Great story and thank you for sharing. My current girlfriend did the same thing about a year ago before I met her. She said it was just amazing and she couldn't describe it enough to tell me how incredibly it was. I'm glad you enjoyed it and I hope me and my new girlfriend will do the same thing in the future!

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Matchstick
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Re: I flew an airplane today!

Postby Matchstick » July 14th, 2021, 9:31 pm

Impressive, Heck! Flying has always been on my "bucket list," but I'm not sure I'll ever be able to put dreams into action. Good on you for making it a reality, and as they say in Wing Commander, "Glad to see you made it back in one piece!"

DaHeckIzDat wrote:Imagine driving a car in a video game and driving one in real life, and that's a out how it feels flying.


Great comparison. As someone who's played plenty of flight sims over the years with a joystick or yoke controller, I have also wondered just how "legit" it feels versus the real thing. It just doesn't seem like you can replicate gravity, turbulence, and G-forces from the comfort of you own home. I can definitely understand the anxiety of feeling every little bump and twist while airborne.

In that sense, maybe the arcade version of After Burner would be a pretty fair comparison?? I could never play that game for more than a credit or two without feeling like I was going to pass out. The last time I did was a few years ago, and my wife had to literally take my hand and help me out of the cockpit, holding me upright for a few minutes to make sure I didn't lose my lunch.

A true test of, "'Til death do us part." :lol:

DaHeckIzDat
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Joined: April 9th, 2015, 1:41 pm

Re: I flew an airplane today!

Postby DaHeckIzDat » July 14th, 2021, 9:51 pm

Okay, for the pictures let's see if this works...

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Herschie
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Re: I flew an airplane today!

Postby Herschie » July 14th, 2021, 10:33 pm

Flying a plane is an incredible experience, I'm glad you got to do it.

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Matchstick
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Re: I flew an airplane today!

Postby Matchstick » July 14th, 2021, 11:33 pm

Very cool! I'm glad you managed to post some photos. To this day, I have never figured out how to get that to work on this site :cry:

Here's the question, though: did any music from a flight-based videogame go through your head when you were flying? Some of the cool, laid-back flute music from the hang gliding stages in Pilotwings 64, perhaps, or one of the intense mission themes from Wing Commander? If you thought of the main After Burner gameplay theme, you rule - but I also think that would have hit you with the overwhelming urge to pull some evasive combat maneuvers...

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Gleebergloben123
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Re: I flew an airplane today!

Postby Gleebergloben123 » July 15th, 2021, 4:26 am

Awesome dude! I hope you had Tom Petty’s “Learning to Fly” in the background. I once flew a B-17 bomber, it was really tough to control until I realized I was holding the INTV controller wrong.

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ActRaiser
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Re: I flew an airplane today!

Postby ActRaiser » July 15th, 2021, 10:29 am

Gleebergloben123 wrote:Awesome dude! I hope you had Tom Petty’s “Learning to Fly” in the background. I once flew a B-17 bomber, it was really tough to control until I realized I was holding the INTV controller wrong.

LOL


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