The sky's the limit

[Ghost]

Anyone else here love flying? My friend has an aviation license and I've gone flying with him and a few other friends for twice now and it's been an absolute blast both times. Shame it's so expensive but if I ever happen to have a bunch of extra cash lying around (like that's gonna happen anytime soon ) I'll be in a flying school that instant.
Here's a few pics I took. Sadly I don't have a good camera and the photos don't really show the view properly or convey the feeling that you get while actually being in the plane.
It was a small, 4 seat plane and the flying height was around 200-600m.

[holvoetn]

Old child's dream of mine ...

I started with computers in 1980 and can honestly say there are not that many games I played EXCEPT ... FALCON on C-64 and PC (and other flight-sims).
Even applied for military pilot when I was 22, passed psycho tests and physical tests and then there was a big reorganisation here in Belgian Airforce.
I saw jet-pilots being send all over the country forced to fly helicopters or transporter planes.
I decided then that I was not going to accept that, ever. So I stopped the procedure.

But I still look up whenever a jet passes ...
Oh well ...

Nice pics, Ghost.
Enjoy the occassions

[bluestreak]

Very cool. What city were you flying over?

I've got the latest MS flight sim. That's about as close as I get to flying by myself.

Our company caters to regional airlines. They fly medium to small planes and helicopters, so I always get to fly with them. They service the locations that the big guys just don't bother with.

Anyway, the people we deal with are mostly pilots and engineers. I recently spent some time with some float plane pilots from Bergen, Norway.

I feel I've learned an aweful lot about aviation, just by working with all these people.

BTW, Ghost - did you know that some regional airlines have their own flight schools? You have to pay obviously but if you pass, they're very likely to hire you.

[Ghost]

Old child's dream of mine ...

I started with computers in 1980 and can honestly say there are not that many games I played EXCEPT ... FALCON on C-64 and PC (and other flight-sims).
Even applied for military pilot when I was 22, passed psycho tests and physical tests and then there was a big reorganisation here in Belgian Airforce.
I saw jet-pilots being send all over the country forced to fly helicopters or transporter planes.
I decided then that I was not going to accept that, ever. So I stopped the procedure.

But I still look up whenever a jet passes ...
Oh well ...

You mean there wouldn't have been a chance for you to fly a jet even in training? I actually would prefer flying a chopper instead of a plane but it's even more expensive so it's out of the picture because of that. Never had a chance to try to enlist for air forces when I had to go to the army because of my sight, not good enough for it. Though I wanted to try out for the special forces, which was barred for the same reason. Damn prescription glasses.

Nice pics, Ghost.
Enjoy the occassions

Thanks, I certainly will.

Very cool. What city were you flying over?
BTW, Ghost - did you know that some regional airlines have their own flight schools? You have to pay obviously but if you pass, they're very likely to hire you.

First three pics are of Helsinki, fourth I can't remember and the last three are of a small city/town called järvenpää, which probably doesn't say anything to people in this forum. It's close to my home town, which is in a no fly zone because of the Helsinki-Vantaa airport being so close.
Didn't know that actually, pretty cool. Doesn't really matter much though, I've never wanted to fly a plane as an occupation, but doing it for fun is where the appeal lies for me.

[fcrenshaw]

Flying is really fun. My dad is a commercial pilot and has his own plane, a Stinson. I usually go fly with him on the weekends. Ghost, have you considered going for your Light Sport license, or maybe even ultralights? I don't think you need a license to fly ultralights.

[holvoetn]

You mean there wouldn't have been a chance for you to fly a jet even in training? I actually would prefer flying a chopper instead of a plane but it's even more expensive so it's out of the picture because of that. Never had a chance to try to enlist for air forces when I had to go to the army because of my sight, not good enough for it. Though I wanted to try out for the special forces, which was barred for the same reason. Damn prescription glasses.

No, basic training in Belgian Airforce was first Marchetti (propellor), then Alphajet. After that it depended on your grades where you went to.
At the time there were 3 fighter squadrons: two on F-16, the other using Mirage-V (recce and attack)
There was also a chopper squadron (SeaKing) and a transport squadron (Airbus, Hercules, ...stuff like that)

I was doing my obliged one-year military service (does not exist anymore) at the Mirage-squadron, so I was quite close to the pilots when this reorg hit.
Some of the guys already flying 10 years with a jet now all of a sudden had to move to the other side of the country to fly choppers, others had to step down to Hercules.
For a fighter-jock, not an easy step.

[pagangoddess]

Nice pics Ghost.

Other than one commercial flight (all I could see were clouds) the closest I came to flying was sitting in a helicoptor at Fort Campbell, KY. (home of the 101st Airborne). My brother in law is a Blackhawk pilot. He is currently at Ft. Rutgers becoming a flight instructor.

I guess I will live vicariously through others.

[baughmjk]

I was half-way through ground school when I got laid off, but getting my private pilots license is definitely going to happen once I get a job. I've gone up a few times as a passenger and even gotten to take control once we were off the ground. It is truly an amazing feeling being up in the air like that.