I got to fly a full scale plane today! A flying buddy at my field is a mechanic at the commercial airport, and is also a volunteer mechanic at a private plane club in return for use of the club plane. He asked me if I wanted to tag along for a ride today (too windy to fly our RC planes which we had planned to do). We got to the field and I saw Decathlons, Cessnas, reconditioned warbirds, the whole gamut of private aircraft. I was totally amazed at how similar the 'real' planes are to the RC planes - right down to the little exhaust pipe sticking out of the bottom of the cowl like a Pitts muffler.

We dragged the plane (by hand) out of the hangar, my buddy went through a pre-flight routine, and we hopped in and took off. Of course I was asking questions the entire time, and after a few minutes in the air I started asking about controls. He told me briefly what they were then started telling me what the gages meant (I was wondering why at first) then he said 'ok, take over'. It's just like flying an RC plane! Coordinating the turns is exactly the same, the rudder works the same (I used it a lot), many of the same couplings exist... We were in the air for one hour and I flew for 45 minutes! Around lakes, over hills, lots of turns, climbing, diving. I still can't believe it happened - it's always been a dream but I never thought it would be a reality (preconceived ideas that it was too expensive, etc).

The club is $50 a month, use of the club plane is $25 an hour (engine hours only), and the plane gets 450 miles on a 20 gallon tank, so it looks like I might be joining a full-scale plane club after January! There are even club instructors to help me get my license at a low cost. How cool is this?!

Well of course I wanted to share my excitement, but I actually wanted to post all this for other new rc pilots - this is one advantage of joining an RC club - if you like airplanes as much as most of us do, it can open up a world of opportunity - literally!

Joe,

Congrats on your first full scale flight!

Aviation of any sort can be addictive. If you decide to learn to fly full scale be sure to get good instruction and attend an approved ground school course it will pay dividends. Always remember its a different world than R/C, somethings are similar, but a great deal is not. Mistakes can be fatal which is where the old saying of "there are bold pilots and old pilots, but no old bold pilots".

Enjoy its a great journey!

Did he mention that fuel is $4-5/gallon for av-gas, and you will burn 5 to 10 gallons/hr depending on engine size?

Thanks Steve. Definitely not taking chances anywhere near a full scale plane, that's for sure!

Yes, it's $4.35 a gallon, and we used about $10 worth of fuel in one hour of flying. It's a 4 cylinder, 100 hp Continental engine and the plane weighs 1600lbs gross.

100 hp engine at 75% power uses about 6 gallons/hr

at 65% power, uses about 5.4 gal/hr

at 55% power, uses about 4.5 gal/hr

Doubt very much you only used lower power.

$10 a piece

gaRCfield,
Glad to hear you enjoyed your first flight so much. I too am an aspiring G.A. pilot. Good luck in the journey.
John.

I got quite a few hours of instruction as a teenager and I loved it. Too may distractions got in the way though (i.e: girls, cars and girls in my car, etc.) and I never went much further. My goal within the next few years is to do my ground school and log enough flight time to finally become a licensed pilot 20-25 years later.

If you have an opportunity and think you can pull it off, jump on it. If you let too many things get in the way, quite a bit of time can go by.

I agree with ChuckW,
I had the opp. to get my ground school done in high school in an elective class, but didn't have the time or money to follow up with in-air instruction, which I regret. Now I am married with a son and more plans for more kids and don't think it would happen int he next 20 years, so yeah, don't let the opp pass you by. I think you will find quite a few jealous folks here on RCU.
All the best,
Curtis

I once tried to get a medical certificate to fly, but got denied due to some stupid prescription. Well, it so happened that being deprived of such opportunities as me, I took advantage of Uncle Sam's Social Security program and bilked the taxpayers out of several hundred thousand dollars, and now I don't have to work for my place to live and hobbies. It's too bad the FAA doesn't have a better system in place for people who no longer require the meds. Because if they did, I wouldn't have had to do this.

NorfolkSouthern

Man, you have had a trip this last few months. Here I am out in California and tonight I though the sun was setting in the east. Must have ben the big grin on your face...

Congrats on the flight today.. Many more to come I hope.

Don

They do now - it's called the Sport Pilot rating. The only "medical" requirement is a valid driver's license. If you can legally drive a car you can fly certain small GA planes like the Cessna 150. If you still have the desire to fly then check that out. And of course there's still the Ultralight category where you can fly any ultralight and don't need anything.

A Cessna 150 does not qualify for a sport pilots rating. Its gross weight exceeds the 1320 lb limit.

I had my chance to become A pilot in 1968 while in the Army, very cheap lessons for troopers on base. Ft. Lost in the Woods. We ended up doing flying lessons first??? {Money} I even got to take off once, at that point the instructor had me go in for my medical check up. Sorry son, you know your color blind??? Well, yes, that's why my colored socks are kept in A sock ball. Well, none of that pilot stuff for you, sorry. No big deal, I found out later in life I don't really like flying all that much. Get your medical first then do your ground school, anyone can learn to fly A plane. I still end up behind the yoke/wheel every time A friend wants to fly someplace thinking I would get A kick out of it, I do if it gets bumpy!!

I have often felt that by getting my full-scale ticket has made me a better RC pilot.....hope you get into some 60-degree figure 8's and feel the G forces....then when you bank and yank your models....well you will understand how to build a model

My RC hobby led to a job at the airport servicing corperate aircraft, partial ownership of an airplane, and eventually a career with the FAA.
And many ATP friends have been in model aviation their entire lives. So, there is a strong connection

One thing I do have to admit about RC, is that it does establish some connections. I know this hobby has kept me out of jail many times.

NorfolkSouthern

OK, I noted the wrong model - sorry if that caused any confusion. The point I was trying to make is there are a lot of nice planes you can fly with a driver's license as medical. There are a lot more requirements so if you are interested in flying full scale airplanes and you cannot get your G.A. Private Pilot's License then check out Sport Pilot.

rwrite142: There are some exceptions to the driver's license rule. If you have been previously declined a medical, you would have to retake and pass the Class III medical. But if you have never seen an aviation medical examiner, then you would qualify with the driver's license without the medical certificate.

NorfolkSouthern

norfokesouthern,

There are MANY variables, yes. We are dealing with the FAA after all... Just one of the reasons I like RC now hahaha

congrats you will find that if you persue the full scale the rc planes will help you learn to fly because all planes fly on the same principles basically. and always remember this as you progress to bigger and faster full scale planes and this will help you some to stick to the basics. People often try to over complicate things with planes.

again have fun also it could be that cheap if they were burning autofuel by the way, gas here is around 2.20 for 93, most 150's have an stc to burn premium autofuel

Congratulations!

The bug is bad! Having the pleasure of being a flight medic in the Army, I am currently doing experimentation on how to rig a high performance hoist with a jungle penetrator to a R/C helicopter just for the adrenalin rush of going up and down on one again!!! [sm=shades_smile.gif]

Yeah I've definitely got a bug, bad! My buddy works at the big airport here (mechanic) and invited me last night to check out his workplace - a nice clean hangar full of 7 private aircraft, plus a bunch more planes outside, and even some commercial jetliners. I got to check out some multi-million dollar aircraft (never been on a plane other than the Cessna 150 or a commercial plane), and see some really cool stuff (single engine, twin engine, turbine engine, etc.). I think I'm definitely going to go for my GA license, easily justifiable as it's gotta look good on my resume when I apply for engineering jobs in aviation/aerospace.

This is all just SO cool! [8D]

Joe,

If you really want to fill your thirst on full scale if you meet the physical and age requirements apply to the military for pilot training. Thats what I did many years ago, a couple years after graduating college. I already had logged about 1600hrs of light airplane time holding a commercial and instrument rating at the time. The military is a good ride if you can get there. Great training with great high performance airplanes to fly and you get paid as well.

Correct, if you fail your medical exam you CANNOT get the Sport Pilot License until you pass at least the Class III. I would strongly encourage anybody eligible for a medical certificate to go ahead and get the Private Pilot Certificate.

Congratulations, gaRCfield! I've been flying for a while now, and I still get that poo eating grin after every flight - even the long nasty IFR flights complete with missed approaches and DME arcs to the ILS when all you want to do is get home.

Ground school and the FAA Airman Knowledge Test is not difficult. Heck, I only missed one question out of 60. It can't be difficult - you can get a book or CD-ROM with every question and answer in the pool.