Learning To Fly

In my semi-retired condition, I decided to do something I always wanted to do...learn to fly!

So I packed some clothes and went to the beautiful Arizona desert in January for a week of intro flying lessons with Backcountry Aerosports.  They specialize in weight-shift control aircraft instruction, like the trike pictured.  There is something about this kind of flying that is thrilling.  Since you are holding on to the wing, you get an intimate feedback to the forces of flight.  This is not Top Gun stuff.  Low and slow is what this is all about.

With the advantage of two different instructors and two different aircraft, Denny Reed and Clyde Poser wasted no time showing me the ropes.  I was maneuvering the aircraft on day 1 and seeing the sights, as pictured above.  Day 2 included practicing low passes.  The wing is sensitive and little movements go a long way!  On day 3, I was practicing stall recovery, flying the pattern, and runway low passes.  I even landed a time or two.

Now I am pursuing the written Sport Pilot exam and hope to complete it in the next few weeks.  I hope to complete training this Summer and begin flying on my newly minted certificate this year.  More to come!