Earning My Wings: a video blog about learning to fly - Comments

Flight 03: Stalls, steep turns, slow flight

Gonzalo Avaria — 11/16/2009

Hey! good landing! I'm very late looking at your blog but I'm really hooked!

Didn't know about the recoveries of the stalls, and it seems that the Remos are completely different than the Cessnas.

It's a really good job you are doing!

I'm a Pilot!

Gary — 11/15/2009

Hey Brady, Great Job. My instructor told me to get on the site and check out your check ride. I'm trying to get my check ride this week. And I know what you felt when that day came. I have been feeling it for the last couple of weeks. But I feel better about it now since I have more info on how things will go. Thanks for taking the time to do this for you future fellow aviators. Gary

License to Learn

G Dillon — 10/29/2009

fantastic story. It make like well worth it. Good luck.

License to Learn

Peter — 10/27/2009

Nice work mate! I recently completed my first area solo, video is up on youtube... i loved flying out there by myself and picking out all the landmarks on the VTC. check it out if you get the chance!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_B-qa1GtM5Q

License to Learn

Clayton — 10/22/2009

I really enjoyed your videos this past year,Brady.My wife took her first small plane ride in a Piper Cherokk 140 the other day and loved it.I believe I'll have to take the plunge and take an hour lesson to see if it's for me.Keep up the good work.

License to Learn

Jeff Randall — 10/21/2009

Brady,
Yes most of the American Saab 340's are still at the "Saab Boneyard" they are slowly selling or parting them out, about one every six months or so gets tugged out of there. Which college did you attend ACU? Yeah, stop on by the tower anytime you come in town, ask for Jeff or "AJ" and we will give you a tour. We have a new tower that will be twice as high as state of the art beginning construction next month. And sure we could go up in the C150 for a ride around, I will be basing the plane at Elmdale Airpark 82TS (Formerly 6F4), 2 miles NE of Regional Airport. Did you ever go by there? It is 2,900 x 29 feet. The 2,900 is ok, the 29 feet wide is a little tight since my wingtips hang over the edge of the runway, LOL. If you look on Airnav.com and look up 82TS it should still have my aerial picture of the airport to the right. Take care

License to Learn

Gary — 10/20/2009

My wife and I really enjoyed your video blogs during the past year. They helped me to be a better student and my wife to understand what I was going through. I was able to use both the Remos G3 & GX. I passed my sport pilot check ride at the end of September in Oshkosh, WI. The FAA examiner said my soft field landing was the best he had ever experienced. He said he did not even know we were on the ground. Really made me feel good about my landings. I also took my wife to KSBM for lunch and we enjoyed the food and the experience very much. Thanks for the idea. Congratulations on your sport pilot certificate and hope to see you around Oshkosh in the future.

License to Learn

Brady Lane — 10/20/2009

Jeff,

Thanks for watching the videos and for your kind comment. I went to college in Abilene, TX and drove by the airport a couple times each week. I would always look over at the runway and dream of what it would be like to fly. Have fun with your new 150. Are those old prop AA regional planes still parked there? I make it back to Abilene every couple years, so I will be sure to stop by the airport and ask for you next time I'm there. I'd be fun to go up for a flight to learn how to fly those strong West Texas winds.

License to Learn

Jeff Randall — 10/20/2009

Brady, I'm an FAA Air Traffic Controller at Abilene Regional Airport Control Tower/TRACON (Radar Approach Control), Abilene, Texas. I split my time working in the tower and working the approach control or "TRACON", I'm also a 300 hour Private Pilot, former Cessna 150 owner, and hopefully again a Cessna 150 owner this week as I am making a purchase on one from Nebraska. I must say, great job to you with the footage, and the way you edited it with the audio. It was fun to watch, and exactly the type of "real life" introduction to aviation we need to attract others into flying and aviation careers. Congratulations on your license and on the great production and hard work of documenting it for others to be inspired to spread their wings.

License to Learn

Brady Lane — 10/19/2009

Deanna,

Thanks for your comment and most importantly for encouraging your son to follow his passions.

Let your son know that I was anxious and nervous before most of my lessons - especially lessons where I was about to do something new and even more so while learning maneuvers like steep turns. A small bit of nervousness is completely normal - every pilot experiences this to some degree before learning a new skill. I still do.

So, make sure he knows it's normal. It helped me also to have a good understanding of the maneuver before actually doing it. Spend some time on the ground with the instructor talking about how they're going to set up for the maneuver, what it feels like, what the control pressures will feel like, and what you do to recover from the maneuver.

Once you learn that a plane is controllable during these maneuvers, and you experience what it feels like, it is quite motivating and even enjoyable to be at the controls while doing these maneuvers. He'll get it and I bet in a few lessons, he will even start enjoying steep turns. (The things that were the hardest for me, once I learned how to do them, became the maneuvers I enjoyed the most.)

I personally haven't done any spin training yet, but hope to soon. I think it will make me a better pilot (but I'm also sure I will have butterflies before I do one for the first time).

Any other advice out there from those of you who've experienced the same nervousness and anxiousness?