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Originally posted by dimple2001

Ummm...interesting question.

All year around: I read a lot - books, magazines, articles - online, offline - cheap and/or free. As time, budget and weather permits, I go flying. I fly the single engine cessnas (one of my most satisfying activities)

Winter: Usually home improvement projects inside the house and annoy my cats as much as they would take it

Summer: Home improvement projects outside the house, travel with spouse on short duration vacation trips.

All day at work: post stuff on CD

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Flying is a real interesting hobby.. I am curious ... Can u let me know where I shud approach.. I know there is one in Markham.. Is that a very expensive hobby ???

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Originally posted by Desi Raja
Flying is a real interesting hobby.. I am curious ... Can u let me know where I shud approach.. I know there is one in Markham.. Is that a very expensive hobby ???

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Learning to fly is expensive. Typically, you would get what is called a Private Pilot Certification with a VFR rating on a single-engine land airplane. VFR stands for Visual Flight Rules, where you fly by visual observations - takeoffs, landing are done visually rather than depending on instruments.

Single engine land planes are cessnas, pipers, etc. The type of plane available depends on the flight school.

Normally, you need a minimum of about 40 hours of instructions. Most students need about 50 to 80 hours before they get certified. You also need to pass a medical exam, pass a written exam, an oral exam and a flight test called the "Check Ride".

For instruction, you might pay around $60 to $100 for the plane per hour plus $20 to $40 for the instructor per hour plus, the cost of medical exam, fee for the written exam registration, oral exam and the flight test hours. Plane costs normally include fuel and insurance and the time is based on the time you start the engine to the time you shut it down. So, all the preflight checks that you do usually does not get charged.

Check out "Cessna Pilot Centres" online and see for flight school locations near your area.

Try this link http://learntofly.com/.

Or simply call the flight school from the phone book (since some may not use Cessnas).

I would suggest that you try a "Discovery Flight" that is offered by most flight schools. That will let you try the controls for a approximately 45 min ride for about $50 to 100. It will give you a good idea whether you really enjoy flying and whether you are prone to motion sickness. Small planes shake more than your normal commercial airliner. So motion sickness is something to be aware of.

After certification, renting the plane to fly around costs about $60 to 100 plus insurance.

Let me know if you need more info.

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Originally posted by lana2005

Ah! You brought back all my memories of flying in Cessana. We used to fly from Markham to North Bay every week. I did that for few months. Though, I am a chicken to fly the plane, I used to be a pax on the plane.

Once we did a G in the mid-air. The pilots asked me if I was OK with a G in the mid-air and I said Yes. Then, i mentioned it to my boss and she flipped. I used the flight or business.

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Flying the plane is extremely easy. Learning and understanding the navigation, instruments, take off and landing are the complex parts. Cessnas, in particular, are designed to be very stable that you can rock the plane up and down and let your hands off the controls and the plane will stabilize to neutral position after a while by itself.

All the stuff in the movies about "pilots" grasping the control with both hands are just pitifully fake. You can fly the plane with couple of fingers on the controls.

Talking about Gs, during flying lessons, they teach you to stall the plane and recover from it. That IS AN experience, although, even today, I never practice stalls without an instructor besides me.