On 1/14/12 10:13 AM, iBoaterer wrote:

Taking a Piper Cherokee 180 up for a couple of hours of practice time.
Fly the local pattern, do some touch and goes, fly over local landmarks,
etc. Winds are light at 11, couldn't ask for a more clear day!


I actually took two lessons many years ago, and then stopped when a
couple of my friends, experienced pilots, died in separate incidents in
which they were piloting light planes. The few times I flew, though, I
thought it was a hell of a lot of fun. I also walked away from a
helicopter crash in 1969, I think, in West Virginia, after a hydraulic
failure. The pilot set us down hard, but no one was injured.

I don't think it would be a lot of fun in a congested area, though. When
I worked for the teachers union, I got to sit in the co-pilot seat in a
company plane during a landing at La Guardia. There was so much going on
and so much radio talk, I didn't see how the pilot could pay attention
to all that *and* land the plane safely. But he did.