Okay, first off please let me apologize as this is a venting session by me in order to feel better.
Alright today I flew a solo flight out of Blackpool Airport in a Piper Cherokee 140... All was fine on start up and take off and after I did my flight across the pleasure beach and down to merseyside I decided to come back to the airport... (ALL VFR BTW, because I'm only a PPL). On Final I did the usual procedure flaps 2, carb heat, etc etc and all of a sudden I hear this sound... chug chug chug and there goes my engine... I'm about 700 feet on a short final about and less than half a mile to go, and I have PLENTY of runway so I take off one of my flaps just to make sure i was going to make it, I didn't attempt a restart because I didn't have enough time( i thought) and I declared my mayday.... My landing was not the best a bit rough but at least i got it in... after pulling off a nearby taxi way I attempted to get out the aircraft... I was shaking so bad I fell off the wing and hit the ground,
the rest is just procedure by the paramedics etc filling out paper work etc etc etc
What i want to get at is.... IS THE RISK/TRAINING/MONEY worth it to become My life long goal of being a commercial pilot... my dads friend recently got killed in a cessna in south florida by flying into a storm, he got disorientated and fell into a spin... crashed right into the ocean... dead...
I am 17 years old... studying Aviation at College in the UK... I love flying and I've never wanted to be anything but a commercial pilot... but **** I'm scared to death of dieing ...
so advice please... lol
--- Please do not tell me that I did the flying wrong I am a low houred PPL pilot and my old instructor told me that what i did was perfect... thanks
My girlfriend had the same "don't want to die" thing about flying before we flew from the UK to NZ!
My simple argument was every day thousands of planes of all types fly carrying millions of people and lots of goods and a plane crash is so rare even a Cessna crashing into a field in rural Oxfordshire can make national news.
The chances of dying in a plane is so low. Flying is safer than driving and I bet your fine hoping in a car? Don't worry.
WOW man that al i got to say.....I bought my first solo was scary..... :o
As your CFI said, you did great. You had the "airmanshipness" (if that is even a word) to understand the use of flaps and gliding awareness. Lots of pilots don't get it with the flaps and you knew and felt that dispite being an extra sustentation device, also will get you down sooner.
As for the emergency, you won't have one on every flight. Heck, it's a very rare situation. But that shows how important training is and how important it is to check the airplane on the ground and when in-flight. Checklists are your friends.
Regarding your career, this shouldn't bring you down at all. If you like it and feel passion for it, keep going. Of course this will put some doubts in your skull but be patient, talk to your CFI, he will come up with good advices and will tell you about his own experiences. Also, get in touch with seasoned pilots in your area, drink a beer with them (remember from bottle to throttle, eight hours), just hear their experiences ( don't need to ask, thy will come with them while having a chat, it's the law of all pilots lol). This is the best way to learn IMHO, not only about stressing situations but also about normal procedures and comical stories.
I'm very sorry of your dad's friend. It is a shame when a fellow pilot falls, but he gave his last advice with his crash and you already know it. Remember, learn for other pilot's mistakes or stressing situations. You'll make a good use of those experiences.
But I want to make this straight, if you really like flying, and you have that strange feeling in your belly everytime you take off, and if someone ask you WHY you like so much flying and you do NOT know how to answer, then you are surely headed to the sky. I imagine myself working in a factory or in an office from 9 to 5...and I tell you, I will chose the sky everytime, even if it's low pay. And I had my share of emergencies and always try to learn from them, if you do it right you will be ok.
Best landings!
Santiago
Somebodies may even choose to become professional soldiers in countries continously wageing war somewhere. That and many other occupations are generally acceptable occupations, but also have higher than average risk of loss of health or life. Is worth it? Only you can answer that. It's more about personality than statistics of facts thing. In the end flying GA or commercial ops in fixed wing aircraft is probably more safe than being a taxi driver...
You can also die while taking a dump. Ever tried not to do this for over a week? I'm sure the pain after an airplane crash is nothing against this!
Yes everyone here is right... I love to fly and it's all I ever wanted to be. I'm sorry about yesterday I was just trying to get everything off my chest (had a stressful day ahah). My passion has always been flying and I couldn't see myself doing anything else...
Thank you everyone your comments mean alot :)
Quote from: Curse on May 15, 2011, 02:47:22 PM
You can also die while taking a dump. Ever tried not to do this for over a week? I'm sure the pain after an airplane crash is nothing against this!
What the hell. :D
I'm completely serious. Driving 250km/h+ on the Autobahn is also a risk, but as I said, you can die on many ways, why don't prefer one you can have fun with?
:D
I didn't know you could have a aviation license when your younger than 18 years ???
To hold a PPL (Private Pilots Licence) you need to be 17 years old (in UK and USA) and to fly solo you need to be 16 (In UK and USA)... I'm not sure how it is in other countries :)
Quote from: J. Oates on May 15, 2011, 08:18:56 PM
To hold a PPL (Private Pilots Licence) you need to be 17 years old (in UK and USA) and to fly solo you need to be 16 (In UK and USA)... I'm not sure how it is in other countries :)
Same here in Argentina, you must be 16 y/o and 9 months to be able to start PPL course, and 17 y/o to hold the license.
As has been mentioned several times already, there are many things you do every single day that are more risky than flying in any plane. Driving a car being the most obvious of them.
And, look at it this way -- I figure every pilot's got to have an emergency situation at some point. Now you've got yours out of the way. And you're fine. Sure, statistics doesn't really work that way, but most people can find comfort it in anyway.
Quote from: J. Oates on May 14, 2011, 07:28:46 PM
What i want to get at is.... IS THE RISK/TRAINING/MONEY worth it to become My life long goal of being a commercial pilot...
I think the better question to be asking, for me at least, is whether or not the lifestyle is worth the risk/training/money. If you ever get married and have a family, you can expect to be away from them for several days at a time if you are flying long haul or even some shorter haul routes. After that, you have to worry about job and retirement security--you'll be in a union with a pension that may or may not be properly managed. In regards to job security, there are baby boomers retiring, but oil isn't getting any cheaper and flying isn't getting any more attractive--not to mention airlines fold up all the time. Flying used to be a treat for people, but now it's mostly just an inconvenience.
It seems to me that a BETTER job would be to be a private pilot for a corporation. We have a friend of the family back where I grew up in Cincinnati that flies for Proctor & Gamble that seems to trump any commercial pilot gig you could land. He'll fly top executives to China for 2-3 weeks at a time, but the plane is parked for a week straight and he can actually enjoy the time in China or wherever they're visiting.
Quote from: Powi on May 15, 2011, 01:56:02 PM
Somebodies may even choose to become professional soldiers in countries continously wageing war somewhere. That and many other occupations are generally acceptable occupations, but also have higher than average risk of loss of health or life. Is worth it? Only you can answer that. It's more about personality than statistics of facts thing. In the end flying GA or commercial ops in fixed wing aircraft is probably more safe than being a taxi driver...
I spent 7 months in Iraq as a Navy Officer (Navy Infantry) and I came back to Italy safe and sound, while the base manned by the Carabinieri in Nassirya was blown up by the insurgents (19 dead people in the end).
J, you're probably a good pilot, or you were just lucky, I do not know: I know of many professional in their respective field of specialisation dying because of really stupid reason. I think you should read the book "The Right Stuff" by Tom Wolfe... It will open your eyes about the risk/not risk of flying! :)
Talking about risks: I've been here in Australia for quite a while and everybody keeps telling me not to go swimming far from the coast, because there are sharks around. Btw, statistics say that I'm more likely to die because of a vending machine tipping over me than dying because of a shark bite... So, 'nuff said! ;)
Read the book, I'm pretty suyre you'll like it!
Edo