For many centuries, humans have tried to fly just like birds. Wings made of feathers or light weight wood have been attached to arms to test their ability to fly. The results were often disastrous as the muscles of the human arms are not like a birds and can not move with the strength of a bird.
Leonardo Da Vinchi made the first real studies of flight in the 1480's. He had over 100 drawings that illustrated his theories on flight.
The Ornithopter flying machine was never actually created. It was a design that Leonardo Da Vinchi created to show how man could fly. The modern day helicopter is based on this concept.
FIRST HUMAN FLIGHT AND DEVELOPMENT IN AVIATION
Orville and Wilbur Wright were very deliberate in their quest for flight. First, they spent many years learning about all the early developments of flight. They completed detailed research of what other early inventors had done. They read all the literature that was published up to that time. Then, they began to test the early theories with balloons and kites. They learnt about how the wind would help with the flight and how it could affect the surfaces once up in the air.The next step was to test the shapes of gliders. They spent much time testing and learning about how gliders could be controlled.
They designed and used a wind tunnel to test the shapes of the wings and the tails of the gliders. After they found a glider shape that consistently would fly in the tests in the North Carolina Outer Banks dunes, then they turned their attention to how to create a propulsion system that would create the lift needed to fly. The early engine that they used generated almost 12 horsepower.
The "Flyer" lifted from level ground to the north of Big Kill Devil Hill, at 10:35 a.m., on December 17, 1903. Orville piloted the plane which weighed six hundred and five pounds.
The first heavier-than-air flight travelled one hundred twenty feet in twelve seconds. The two brothers took turns during the test flights. It was Orville's turn to test the plane, so he is the brother that is credited with the first flight.
Humankind was now able to fly! During the next century, many new airplanes and engines were developed to help transport people, luggage, cargo, military personnel and weapons. The 20th century's advances were all based on this first flight at Kitty Hawk by the American Brothers from Ohio.
Commercial air passenger service began in the United States (and in the world) in 1914, with a regularly scheduled flight that carried passengers between St. Petersburg and Tampa. However, there was little demand for commercial aviation and it developed slowly until after World War II. Most of the development in the aeronautical industry prior to World War II happened in the military sphere and was overseen by the National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics (NACA), which was established by Congress in 1915. The period between the two World Wars was a time for improvements in aerofoils, propellers, engines, and instruments and innovations in construction techniques and materials. Commercial aviation industry slowly boomed and today we live in the age when air travel is so common and is the most reliable and quickest means of covering long distances.
STUDENT PILOT LICENSE, A STEP TO MAKE THE DREAM COME TRUE
You can start your career in aviation by getting SPL (Student Pilot License).For that, you need to be medically fit and be at least 17 yrs old. After you have your SPL you can immediately start your training and write your exams.
SOLO FLIGHT- THE UNFORGETTABLE MOMENT
Once you have the necessary skills, the instructor will let you fly solo.You need at least 10-15 hours of flight time before you can fly solo.Its a big achievement in a pilots career, Flying alone without an instructor looking at you all the time and telling you what to do always is a big relief but at the same time you also need to be responsible and safe.
PPL- NOW YOU ARE R A PILOT BUT IT COMES WITH RESPONSIBILITY
You need to write the following exams before you can be tested for you PPL.
3. Meteorology
4. Air Law
6. Navigation
You are also required to fly with your instructor for at least 45 hrs and if your instructor is happy with what you have learnt till now, you might be tested for you PPL license. The PPL flight test usually includes
1. Flying to the General Flying area
2. Demonstration of stall and recovery (clean and landing configuration)
3. Demonstration of spin and recovery (n/a if piper Cherokee)
4. Steep turns
5. Navigation to 2 different airfields other than base
6. Landing back at base with some circuit work
HOUR BUILDING- RISKS AND FUN INVOLVED
After you obtain your PPL, you need to fly 100 hours solo, that will be one of the most enjoyable and dangerous hours you will fly in all your career, simply because of the less experience you have. Sometimes, after take off and reaching 1000 ft AGL you might not be sure if you locked the fuel cap on the fuel tanks. Many of us face that situation in those early hours of hour building phase, use of a checklist and self-discipline can ensure everything is in order. Never compromise with safety. When it comes to safety, say to yourself "I am the president of the cowards club". Take it this way; what does it mean when you die in a crash because you did something really stupid even though you knew you could have avoided the crash? I'm sure you know the answer. Never fly if the weather is bad or don't hesitate to do a go-around during landing in strong crosswind if necessary. Don't be ignorant and never think you are stronger than the force of the elements. From now onwards all the flights will be under you own responsibility and decision, not the instructor. Your instructor doesn't need to sign you out. So, learn how to make correct decisions before its too late. You can always wait another day to fly. Remember, in aviation, tomorrow always comes.
NIGHT RATING
Flying at night is another set of hours that you will enjoy. After all who doesn't like city lights and sunsets or sunrise. Imagine flying in a full moon night with crystal clear sky full of stars above you and under you are the lights of the city and moving cars. Beautiful ! Isn't it? Night rating allows you to make a VFR flight at night and give you some knowledge about the Radio Navigation. That's a little skill added on top of the hours you have. When you fly at night , you need to be more focused and careful, simply because at night you might not see that you are flying straight into a mountain until its too late. You will also lack perception of depth during night. Always fly the altitude to avoid terrain by a safe height along the route you are flying - by day or night. Added to that, at night you can suffer different kinds of illusion. You can get fixated at a bright object or a star and become unaware of the situation, mistaken a slanting cloud as horizon and in order to be level with the "horizon" you will bank which might result you flying dangerously off course, etc. To avoid that from happening always scan your instruments and be ahead of the airplane. Never take a reference from an unreliable source such as a cloud or a glow in the sky, if you do, cross check with your instrument.
Instrument Rating
After you learn how to navigate at night, its time to learn to fly without any external reference and by sole reference on the instruments only. It is tough in the beginning, but once you get hang of it, its gets simpler, The main thing is to practise more and not to forget what you have learnt. Imagine you are flying alone and you lose an instrument failure in IMC; you still have to fly, do the holds and approach and land back safely. Sounds scary in words, in real life it can be horrifying. Therefore, a pilot flying instrument must be confident but not over confident. You must not only know how your cockpit instruments work but must know how your body works and its limitations as well. Fine tune your skills by practising on any flight simulator available in market, make it your friend. The most popular one is Microsoft Flight Simulator-X. Planning is always necessary and it is true that "people who fail to plan, plan to fail" therefore you should always know what to do when and mentally be at least 10 min ahead from where you are now. Instrument Rating covers the following
1. VOR DME hold and approach
2. NDB hold and approach
3. ILS approach
4. DME arc
5. SID and STAR
6. Instrument failures and emergencies
CPL- EARNING A SET OF WING
To obtain your CPL, you need to pass the Following exams with at least 200 hours in total.
3. Meteorology
4. Air Law
5. Navigation
7. Night Flying
UPDATE YOURSELF BY SELF-REALISATION
We humans tend to lose interest when something becomes routine. Do you remember how excited and interested you were in those first few hours of your training? and now try to see yourself when you are halfway. You think you know almost every thing and there is nothing new happening, so you begin losing interest, that is true for many of us. The first step to overcome that is to realise and accept. Always keep your self motivated in flying, when you lose motivation, you lose interest and when you lose interest you are no more a safe pilot. To keep yourself motivated in flying, try to read some aviation books, watch aviation videos, talk to your pilot friends about their flying career and how far are they from getting their license, share stories of your flights. Same applies to the pilots who already have their license. Take your books out from the shelf and go through the pages and see it for yourself how much do you still remember. Its now time to self-realise your capacity and limitations. You need to know very well where you are, where do you want to be and how do you reach where you want to be. All that effort is worth it because very few get a chance to become the lord of the sky, soaring like a bird. This applies not only in flying career but any other career.
