Did my intro flight today, don’t feel super ecstatic after, need some feedback.

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JSTootell@reddit

I don't know if it is "normal", but I felt this way too. I still feel this way. I don't find flying to be the highlight in any way like others do.

But I hate my job, and can't think of anything else I could do that I would enjoy, so I'm chasing it anyway, because it is still a better way to make even a bad living than anything I can think of.

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I had always been someone that gravitated towards more extreme ways to have fun like cliff diving or whitewater rafting etc. I started flying when I was 16 and while it fascinated me it wasn’t some massive dump of happiness. With that being said there were plenty of happy moments during flight training and if you are someone that enjoys learning new things this will be one of the coolest things that you can learn.

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VolubleWanderer@reddit

I love flying but I hated my intro flight. It was hot bumpy and there was a ton of other things my body just wasn’t used too. I pushed on with it and eventually you get used to it. If you can give it a couple more hours to see if it sparks I’d recommend it. For me it really clicked after my first cross country. I knew I’d want to do this forever.

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BugHistorical3@reddit

Yeah, my first discovery flight I was scared once we lifted off in the old Cessna and became motion sick... plus it was super hot too. Landed feeling like "man.. maybe piloting isn't for me." But I decided to keep at it and now I'm \~23 hours in and halfway there for my PPL.

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WasteAd533@reddit (OP)

And do u love it the way you thought you would?

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BugHistorical3@reddit

Well honestly, every flight I do is the highlight of the day and week for me. And mind you I am still doing maneuvers and such, so I'm sure it will be even more exciting when you get your PPL and you're the PIC and you don't have an instructor next to you.

I think in your case the only way to find out is to keep going. Try a few more flights and see how it is.

But also to your point, I never feel excitement per say, rather I feel very happy and fulfilled after flying.

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Pleasant_Guidance_59@reddit

I did my first flight 4 years ago and it wasn't a great experience (nausea). It really made me hesitant so I didn't pursue it. I did another a few months ago which went fine so I went ahead and I'm now 8 lessons in. Only had slight nausea once more but overall it's all good and while I was skeptical at first I'm now excited to continue down this path. You see it can just take a while to get excited.

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OperationWhich5036@reddit

The very first "discovery" flight I did was right after I discharged from the military. Always knew I wanted to fly. It has always been a part of me.

Went up in a piper arrow and it was just so wonderful. On the way back, he had me on the rudders and following him on the controls. So when we did land and begin to climb out of the plane, my legs could barely supportt me I was so shaken. Buit not in a bad way. Sort of like, getting your hopes and expectations up for the deed but after all was said and done, I was hooked.

It is normal to feel overwhelmed, esp. after an intro flight but make no mistake, we ALL can get a bit kerfluffled, even at many hours of PIC. Keep it up and dont get discouraged by the first gust of ridge lift ;)

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CuervoKing@reddit

I felt the same exact same way after my intro ride, and I see others chiming in as well. I think this is pretty dang normal. If you’re at all like me it was a little overwhelming at first. I kept thinking about the fact I had no idea how anything worked and it all felt so foreign it was hard to just appreciate the wonder of flying.

I’m just 6 hours in now and it’s gotten way more enjoyable but fact is that it’s work. There’s a lot to learn and I imagine a future date where I’m flying confidently on my own and realizing how freaking cool that is. Just gotta get over the hump of getting comfortable.

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Imperial_Citizen_00@reddit

I mean I’ve wanted to fly since I was like 6, couldn’t afford it, joined the military, moved on and chalked it up to a childhood fantasy…I’m now 40, and started flying in January…my first flight was fun, I had a good time, but I didn’t skip out of the hangar like a teenage girl, lol

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datcrazybro@reddit

I think a lot of people’s intro flights suck. Mine sure did, I had a bad cold and was super congested, should’ve rescheduled but I wanted to go flying. I couldn’t hear a thing and my ears hurt super bad, I’m lucky I didn’t damage anything. Don’t sweat it, the motion sickness will likely get better as you fly more.

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Prof_Slappopotamus@reddit

You love it and enjoyed it. Go do it again.

Just because you're not bouncing off the walls with the excitement of a 7 year old that opened a Nintendo on Christmas Day in 1987 means you're growing up.

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NolanonoSC@reddit

I've only had a couple instances of pure joy as you describe it when training, first was when I first did a spin, second was my first solo area flight, and third was when I rented a seaplane solo for two days straight. Otherwise I generally enjoyed most flights but never felt pure joy all the time like you were expecting

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B100West@reddit

It took me about 15 hours of instruction to figure out I didn’t have what it takes. Even with being a licensed craft mechanic

I’m bad a multitasking. I get can’t help but focus on one thing. Then after a few realize I’m paying attention to stuff on the inside. And not flying

And this was at a small airport. Not a heavy traffic one

It did help me with my mechanic experience. My next job we taxied aircraft around

I would stick at it. Once you get the hang of the basics. See how it works out

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10FourGudBuddy@reddit

That’s how it was for me to an extent. You’re training to focus on what matters in the moment, develop the scan, look back out. Sounds like you had a normal experience and maybe 15 hours is a lot to not figure out how to manage it, but also how close together were your flights?

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Icy_Investigator6706@reddit

Congratulations on your intro flight!

Personally I felt this way most of the time during my time in flight school. I've been wanting to be a pilot since I was 3, and it did felt strange on how I didn't feel any sort of "super" excitement. The only excitement I really felt was when I did my first solo, not even getting my commercial's done. Thing is, inside the cockpit, you're focused, you're not messing around, after flights, you're thinking what can I have done better, and prepping for the next flight. With that said, you mentioned you want to keep flying, and emotions aside if you know deep down in your soul and heart you love flying, go for it. Flying is one of the most amazing things I've done in my life, facing challenges in the air, flying in terrible weather conditions and finding ways to overcome them and my own shortcomings were my equivalent of excitement. The fulfilment you get from flying is next to none, watching yourself improve over time is a different feeling. You might not feel the excitement, but you'll definitely fall more and more in love with it.

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sqwuak_ident@reddit

I felt exactly the same at the start. I had two trial flights at different schools and I remember after the first one not being that excited. The instructor seemed somewhat uninterested and I felt like I’d spent all that money to sit and watch him fly I plane. Then my second trial at a different school was amazing. The instructor treated it like a lesson and I finished that absolutely buzzing. I decided to commit to training and was super excited. Then on my second lesson it was super windy and the plane was all over the place. I remember again thinking perhaps this isn’t for me as I was a little spooked getting thrown around in the air. I pushed through and now absolutely love it. I think it’s easy to forget flying a light aircraft is so different to anything you’ve probably experienced before. You eventually get used to it and how it feels so don’t be discouraged because you don’t feel how you expect! I feel that a lot of us know we want to fly long before we get a chance to actually do it but I think this increases our expectation to love every second of it when we first fly.

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37785@reddit

A couple things to note here:

1) congratulations on your first flight! Welcome :) 2) don't be afraid to shop around for a different instructor or school if you feel as though smoke is being blown up your skirt 3) (possibly the most important one) the way you feel is EXACTLY how I felt after my disco flight. For context, I now hold my CPL and I am instrument rated. Anywho, I didn't get that "holy shit" feeling of excitement until my first solo. The realization that my CFI wasn't next to me during the flight hit me like a freight train after I landed and I felt a rush of excitement I can only compare to losing my virginity. Yea. It was that good. Not my skills when I lost my virginity, mind you, THAT was a shit show and a half. But that feeling afterward of accomplishment and fulfillment. The "I just did that" type of feeling. It was amazing.

If you love aviation like you say you do, stick with it. Just because you didn't get that "wow" moment today doesn't mean it won't come.

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rFlyingTower@reddit

This is a copy of the original post body for posterity:

I want to become a Pilot. I know I do, but After my intro flight today I thought I was going to have this emotion of super excitement or something but I never really felt that, I did have some motion sickness after landing but overall it was a really fun flight and the instructor told me that he thinks “being a pilot is for me” and that I did better than most do on their first flight. Not sure if he was just trying to make me feel good or not. I want to go back up and fly right now, I love aviation, but I feel guilty that I don’t feel this excitement afterwards that I thought I would, is that normal? I want to fly again, I want to get my cpl, flight was very enjoyable and instructor let me fly pretty much the entire flight, even wanted me to land but I was a bit too scared because of my first time up there.

Did anybody else have this? Is it normal?

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