What surprised you the most when you first started flying?

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Fragholio@reddit

The biggest thing was that I used to have dreams where I could fly (unassisted) but I could never get above about tree level. Now that I'm a pilot, I can go to pretty much any height in those dreams. I think it's because I know what it looks and feels like from high up so my sleep brain can now process it.

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Forsaken_Cost4608@reddit

That’s quite interesting actually.

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Adlerson@reddit

How subjective it is. Don't get me wrong, flying is by and large fairly structured, but not to the degree I was expecting before I starting flying.

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Forsaken_Cost4608@reddit

SO true! I was kinda surprised by this, and still am.

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ohfuckmyaldiquarter@reddit

I noticed myself paying a lot more attention to birds in my day-to-day life and would appreciate their landing and turning abilities, also how they behaved in the wind

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AlbiMappaMundi@reddit

And noticing just how much they love to fly at 100-200' AGL on the final approach course to runways...

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Forsaken_Cost4608@reddit

Exactly! Why is that?

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Mispelled-This@reddit

Large grassy areas are great places for them to rest and look for food without worrying much about predators.

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Forsaken_Cost4608@reddit

Gotcha! Thanks

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Figit090@reddit

Heat from the tarmac creating thermals, low ground-predator count due to fences.

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Forsaken_Cost4608@reddit

Ah, I see! Makes sense. I’m assuming that’s why their instinct is to dive in air when we’re flying so we climb to avoid them, bc predators usually attack from above. Interesting.

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zkoolie@reddit

We use 100% of our knowledge and engineering power to come within 1% of their natural abilities, it’s wild.

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EntroperZero@reddit

How hard it is to fly a simple traffic pattern. I mean, you go and do basic maneuvers, and it's super easy. Fly a heading, climb, descend, make turns, piece of cake. You do ground reference maneuvers and correct for the wind. Absolutely nailing it. You do slow flight and stalls, pitch for airspeed, power for altitude, just crushing it. You're even doing well on the radio calls. Then you put all of it together and try to fly a tight oval over a runway and it all completely falls apart. New challenge available: Task Saturation

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tuchupashuevos@reddit

I just got held back bcz of this lol

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Funkshow@reddit

Traffic pattern combines pretty much every skill into one task as you state. It is a culmination of developing skills.

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Deathstriker908@reddit

Weather!!

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Tmdngs@reddit

That the piper warrior I flew on is basically a light metal can with an underpowered engine.

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CardiologistEqual336@reddit

How overstimulating it is, especially with ATC/instructor nonstop yapping

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DisregardLogan@reddit

I had trouble with my training (still do sometimes) because of this. It helps a lot if you communicate it directly. My 2nd time in the pattern CFI was talking to me on the downwind, and me trying to set the plane up for the approach and also talking about how I should do something made it all very muddy. I just told him “I can’t really fly the plane and understand new stuff at the same time”. Worked out fine. He took the plane and explained it, helped out a lot.

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Natural20Pilot@reddit

It doesn’t get easier when you get to the airlines, or any operation that requires a crew. So many people I fly with are delightful people but suuuper extroverted and I’m just… not. Layovers have me putting my AirPods in on the van followed by laying in my hotel bed just staring at the ceiling in silence because the social aspect of lots of trips is more draining than the flying or travel itself.

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DisregardLogan@reddit

…Good to know. I see my future and it’s bleak.

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Forsaken_Cost4608@reddit

So true! I realized this after training.

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Joker328@reddit

How bumpy it is. You really get tossed around in a small plane, especially at low altitude where a lot of training happens. Took me a little while to get over the motion sickness. Now it doesn't really affect me unless I have my head down for too long, but it's a good reminder not to do that.

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da_drake@reddit

The way I explained it to my friends when I first started was like riding in a boat. I feel like it's obvious now, but it really struck me how fluid air actually is.

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Beautiful_Exchange_3@reddit

The movement of water in the ocean is very similar to the movement of air. Great analogy. Thermals are another element. Best technique I have found is look for inversion height and that’s where it should start to smooth out. Winds aloft at altitudes are helpful and if you really want to get detailed skew T log P charts tell you the stability of the air mass. Or just fly in the late afternoon or early mornings and avoid any days with 10 kt or greater winds

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karantza@reddit

You know, I thought I got over my motion sickness, but I went flying today in a 172 and the thermals were so godawful; The VSI was basically a yoyo, I got negative Gs a few times, stall horn honking at me *in cruise* every few minutes... I'm still getting my brain unscrambled. I might get less airsick now than before I started flying, but I certainly still call turbulence "unpleasant". I was going to pick up a friend too; decided today was not the day to introduce someone to small planes.

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PropOnTop@reddit

I'm out for a 3-hour flight tomorrow over the mountains in 20kts wind. Luckily, I've never suffered from motion sickness, but I yearn for calm weather... I'll be tossed around like a lone pea in a can.

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Beautiful_Exchange_3@reddit

Yeah… I avoid mountain flying for that reason. No interest in the unknown nasty turbulence. You can explore flying in the mountains more easily in a glider. Usually you have a mission with a powered ac.

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Grand_Raccoon0923@reddit

Before I got into aviation, I thought that pilots were really smart. They are not.

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jumpseat320@reddit

Dont underestimate yourself, you are! Not a lot of ppl can fly a plane :).

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FiatBad@reddit

I would think the majority of PPLs can fly a plane!

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jumpseat320@reddit

Sorry I meant people..my bad ;)

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FiatBad@reddit

I knew what you meant, just could't resist. All good!

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WhenInDoubtGoAround@reddit

I think that applies to many other professions. I’ve met physicians who, outside of their scope of practice, are as dumb as a rock.

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AtrophiedTraining@reddit

This is unsettling

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WhenInDoubtGoAround@reddit

Oh, it is! One would think doctors are overall smart people but quite few of them have little working knowledge on common subjects such as car maintenance or housework. I once met a neurologist who had the idea that a car’s engine needed frequent oil changes. He often bought cars in such a short span that he neven took them for service. I wish I kidding.

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ManifestDestinysChld@reddit

The number of absolute morons teaching college courses out there is startling

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Natural20Pilot@reddit

This is legitimately the reason I started flying. I was a FA for 4 years at a major carrier and realized a bunch of those pilots were just a bunch of knuckleheads like me. Now I’m one of those knuckleheads flying for a regional!

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kidjay76@reddit

This realization actually helped get rid of my imposter syndrome lol. We are about as smart as any other heavy equipment operator.

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dopexile@reddit

So basically just a glorified bus driver?

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Heavy_Swordfish_6304@reddit

Funnily enough as someone with a bus licence i can say at times driving bus is actually more challenging.

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Small_Chicken1085@reddit

100% agree. Way more stress….

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Small_Chicken1085@reddit

I thought they were really cool. They are not.

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I_ALWAYS_UPVOTE_CATS@reddit

So many people tell me that they'd love to be pilots but aren't clever enough. I do my best to set them straight.

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dfelton912@reddit

Same with me except for thinking pilots are really cool. They are also not.

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zkoolie@reddit

Oh god I’m sorry you thought that LOL

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Perfect_Insurance_26@reddit

The fact that a certified bolt is 1000x more expensive from Aircraft Spruce than it would be at Ace Hardware. Also just the amount of studying you have to do if you want to learn outside of a classroom. It takes thousands of hours to really learn and not just memorize the things you need to know.

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Phillimac16@reddit

How difficult it is to spot an airport from the air then trying to do it at night in a populated area...

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Mispelled-This@reddit

I find it much easier to find airports at night. Look for the big *black* spot among the city lights.

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Funkshow@reddit

Try a really small airport and it's tough.

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Mispelled-This@reddit

I find it harder during the day; a runway is just one more piece of pavement in a sea of other pavement. At least at night they have fairly distinct lights.

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NoRadio4530@reddit

Literally had my first dual night cross country this week. Instructor asked me probably 8 times if I see the runway yet.

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jckwlzn@reddit

Not really related to flying itself but I gained a weird interest and admiration for clouds and weather.

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t3chiman@reddit

The Cessna 150 trainers are generally pretty placid and forgiving in the air. But, if you get excessively cross-controlled when practicing accelerated stalls, the airplane will roll over and drop like a dart.

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Ok_Relationship_335@reddit

Flying is really a game of multitasking and fast-paced decision making under pressure. It’s a lot less about the adrenaline of being high and flying fast than media make it seem. You just have to track a bunch of little things all at once for a long period of time.

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Dry_Grade_8467@reddit

I turn 60 in May. Have about 13 hours. What surprised me is how much I need to do this and how much I've already learned about myself.

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AreWeThereYetNo@reddit

How easy it is.

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JBalloonist@reddit

How easy my CFI made it look when he did everything. There is so much going on when you’re starting out. Then after 40-50 hours or so it starts to become second nature just like driving. At least the muscle memory parts.

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PJH87@reddit

How boring it is. I took a few intro lessons and initiation flights for PPL (Piper Warrior III) and I had the feeling that after running through the checklist and taking off, there’s not much to do. You sort of hang there and fly around a bit, and then come back. I then asked around and almost no one did any trips or bigger flights due to the costs involved. I my mind I thought people would travel to remote locations, do a weekend trip to the Alps, … none of that so it seemed. 4 years later I went to a gliding club. Still enjoying that now 6 years in. There is a real challenge to fly, even though you still don’t do weekend’s to the alps. Never looked back to powered flight

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theheadfl@reddit

Just how few of your friends who "totally want to go flying" will ever actually go flying with you.

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Figit090@reddit

I have a few friends who've demonstrated this and a number of aquaintences who seem more interested and WOULD go, but I'd rather not cram them in my 150 just yet, for various reasons. 🥴

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fallingfaster345@reddit

My count is still zero and I’m at the airlines now.

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ItsReallyLebron@reddit

That it actually takes effort to be uncoordinated and stall the airplane lol

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DFWmovingwalkway@reddit

The amount of MAGA captains.

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CommuterType@reddit

How much I wasn't getting g laid

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skykek@reddit

I had a lot of hours in combat flight sims when I started flying. I was surprised by how hard it is to spot other planes in real life, even when they're painted white. I never complained about spotting being hard in sims after that

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Dependent_Bit7825@reddit

1. the planes were all older than me 2. smelled like old cigar + grandpa

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RedCrabb@reddit

How similar it is to controlling a boat. I suppose that’s why they borrow a lot of nautical terms

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Solid-Cake7495@reddit

Clouds are BIG!

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angryshark@reddit

Final approach and I realized I didn’t have brakes that worked in the air.

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Skeknir@reddit

God yeah, I remember the moment I had that "I'm constantly moving forwards no matter what" realisation. Well, unless something's very wrong anyway, always moving forwards. Can't pull over and think about it.

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Unremarkable_Potato_@reddit

I was not ready for the airplane to react so lazy. In my mind all airplanes should have had instant response to inputs and just be very sporty. I wanted inch perfect precision, and it took me awhile to figure out they are actually more like a large boat than a sports car.

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jumpseat320@reddit

I was amazed at thr checklist and how the 150 just lifted off with ease given how small it is.

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datcrazybro@reddit

Most planes are not maintained in tip top shape

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Beautiful_Exchange_3@reddit

Wind and turbulence. Never had a good understanding of how powerful the wind can be on a small airplane. Also never knew turbulence would affect me so much. Sort of used to it but don’t like it….

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dilemmaprisoner@reddit

That you can't see where you're going when you climb. I *thought* that it would be scary to point the plane down at the runway to land. That would be, I guess, but I was relieved to not do that. Only slightly surprising: many airports are real hard to find. ("slightly" because I have a terrible sense of direction).

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Squawk_0877@reddit

Honestly, how unbothered the birds are, big ones will fly right up and peek into the cockpit like they want to see who's driving, sometimes they dive alongside the plane, tucking and dropping like dolphins playing in a bow wave. Never crossed my mind before flying, now it's one of my favorite things to watch up there. Happens to me pretty often, curious if this is common or just something about where I fly

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jawshoeaw@reddit

How old and primitive and tiny a Cessna 172 is! I don’t know why I was expecting something else but it was a shock

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JJ-_-@reddit

tbh for me it was how much contradictory/misinformation gets floated around, even among instructors and flight schools. the way one flight school/instructor might teach something a certain way, but another flight school/instructor will tell you to never do that ever again.

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FiberApproach2783@reddit

Whether or not to dump the fuel or pour it back in gets me💔 All the instructors I know at my flight school dump it on the ground, but I feel like that's not what a DPE would want right?

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DimiGod217@reddit

The wing, model, make ect should have no basis on this, nor should the instructors strong arm one way or another, neither will any DPE I've encountered. It DOES matter on the components present in your sump tool. Specifically if it has a filter to trap contaminants (bugs, debris, ect) to allow only liquid to return to the tank if re-introduced

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FiberApproach2783@reddit

I have a gats jar, so it is capable of filtering contaminants. I mentioned the wing type because it's easier to dump it back into a low wing lol. I think that causes some of the disparity. So the DPE for your PPL didn't care? Which way did you choose to do it?

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DimiGod217@reddit

My DPE from PPL to MEI didnt care. I filtered it back in but I've also seen applicants with him dump it. I talk to him regularly now and could ask him if he has any conscious bias. I just know people have passed going both ways and cant imagine a reason to as either way is widely accepted and allowed.

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DimiGod217@reddit

I also just realized my flair is still PPL, and I dont remember how to change it. But im in the deep end of that pool now

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minfremi@reddit

Turing the plane on taxi by using my feet was new and very weird for me.

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3417-@reddit

My surprise was that I didn’t try it sooner.

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Forsaken_Cost4608@reddit

Same

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Atheizt@reddit

How much of my mental capacity it took in the beginning, just to fly straight and level. Fix heading? Altitude is low. Fix altitude, just turned 10 degrees. Instructor said something? Heading and altitude both off. Things improve quickly but it’s the only time I can recall ever seeing and feeling the limit of my mental capacity in real time. It felt like juggling chainsaws while doing algebra and tying my shoes.

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Forsaken_Cost4608@reddit

Hahaha last sentence is accurately described.

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Forsaken_Cost4608@reddit

For me so far in training I have been surprised by: •How difficult it was to spot another plane (the smaller ones) •Crosswind Landings •How much aviation requires (and allows) multitasking for demanding tasks considering the human brain can’t actually do them simultaneously, (rather switches between demanding tasks).

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always_a_tinker@reddit

Clouds are not fun

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400Volts@reddit

A 45 degree bank feels way steeper than it looks

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Phospherus2@reddit

Pilots are just as dumb as everyone else.

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Lukecv1@reddit

It's actually really easy to fly, but there are so many layers that are on top of the basics. It's really simple to do turns, climbs, and descents, but doing the same thing in a cloud will kill you if you don't have training.

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Hot-Fox-8797@reddit

Good point. Basic stick and rudder is the easiest part of flying. It’s everything else

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CheesecakeExotic6282@reddit

Two things surprised me. You use the throttle to ascend or to descend. You don’t steer the airplane with the rudder, you tilt the wings. You use the rudder to stop the airplane from drifting sideways.

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BugHistorical3@reddit

Appreciation of weather and the science and physics behind it. Bit nerdy but the weather now fascinates me a lot and I find it very beautiful actually.

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vintageripstik@reddit

I have always loved weather but never studied it. The bare minimum you need to know for PPL is already very interesting and makes me want to keep learning more

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kevinw1526@reddit

I know it’s kinda been said already, but just the levels there are to everything. Needing to know random information in the nooks and crannies of some overall easy topics.

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dopexile@reddit

How scary is it when you see out of the front window. The plane accelerates, and then you rapidly start running out of runway.

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iamtherussianspy@reddit

I found night flying to be easier since I couldn't see how low I was and how fast I was moving towards those trees.

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Zalamb1500@reddit

I guess what surprised me the most was how "not that bad" it was. I would not use the word easy. It is definitely challenging, both in the sky and on the ground. But the material you have to know is not on the level of some medical course or other advanced field, if that makes sense. If you have always had generally good study habits and aren't a total doofus, learning to fly is very manageable.

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StrongWork_@reddit

How little wind it takes to push a small plane around.

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Shriketino@reddit

How piss easy it is.

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Ok-Technician-2905@reddit

That you’re allowed to fly up the Hudson River with the NYC skyline right out your window.

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JBR1961@reddit

All the things you have to be aware of, and ahead of, all the time. I loved aerial warfare movies as a kid in the 60’s and 70’s, i.e. Baa Baa Black Sheep, 12 O’Clock High, etc. Then I learned how much is going on even just taking off, landing, and doing basic initial student maneuvers. THEN- I reflected back on those combat pilots having to know and do all that WHILE another guy was trying to kill them.

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KehreAzerith@reddit

Information overload and multi-tasking, it's a lot more than you'd expect.

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lomoplay@reddit

My very first flight: "Why it doesn't feel like X-Plane?"

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Feeling_Ad_1034@reddit

The amount of things I had to know and do. It’s not enough to understand how to recover from a stall, it was Power to 1500 Carb heat on Flaps out Start descent like you’re on final Hold an altitude, power out Call out stall horn Call out buffet Etc And it wasn’t just “ This instrument helps me understand straighten level when I’m in the clouds.” It was Rigidity in space Procession Pendulous veins Doors that open and close Engine driven Gyro pump

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DibsOnTheCookie@reddit

> Pendulous veins hate to be that guy but it’s “vanes” (as in “weather vane”, helped me remember how these work better)

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Feeling_Ad_1034@reddit

Take it up with talk to text haha

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zkoolie@reddit

When I first saw the FAR/AIM I thought ‘you’ve got to be kidding me’

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JSTootell@reddit

Wow, this thing is a pile of crap. And this is a nice plane? I have since downgraded to a less nice plane.

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Funkshow@reddit

How it didn't help me meet women but instead nerdy guys wanted to be my friend.

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ohfuckmyaldiquarter@reddit

Conversely, I was “warned” that young guys would try to hit on me, but instead my bestest bros are wholesome old men

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Right-Suggestion-667@reddit

Maybe the women we wanted to meet was actually the friends we made along the way

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Ok_Method_2790@reddit

for me it was how much multitasking is involved, obviously as time goes on one would do better at that. i remember being a low time student pilot and i would get overwhelmed with the heading/altitude/speed changes, atc. working on my IFR made me real good about it though lol

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rFlyingTower@reddit

This is a copy of the original post body for posterity: --- I’ve been curious about flying and what it’s actually like beyond what people imagine from the outside. It seems both exciting and challenging in ways that aren’t always obvious. For pilots or those learning—what was something that caught you off guard when you first started flying? --- Please downvote this comment until it collapses. Questions about this comment? [Please see this wiki post before contacting the mods](https://www.reddit.com/r/flying/wiki/index/rflyingtower/). --- I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. If you have any questions, please [contact the mods of this subreddit](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=/r/flying).

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pilotshashi@reddit

🗣️ What I have to do 1500 hours before joining airlines? s/☠ This is the end.

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