flying lesson
Yesterday I had an awesome experience of piloting a Tecnam 2002JF!
The weather looked pretty dodgy to start off the day, with some rather dark clouds and a reasonably strong wind, but by the time midday came around, and I had travelled to Bankstown Airport, it had cleared to an almost remarkable sky.
I did my introductory flight lesson with the company Basair. The instructor that I had was quite young however extremely professional and was a great person to fly with. Funnily enough he actually lives in the next suburb to me and as they say; its a small world. Speaking of small worlds, it is a totally remarkable feeling almost instantly after takeoff. The world as we know it rather quickly becomes what almost appears to be a set of monopoly houses and/or matchbox cars below.. Even mountains appear to be mere bumps in the earth’s surface. I’ve been on my fair share of commercial flights, but being in an ultralight it makes the experience oh so much more different.
I was in full control for almost all of the flight, giving the controls up for the instructor for the takeoff and landing procedures. Weighing in at a mere 340kg the plane isn’t much more than my motorcycle and I combined. Given its weight, the aircraft has a relatively short takeoff and landing distance. This distance is probably normal for this aircraft class, but I was still quite impressed. Even more impressive was the landing performed by my Basair instructor.. damn he made it look oh so easy. I have not ever had such a nice landing even on a commercial airliner. Given the differences in the aircraft I can compare to, I was still pretty awestruck. I however was totally lost for words about the whole flight. I was nothing but a gigantic smile for the duration of the flight as well as several hours afterwards 
Needless to say, I will continue persuing my Private Pilots Licence and will definately enjoy that freedom to fly anywhere I please.
Filed under: m.o