On Monday my dad and I (at his request) had a half hour trial flight in a light aircraft at our local airport.
We went up in a small 4 seater (Pipper) airplane and in truth I had never been in any plane as small as that and nor had my Dad. My Dad is in his mid Seventies and isn't really in the greatest of health.
Now here is the thing. Last year my Dad was given Microsoft Flight Sim and although he is not very computer orientated he was quite taken with the thing spending hours 'playing' it and he would often tell me how he had taken off from various airports around the world in various planes etc.
Now what was trully amazing was that after the instructor had taxid us to the correct runway, my dad proceeded to take the plane off, fly along the coast and then out to sea for a while, back to the coast and eventually back to the airstrip where he landed the plane solo. The whole time the instructor was at hand giving info but actually sat there without his hands on the controls.
My dad has hardly been on a plane before let alone in a cockpit, I couldn't believe it!
We went up in a small 4 seater (Pipper) airplane and in truth I had never been in any plane as small as that and nor had my Dad. My Dad is in his mid Seventies and isn't really in the greatest of health.
Now here is the thing. Last year my Dad was given Microsoft Flight Sim and although he is not very computer orientated he was quite taken with the thing spending hours 'playing' it and he would often tell me how he had taken off from various airports around the world in various planes etc.
Now what was trully amazing was that after the instructor had taxid us to the correct runway, my dad proceeded to take the plane off, fly along the coast and then out to sea for a while, back to the coast and eventually back to the airstrip where he landed the plane solo. The whole time the instructor was at hand giving info but actually sat there without his hands on the controls.
My dad has hardly been on a plane before let alone in a cockpit, I couldn't believe it!