Poll: Which flight experience would you pick?

Which one?

  • A) Intro

    Votes: 24 36.9%

  • B) Aerobatic

    Votes: 10 15.4%

  • C) 1930s

    Votes: 13 20.0%

  • D) Fighter pilot

    Votes: 18 27.7%
  • Total voters
    65

SideWinder

SideWinder

SideWinder

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For Xmas last year, my company presented me with a £100 gift card. I have decided to use it on a flying experience. :)

I have never been in a small aircraft and I want to do something truly memoriable. I have selected a few that are close by to me and all have their benefits etc. Cost wise, I can afford the pricier one however I am wondering if I should perhaps do something 'cheaper' to see how I get on. Plus £295 for 30mins...quite a lot plus a video on top.

What do you all think? I made my first poll - exciting.

Option A
Experience: Intro flight lesson
Cost: £140
Desc: One on one training with a Civil Aviation Authority licensd instructor so I'll have the chance to have a go. The flying time counts towards a Private Pilot's licence. Unsure if i would take up flying however this would be the most 'real' life experience.
www.virginexperiencedays.co.uk

Introductory Flying Lesson Gift - Virgin Experience Days

Virgin Experience Days flying lessons offers you the chance of an amazing experience and take control of a light plane and enter the sky.
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Option B
Experience: Areobatic flight experience
Cost: £135
Desc: Experience a barrel roll, loop the loop, stall turns, steep turns with speeds of over 100mph. I would not have the chance to control the plane but wow what a ride this could be for the price.
www.virginexperiencedays.co.uk

Aerobatic Flight - Virgin Experience Days

If you're looking for gift ideas then Virgin Experience can offer a wide range of different kinds of gift experiences such as an Aerobatic Flight
www.virginexperiencedays.co.uk

Option C
Experience: Tiger Moth 1930s trial lesson (open top cockpit)
Cost: £269
Desc: Experience a WW2 training plane and have the chance to have a go myself. This could be terrifying mixed with sheer 'wow'!

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Option D:
Experiene: Fly with a fighter pilot (Goodwood)
Cost: £395
Desc: Sit side by side with an instructor in a T67 Firefly, used by the RAF between 1995 and 2010, which includes areobatics plus the chance to have a go myself. I can also purchase a video of my flight for £40.
www.virginexperiencedays.co.uk

Fighter Jet Experience With Pilot - Virgin Experience Days

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The intro lesson sounds like the most gain imo, unless you particularly want some ace to remove your breakfast from your body, and the tiger moth isn't a real plane. :D
 
If you've never done acrobatics before, prepare for a miserable experience with options B and D, unless you have a very strong constitution!
 
I think if you have the confidence and the ability to follow instructions (and stay calm) I think it is worth taking the option that allows you to fly the plane rather than simply being a passenger.

The open top nature of option C sounds horrendous to me, so that's a hard no.

Leaving option A and D.

Both have their advantages. With option A you get to land the plane which would be pretty cool, while option D has some acrobatics as well as hands on time. The question would be which would you have more fun doing.
 
I’ve done a) and b) in a Cessna 172 and a Pitts Special respectively.

I enjoyed them both but a) was great because I actually got to fly the aircraft. You almost certainly won’t be allowed to take off or land but I did everything else, once we were at about 200ft I was given the controls and when we went back towards the airport, I only passed the controls back when we were on the downwind leg, just before we turned to base.

I was flown for aerobatics in the Team Toyota Pitts, it was a competition I won from the local garage and it was a lot of fun but I genuinely enjoyed being able to fly the 172 wherever I wanted over an area I knew well.

Out of all of those, I’d go with a) again.
 
I love roller coasters, so I would pick option B :D

I wouldn't be able to do the other 3 anyway because my eyesight is such that I'll never to road legal, which also rules out flying an aircraft.
 
I’ve had a couple of flying lessons, they really weren't what I’d expected and I came to the conclusion that I didn’t like flying a plane all that much.. I spent some time in my youth wanting to be a pilot but in the end flying one of those light planes wasn’t for me.

I’ve voted for the fighter experience based on that.
 
I think I'd take option C, unless I was intending to carry on with the training (A). I think that would be the most exciting experience.
 
Personally i think i'd find A a bit boring, unless you actually had any interest in becoming a pilot i don't see any benefit of having a go yourself for a few minutes. So may as well go for what would be a bigger "experience"

I'd be going any of B, C or D. Probably even narrow it down to just B or C as the cost of D seems excessive as a first time experience and i don't think it'd be much more than the others. Then it's down to cost, i'd probably go C just because it'd feel insane.
 
Remember fixed wing pilots are just failed rotary pilots, bit like F1 drivers having to use 4 wheels instead of 2 :)

Open cockpit tiger moth wins hands down.
 
B)

I'd be a complete mess and curse every second of it but I know I'd love it after, shame there's no video but I suppose you could ask to setup a gopro to film your reaction.
 
As someone who has airophobia I would go with A, because it would give me the most transferable knowledge. I have a love/hate relationship with flying, I am fascinated by it but panic a lot when in the sky. That said, I'm a lot better than I used to be. I would actually be tempted by all of them though.
 
I've done Option A from Liverpool Airport and really enjoyed it - I was allowed to take off although the instructor did all the radio work and basically set the plane up so I just had to aim and increase the throttle - of course no landing allowed.

The only downside of A is you leave wanting more but sadly the cost of doing the PPL or similar is not small!
 
I'd go for A personally as i'd quite like to have a go myself rather than just having my breakfast re-introduced to the outside of my body.
 
I thought there would be a clean sweep of results...however its quite even!

Thank you all so much for providing such detailed analysis too - its appreciated. :)
 
Fixed wing and aerobatic pilot checking in.

If it's your first time in a small aircraft, as fun as it would be (and it is!), it would be my suggestion to avoid B and D. When you learn to fly, you get to know your limits and how to control your limits and being in a small aircraft is very different to being in a big one. It only took a few spins in a T67 (your option D) for me to start feeling sick on my first aerobatics flight!

Taking out the aerobatics aspect of D, it then just becomes a standard trial flight so A or C would be better suited if you base it on cost. I've yet to go in an open cockpit, but I feel that would be much more exciting than A (though I was thoroughly excited for my trial flight back in 2015!) - so my recommendation would be C.

Learning to fly is expensive but the LAPL route has opened up the doors for many. If you particularly enjoy your flight and think it might be something you want to persue as a hobby, do look into that as it's about half the cost of a normal PPL.
 
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