My First Flying Lesson

If you’ve read my introduction “The Beginning to Forever” post, then you probably already know I’ve had the desire to be a pilot for the past ten years or so. However, it wasn’t up until last year that I had my first flying lesson. Many things halted me from having my first flying lesson. From a lack of self-belief that I could be a pilot to some people telling me it’s not a ‘traditional’ career path for a female who would eventually become a mother and raise a family. However, as I was getting closer to finishing university, I decided I owed it to myself to at least follow my dreams and to have a trial lesson. As I had wanted to be a pilot for so long but had not flown a plane yet, so I needed to make sure I was 100% in it for the long run.

On the 13th of June 2021, I remember waking up with the excitement on the morning of my first flying lesson. I rushed out of my house and took the train from Cardiff to Rhoose where the Aeros Flying School is based. I arrived just before my 10:00 am lesson as I walked up to Aeros on the side of Cardiff Airport. Clear blue skies, lovely warm weather, and a slight gust of wind. Perfect. I was nervous as I was consistently thinking about what would happen if I didn’t like it as much as I thought I would. But those nerves soon turned into excitement as I saw a peak of the planes parked up through the window of the school’s offices.

Before going to the airfield, I had a brief lesson with my instructor on the principles of flight. Before my lesson, I watched a few YouTube videos and did a bit of reading on the principles of flight, but once the time had come, I'd forgotten most of it as I think the mix of excitement and nerves took over. If the same happens to you – do not worry! Just ask as many questions as possible to your instructor as that’s what they are there for! I’m so grateful for the instructor I had, I felt completely comfortable making mistakes and asking lots and lots of questions. From my experience, I feel that the best way for me to learn is through being resilient and actively learning from my mistakes. So, I would highly encourage you to do the same.

After the brief introductory lesson, we headed for the airfield and approached the Piper PA-38 that I was about to fly. For those who don’t know it’s a 2-seater plane, with a little bit of space behind your seats for your belongings. Before entering the plane, we did a walk round inspecting the plane, as this was my first time flying, my instructor spoke through what he was checking for throughout. Again, beneficial for my learning and understanding, and I even did a bit of fuel-checking myself! Once everything was ready to go, we quite literally hopped in (you get in the aircraft by standing on the wings) and went through the pre-flight checklist. This involved a lot of checking instruments, checking the ailerons, brakes, and rudder pedals which I had a go at testing myself (super exciting stuff for a newbie) and communicating with Air Traffic Control (ATC). Again, couldn’t contain my excitement as something I have wanted to do since I was a young teen was happening, like in real life and not one of my dreams!

As we approached the runway and lined up with the centre line, I think the moment of realisation hit me again for the billionth time that morning. It was really happening. One moment we were on the runway, I blinked, and then we were up in the air! Of course, it’s a much smaller and lighter aircraft than the commercial flights I had been on before, so the length of the runway we required was much shorter. From the moment we were in the air, I couldn’t stop smiling! So much beauty around me, from seeing how the instruments and flight controls work with the plane, to the stunning views of South Wales, I absolutely loved it!

During the lesson, my instructor gave me control of the aircraft multiple times, allowing me to understand the use of ailerons, rudder pedals and how high or low the nose of the plane should be. I had the opportunity to navigate the plane by using the heading indicator to direct us. There was a lot more to learn but for obvious reasons, you won’t be able to learn how to fly a plane from start to finish in one lesson! We flew from Cardiff Airport to Severn Bridge and back in under an hour. I spoke to ATC at one point, and although I had no idea what I was communicating, my instructor was kind enough to allow me to request information for landing, and then took over the rest of the communication. From a one-hour trial lesson, I felt that I had learned so much, and it solidified my decision that I want and need to be a pilot.

I have felt so inspired ever since and have of course caught the flying bug. I would highly recommend for others to have a trial lesson if they have not done so already! Everyone is deserving of obtaining their dreams and making them a reality. Your first trial lesson may just be your first step to doing so! If you haven’t got the funds to pursue this, there are organisations in the UK that give scholarships or free flying lessons. I hope to help you all with this and will hopefully produce a list of scholarships and free lessons available.

Fantasy Wings – link: https://fantasywings.co.uk/register/

‘Every year we select 50 students to attend a free flight trial which is sponsored by Fantasy Wings. We also sponsor 3 lucky students a 45 hour Private Pilot License. The 3 lucky students will be picked from the under 25s category.’ As copied from their website.