Man, I love flying. My old man used to own a small 4-seater plane a few years back. I was too young to remember the maker and model though. He has an instructor friend and I managed to get a few hours in, this around the time I was 14 or so. I could barely see over the instrument panel (landing was quite the challenge, but I managed to do so with a little help and some piled up books)
Piloting a plane really is an experience you can't quite explain to people. But I don't think you really need to... The way I always tell it is that flying a plane is "every bit as awesome as you think it is". That might not be true for the larger planes but I was really surprised at the freedom you have when flying. Before my first time I thought it was going to be all very serious, planned and strict. No goofing around or flying without a specific destination. Not so, my instructor let me feel the plane, tilt it around, fly around the coast at a "fun" altitude, go up, down and whatnot. He stopped me short of top-gun acrobatics though
I really regret we had to sell the thing. I was too young and distracted with life back then to really get into it. But now I look back at those few hours as one of the coolest things I've ever done.
I've always wanted to find a good ultralight to play around with. They're way cheaper to maintain and all. Maybe some day... maybe I'll even build one myself eventually. I'm applying for a mechanical engineering program in college next semester, hopefully I'll get in and then I plan on specializing on aeronautical engineering. Another choice is going straight into an aeronautical engineering program at one of the universities that my country's armed forces run. We'll see... But I'll definitely be back up there somehow. Just a matter of time.
