Finally after several cancelations due to weather conditions I was able to conduct my first real flight lesson…
I taxied the Cesna 172 to the Airfield and after the instructor got us airborne he handed me the controls to do whatever I felt like and I leveled us off at 5000 ft and flew us around for an hour practicing turns and other maneuvers before flying us back to and setting us up for a landing at the airport…
The final turn to landing was way closer to the runway than what I do on the sim so I will need to keep that in mind when I get back into the sim…
Although the Sim helped me know what to expect in a few things the actual feel of the aircraft was night and day and I loved it…
Can’t wait for lesson 2.
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A little bit stiffer in the aircraft than you’re used to eh? 
And also congratulations because it’s such a good feeling. My discovery flight turned into getting my VFR license in 1991 which I cherish to this day!
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Congrats! I felt the same when I started lessons back in Sept. Here we are many weather delays later (Good ol’ NY winter weather) and I’m nearing checkride. I’m sure you’ve heard or read this before, but knock the written outta the way ASAP. It’ll remove that ‘test taking’ gloom and doom from being a distraction. Also, be as consistent as you can, will certainly make retaining the muscle memory easier.
Sorry for my ramble - good luck and safe flyin’!
Congrats on your real-world lessons! Good luck, and keep flying!
Course its going to be night and day there is no feel of in the sim. You are literally sitting in actual machine with many moving parts.All the best!
Great stuff, wait until your first solo after about 8 hours or so. Looking across to the other empty seat suddenly makes you realise there’s no one to take control as you turn finals tö land…
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Congrats on your first lesson. I’m sure it was a ton of fun. Happy flying!
I’ll likely be doing some lessons this summer if this stupid covid lockdown we have is lifted. I was going to last summer, but unfortunately we were on lockdown then too. 
Tip… if your budget can extend to it… try for at least two sessions a week… it will work out cheaper for you in the long run… well, in most cases. Otherwise you will have to keep revising… means more lessons… more cost.
Never give up your dream to fly!
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Congrats! I did that 1st flight 21 years ago just because I was new to a city and have always wanted to fly airplanes. Did a lot of simming before that…
21 years later with CFII - still flying and having fun… Good luck and enjoy. It’s a privilege that very few people in this world have and cherish that experience. 
If you enjoyed that first flight, wait until your first solo, it will be an amazing experience for you. Just be ready for the early lift off cos there’s no instructor weight, and then be ready for the accelerated heart beat when you have settled down and you look to your right, and there’s nobody else in the plane, you’re solo! 
Congratulations.
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I hope to be following in your footsteps in the near future. End of March weather permitting. Keep up the good work!
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Remember, even the great emperors of the greatest empires of recorded history never knew what it was like…to fly.
Thumbs up on this reply. It is what my advice was going to be.
Congrats! Next step… solo!
That’s cool. I also did a discovery flight but in the Diamond DV20 after flying it a lot in the sim and I have to say it was a lot like in the sim. Obviously it was more movements and feel to it but that was kind of expected, right?
Congratulations and enjoy every flight.
Next special feeling will be your first solo flight 
Congrats! 
You will never forget your first day, the other mythic one will be your first solo! On my side (2003) that day was the day! I was even “scared” just after T/O at the initial climb to feel my bird “too light” than usual because nobody was on my right! I was so exiting to be alone airbone for the very first time of my life so that can’t wait to read your first impression after your first solo!
Yeap I wouldn’t never became a pilot without the existence of FS2002/2004, back in the days!
(sweet nostalgia)
Flight Simulator can feed some vocation right? The virtual base of a dream that becomes reality someday.
See you in months for your first solo, looking forward! 
I wrote before reading your post and I say the same, very true, and very deep emotional experience the first solo! Definitely! 
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Where in NY are you? I’m based at KRME in Rome.
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So let me give you the one piece of advice I wish I had known. There are three keys to good landings:
- Airspeed control.
- Airspeed control.
- Airspeed control.
Being precise about your airspeed will make everything easier. If you’re supposed to be at 65, don’t be at 60, don’t be at 70, be fanatical about being at exactly 65.
That and stay on centerline, and landings will be a lot easier to learn.
Have fun!
PS. Anyone who tells you flight simulation can’t be used for practice has no idea what they’re talking about. Practice your circuits/patterns at your home field. And you should also pre-fly your cross countries (dual and solo) when you get that far. But seriously, enjoy it, it’s a blast.
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Well done Brasstech! Putting your knowledge to use in the real skies!
Like all the old hands above this post, i too dipped my feet in flying… but it turns out my inner ear is oversensitve, which makes me quite fearful at flying in the back (passenger) of larger airplanes.
My best friend once gave me “an hour of flight” suggesting it would get me over my fear of flying.
Well, i’ve learnt alot in that one hour, as i got to hear “your controls” just as we were inside the first bank after takeoff… so as i gently put in a bit of backpressure to get a feel, i completely knotted my stomach as i was pushed into the seat… oh, that delicate are the controls, eh? I learnt fast… but the good thing was, thanks to the years of flightsim previously, i was in a familiar environment, as the C172 was one i flew regularly in and had familiarized myself in instrument flying in it. It was a blast, i flew the entire hour, without white knuckles, even though some of It scared me a few times… just like i hate airpockets… even though the instructor told me “it was just a 1 meter drop” to me it felt like the earth wanted me back instantly (@3500 feet), also pulling the throttle back to a lower RPM to lose altitude made me nausious, but i got sort of used to the sort of feather movement, where it’s basically trimmed out but then it feers back and forth as a sort of push and pull feeling…Instructor told me i’d get used to all the motions if i flew more (dont they always say that, hahahaha).
As we were nearing the pattern for landing he told me to bank right, so i did… but it wasn’t hard enough he told me, so i banked a bit harder, but then i heard (my controls) and he took over and it felt like we were doing the WW2 manouvre where you bank over with opposite rudder! hahahah… i can laugh now, but my eyes were wide open with fear! I bet it was about a 60 degrees angle and i only did about 30-35 ish degrees of bank the whole flight… As we leveled he smugly said “your controls” … then he let me choose the point on where to line up on final and i handled all the controls for a nice landing angle at 65 knots… i kept it there untill about 50 meters from the runway then he said “i have control” followed by “there’s an airplane behind us and we need to move fast for him not to have to go around” … as soon as the cessna settled down, he braked hard and i wasn’t surprised it didn’t fall over as he steered hard right to the taxiway… After all, it’s a tricycle, right?!
My best friend (who was in the back… That trust, right?!) later told me that “he wouldhave let you land, if it wasn’t for that plane”… Well, he might have and i wouldhave loved it… but besides from controlling the airplane, i had no clue what was going on around me, didn’t really listen to the radio at all and was just tunnelvisioned on flying the airplane… whilst enjoying the scenery i’ve lived in all my life from above. I’d have to be structured from the ground up, as the flying or navigating isn’t the worst part of me… i guess it’s dealing with the rest of the world that would have my instructors pull their hair out But that’s why there are flight lessons on the ground and in the air, right?
Anyways, that’s my story for you to read… i hope to find more entertaining stories of your adventures as you lean further into the world of Aviation. I’ll be at airchair virtual pilot position, listening in on how you are doing! Have fun man! Enjoy the skies!
My instructor died way too early in a stupid accident on the ground about a year and a half later. Loved the guy, he was much like a Lewis Dixon (Lewdix aviation on youtube).
Kindest regards,
Steiny
(PS: i’m not afraid to get in an airplane, just of what i cannot see that’s happening to my coordination. My eyes are telling me things that my ears dont agree with, which sends me into a mild panic nowadays, used to be great panic, so flying more does work, eventually… i just cannot relax up there, so i’d rather do it here, at the computer.)
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