Take off and flight of a simple single engine light plane is pretty easy, especially with even a little computer simulation time. If you can get her started and understand how the brakes and rudder work to get it lined up, just go to wide open throttle and apply gentle back pressure on the yoke, she'll fly when she's ready.

Like my first flight instructor told me, "this plane has been flying longer than you've been alive, it knows how to fly, you just guide it a little."

Landing is the harder part, but given space to line up a long straight final and a good approach speed, not too hard. It just wouldn't look pretty without a "seat of the pants" understanding of the flare.

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Although I could probably make it down in a Cessna 172 if I started with enough altitude. Over, say, Prescott AZ.

Doesn't matter which aircraft or how much altitude they start with, they all come down eventually.

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Originally posted by trapper189:

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Although I could probably make it down in a Cessna 172 if I started with enough altitude. Over, say, Prescott AZ.

Doesn't matter which aircraft or how much altitude they start with, they all come down eventually.

Take-offs are optional, landings are mandatory.

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Originally posted by trapper189:

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Although I could probably make it down in a Cessna 172 if I started with enough altitude. Over, say, Prescott AZ.

Doesn't matter which aircraft or how much altitude they start with, they all come down eventually.

As my old Chief Pilot said once, "I've never know anybody to leave one up there".

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Originally posted by sns3guppy:

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Originally posted by r0gue:
Flight simulators can't prepare you for the kinesthetic sensations.

They really can, and do; so much so and so realistically that in most cases those obtaining a type rating have never set foot in the cockpit before.

The little computer games aren't simulators. They're games.

It's not necessary to have a feel-experience to learn to fly an airplane, however, as we've seen by the theft of the Dash 8.

I believe if a simulator was used, it was surly a consumer version. I would think most folks that feel the sensations of flight for the first time at the yoke would be ill prepared to deal with a setup, approach and landing. I'm voting one of them had lessons in the last. Or they'd have crashed. I'd bet money.

I dunno. Youth are invincible and immortal. It would never occur to them that something could go wrong and they could die. Given a long enough runway, an adequately fueled and non-defective aircraft with no control locks involved, it isn’t that hard, especially if you aren’t worried about making a great* landing. Sure, there is an element of luck involved for someone with no real training, but flying a light plane isn’t rocket science, especially when it has a nosewheel.

Famous aviation quote, “Any landing you can walk away from is a good one. Any landing you can walk away from and re-use the airplane without major maintenance is a Great one.”