Learning to Fly

First-hand accounts of learning to fly — from the first moments in the cockpit to solo pattern work and cross-country flights. Posts include video of my very first landing in a Citabria taildragger, basic VFR flight maneuvers in a Cessna 172 (steep turns, slow flight, stalls), and pattern work at Palo Alto Airport (KPAO) in the Citabria with cockpit video. There’s a detailed profile of the American Champion Citabria 7ECA — the aerobatic taildragger I trained in — and a breakdown of its fuel system. You’ll also find a post about flying co-pilot in a Cirrus over the Sierra Nevada, and a cockpit tour video of the Canadair CL-215 water bomber. The perspective throughout is that of a student pilot connecting the theory of flight to the physical experience of controlling an aircraft.