In 1496 a talented inventor and artist attempted to get the world’s first passenger flying machine airborne, but to no avail. Several centuries later, the sketches produced by Leonardo da Vinci helped propel aviation to new heights, literally. There are people alive today that witnessed the first zeppelin, followed by the first passenger aeroplane and the rise and fall of Concorde. It is extraordinary to think that aviation safety has advanced to such a degree that anyone can learn to fly a plane.

Images of people leaping off a pier desperately clinging to a homemade contraption that would have made the Wright Brothers wince is what many people first think of at the thought of an average Joe wanting to learn to fly a plane. However, there are a number of courses and days out that enable anyone with nerves of steel to take over the controls of a private aircraft to learn to fly.

As any pilot will tell you it is taking off and landing that require the skills honed by pilots over the years, so in that respect flying itself is relatively easy once up in the air. Micro gliders and small passenger craft are favourites for thrill seekers, as are stunt planes where would be pilots can have a go at doing a loop da loop thousands of feet above the ground.

Some flying lessons can count towards gaining a pilot’s licence, rather than just being for fun. These lessons allow the novice pilot to take off and land to get to grips with the controls. In aviation industry it is said that every landing is a controlled crash, with no two ever the same, so the more lessons that can be had to practice this element, the quicker someone can learn to fly a plane and gain a pilot licence.

Most pilots are fairly anonymous unless they have been involved in combat, but one pilot who is a household name is testament to the fact that nowadays anyone can learn to fly a plane. The actor John Travolta now has a full pilot licence which entitles him to fly a Boeing 707, a passenger airliner that is just one of five planes that he owns.

Learning to fly a plane brings with it some logistical problems, especially if you want to keep your craft near your home. Travolta has famously taken up a residence that is connected to Greystone Airport so that not only does he have somewhere to park his plane, he is also able to taxi to his very own runway right from his front door.

Dom Donaldson is a transport expert.
If you want to Learn To Fly A Plane or take a passenger ride in a classic aircraft visit http://www.experiencemad.co.uk/Flying-Lessons

[tags]Learn To Fly A Plane, flying lessons, aviation, aeroplanes, plane flying[/tags]