{"id":1407,"date":"2009-04-14T09:14:56","date_gmt":"2009-04-14T14:14:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/?p=1407"},"modified":"2017-06-20T10:00:26","modified_gmt":"2017-06-20T15:00:26","slug":"aviation-student-lands-his-first-flight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/tartan-news\/2009\/04\/14\/aviation-student-lands-his-first-flight\/","title":{"rendered":"Aviation student lands his first flight"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\"Sinclair<\/a><\/div>\n

Sinclair Aviation student Michael McDougall successfully completed his first solo flight on March 4.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The winds were calm and the sun was bright with blue skies surrounding when Sinclair Community College Aviation student Michael McDougall took off for his first solo flight in a Cessna 152.<\/p>\n

\u201cHonestly, if I told you I was totally calm and cool, I\u2019d be lying,\u201d he said about his nerves during the flight. \u201cI just felt like I was ready. I was totally prepared and knew what I was doing.\u201d<\/p>\n

McDougall knew weeks before his March 4 take off that he would be behind the controls of his first flight. The accomplishment occurred at the Dayton Wright Brothers Airport in Miamisburg.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt felt like I lost track of time,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

A solo flight consists of three full-stop landings, according to McDougall. The accomplishment took one hour, but McDougall said it didn\u2019t feel like it.<\/p>\n

Emily Watson, McDougall\u2019s certified flight instructor at Sinclair Community College, asked McDougall if he was ready for his first solo and he gave an extremely confident \u2018yes\u2019 to Watson.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe greatest part about being an instructor is sitting there watching your student,\u201d said Watson, who also helps train potential pilots using the General Aviation Trainer (GAT).<\/p>\n

Simulator training<\/strong><\/p>\n

The GAT is more difficult than flying a plane, according to Watson, because of its sensitivity to movement. The GAT is a flight simulator used by students aspiring to become pilots. It\u2019s located in the first floor of Building 13.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s actually a lot harder to fly than a real plane,\u201d Watson said. \u201cIf a student can fly the GAT, it makes them a better student at flying the real plane. It\u2019s definitely beneficial.\u201d<\/p>\n

McDougall had no simulator time before his solo, but is going through the training in spring quarter. After gaining experience both in the air and in the GAT, McDougall agrees with Watson.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe GAT controls are more touchy and sensitive,\u201d he said. \u201cIf you can fly well in the GAT, then you\u2019ll have no problem with the plane.\u201d<\/p>\n

Watson is in her second quarter helping train students with the GAT. Students are not required to train with the simulator, but Watson said it helps the smooth the transition to the air.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you fly a real plane, whatever control input that you do the aircraft will respond accordingly,\u201d Watson said. \u201cWhen you fly the simulator, it\u2019s over-sensitive. It makes you more alert. It makes you pay attention more to what you\u2019re doing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Training with the GAT is not required in order to receive an associate\u2019s degree.<\/p>\n

Watson said the best way to judge a pilot\u2019s ability is the confidence and skill level.<\/p>\n

\u201cSafety is the most important part of flying,\u201d she said. \u201cAs soon as they can demonstrate they know how to land that plane and do everything that they\u2019re supposed to do. Confidence is the big thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Next departure for McDougall<\/strong><\/p>\n

McDougall began taking classes last summer and plans on finishing his associate\u2019s degree in 2010 and move on to Ohio University, Ohio State or Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona, Fla.<\/strong><\/p>\n

One of his earliest and fondest memories linked to aviation happened at 7 years old when McDougall took a seat next to the pilot in a six-seated passenger jet.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe pilot let me get in the front seat and fly some of it, which I thought was pretty neat,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

McDougall\u2019s next solo flight isn\u2019t scheduled yet, but he has cross-country solo flights consisting of around 55-60 miles, according to McDougall.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt should be easy,\u201d said McDougall on his next solo flight. \u201cOnce you make it over the hump, it\u2019s pretty easy.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The winds were calm and the sun was bright with blue skies surrounding when Sinclair Community College Aviation student Michael McDougall took off for his first solo flight in a Cessna 152. \u201cHonestly, if I told you I was totally calm and cool, I\u2019d be lying,\u201d he said about his nerves during the flight. \u201cI […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[3],"tags":[243,320,1272,137],"class_list":["post-1407","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-tartan-news","tag-aviation","tag-general","tag-joseph-stueve","tag-student"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"cc_featured_image_caption":{"caption_text":false,"source_text":false,"source_url":false},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5s3vR-mH","jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1407","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1407"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1407\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10109,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1407\/revisions\/10109"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1407"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1407"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1407"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}