Flying Is Fun!
Yes! No doubt about it that flying is a blast. But flying isn’t a hobby. All pilots are professionals whether they fly for the love of it, or fly to make a living at it.
Aviation is a vocation; you should never stop learning… how to fly, about your aircraft and its systems, the regulations, the airspace, the weather, and risk management for every flight. Proficient is the name, and experience is the game.
Flying Challenges Your Senses
Piloting an aircraft is very different than maneuvering any ground-based vehicle.
Ground-based vehicles move in a two dimensional space (2D). You can go forward, you can go backwards, you can go left, right, or straight ahead. But generally… you shouldn’t be leaving the ground.
Going airborne sends you soaring into three dimensions (3D) by adding the vertical component. It might not sound like much shifting from 2D to 3D, but the differences are substantial.
The Airplane Flying Handbook (AFH) describes the “depth of knowledge and type of motor skill development” required to fly an airplane:
Once the knowledge and skills come together, flying the plane can become like second-nature… with one HUGE caveat; aeronautical knowledge and flying skills are both perishable over time. Pilots must dedicate time to maintain not just bare minimum “recency” and “proficiency” requirements (what you are legally required to do), but strive to build experience focused on being a safe aviation professional. A pilot should never stop learning.