Learning to Fly, Lesson 2: Preflight & Your First Flight

Today we go flying. In Lesson 2, a longtime pilot and flight instructor walks you through the preflight the way a pilot really does it, starting on the ramp as you walk up to the airplane, and then rides along on your first flight in a Cessna 172. You'll learn what to look for on the walk-around (tires, fuel, oil, the nose strut and the propeller), how to settle in, start the engine and set your headset, how to taxi and stay off runways without a clearance, what your instructor is doing on the takeoff, how to hold straight and level within 20 feet, how to fly 90-degree turns to a point off the wingtip, and how to enter the pattern for landing. Above all: keep looking outside for other airplanes. Watch Lesson 1 first:    • Learning to Fly, Lesson 1: Flight Controls...   This series is meant to supplement, not replace, instruction from a qualified flight instructor. Written by Jim Cox. Narrated with an AI-generated voice. CHAPTERS 0:00 Welcome back 0:25 Before you leave home 1:08 The preflight starts on the ramp 1:50 A pilot's eyes, not a mechanic's 2:27 In the cabin 2:58 The tail 3:23 The right wing 3:46 The fuel, with your own eyes 4:30 The nose, the oil, and the propeller 5:06 The nose strut 6:02 The left wing, and one last look 6:32 Getting in and settled 7:09 Starting the engine 7:50 Taxiing 9:09 The run-up 9:47 Takeoff 10:41 The traffic pattern and departing it 11:09 Straight and level 14:07 A 90-degree turn to the left 14:48 Now to the right, and a few more 15:10 Heading home, entering the pattern 15:33 The landing 16:04 Taxi in and shut down 16:29 What's next Subscribe for new flight lessons and plain-spoken economics from Jim Cox:    / @jimcoxga   IMAGE CREDITS Real photos from Wikimedia Commons and figures from FAA handbooks. No AI-generated pictures. Seaotter7778, CC BY 4.0: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Kentaro Iemoto from Tokyo, Japan, CC BY-SA 2.0: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... maryatexitzero, CC BY 2.0: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Gudleik Alvik, CC BY 3.0: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... enrique galeano morales from tegucigalpa, CC BY 2.0: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Kelownian Pilot at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Cjp24, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Persist, CC BY-SA 3.0: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... PlaneSpot, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Darin Ninness, CC BY 4.0: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Eddie Maloney from North Las Vegas, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Adam Jones, Ph.D., CC BY-SA 3.0: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Civil Air Patrol, CC BY 2.0: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Cory W. Watts from Madison, Wisconsin, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... LR, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Biponacci, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Flohlateiner, CC BY-SA 3.0: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Flohlateiner, CC BY-SA 3.0: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Flohlateiner, CC BY-SA 3.0: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Flohlateiner, CC BY-SA 3.0: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Flohlateiner, CC BY-SA 3.0: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Flohlateiner, CC BY-SA 3.0: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Flohlateiner, CC BY-SA 3.0: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... 11 more photos are public domain (U.S. military, Civil Air Patrol and Wikimedia Commons). FAA figures: Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge (FAA-H-8083-25) and Airplane Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-3), public domain. Licenses: CC BY https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... and CC BY-SA https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... (version as listed).