Aviation Club forms to help students fly high

The newly-formed Penn Aviation Club held an introductory meeting last week in Steinberg-Dietrich Hall for students interested in learning how to fly. The meeting featured a brief instructional video called "Let's Fly," and commentary from Penn Aviation Club President Eric Zipkin and the club's aviation expert, Tom Troutman. Troutman is a commercially licensed pilot who flies cargo and chartered flights for a living. Zipkin, a Wharton sophomore, said the 3-month-old club was formed with two main goals -- to be a resource facility for experienced pilots and to be a training ground for novices. He also said the club will try to be involved in service activities such as Life-Flight, a non-profit organization which flies organ and blood donors to and from medical facilities. Last week's meeting, however, was geared mainly towards people with little or no flying experience. Zipkin and Troutman discussed the educational and financial requirements of getting a pilot's license. They said after all of the costs are considered, including textbooks, flying time, instructors' fees and exam fees, a person must spend around $2500 to receive his or her license. The video examined various aspects of learning to fly that many people do not immediately think of. Students must attend ground school classes in addition to 35-50 hours of air training. The air training involves learning about take offs and landings, in-flight maneuvering, adverse weather conditions, nighttime flying and Federal Aviation Administration guidelines. Zipkin said the time, persistence and money involved are all secondary compared to the thrills of actually flying an airplane. "It's an incredible feeling [and] it really gives you a sense of achievement," he said. "Some people say it's better than sex." "You don't have to worry about stop signs or speed limits," Zipkin added. "It's also very economical." According to Zipkin, it is economical because it would cost about $300 in air time for two people to rent a plane from Philadelphia to Toronto, for example. Zipkin challenged the audience to find two commercial airline tickets to Toronto for less than $300. Troutman stressed how safe flying is, saying that statistics prove flying to be safer than driving or even crossing the street. "I'm scared to death to fly the commercial airliners because I'm not at the controls," he said. Yesterday the Penn Aviation Club took interested students to Northeast Philadelphia Airport to experience flying and to learn about the mechanics of planes. Zipkin and Troutman, who are both licensed pilots, flew with students for an hour, allowing each student to experiment with various controls once in the air. They flew in single engine planes which travel at a speed of about 120 knots, or 150 miles per hour. Commercial jets typically fly at up to 550 miles per hour. Students also examined the structural differences of various planes and toured the control tower at the airport.