Your favorite moments of flight??

[bhilgy]

What are your favorite moments during a flight?

 

Mine is that moment on short final when the Mooney is dialed in on the perfect glideslope and I'm nearly hands free on a stable approach.  The runway backgrounds that perfect picture that says "I'm a badass pilot and am about to grease this landing".  Brings a big smile to my face every time!  

 

BTW- At it's best just after I checked "Gear Down" one more time!

 

Go!

[carusoam]

Each time I press all those horses into service!

0 to flying in 800' (something like that)

0 to giant smile in a few seconds...lasts all day.

Thanks for asking,

-a-

[Joe Zuffoletto]

Breaking out of a low overcast on a gloomy day and seeing the REIL all lit up right in front of me!

[PMcClure]

Breaking out on top of a low overcast, to a bright sunny blue sky!

[Mooneymite]

Looking down on the backed up traffic on I-75 with a 150 groundspeed!

[WardHolbrook]

My favorite moments (in no particular order) are:

1. Flying an ILS to minimums and looking up to see that the runway is really there. That feeling never gets old. 
2. The feeling of "levitation" you get when you punch through a cloud deck at about 4,000 fpm. Believe it or not, the only other time I get that same sensation is when I'm working strong lift in a sailplane. 
3. The sunsets.
4. The sunrises.
5. Northern Lights
6. The feeling of acceleration when you stand the power levers up in a lightly loaded jet.
7. Hearing the traffic on the highway below you when you fly overhead in a sailplane. 
8. Doing anything in a Supercub with the door and window open.
9. And the list goes on and on and on... 

[Awful_Charlie]

So many great bits of just about every flight

 - that slight tenseness as you get to the airport

 - the first cough, bang , splutter as the engine wakes up from its slumber and settles to a fast idle

 - all the lights and screens coming on with the avionic master

 - the first bit of movement after releasing the brakes

 - pouring in the power and accelerating down the runway

 - watching the ground pull away from underneath

 - top of climb when the speed winds up, followed by the fuel flow going down

 - looking at the traffic jams below, or imagining the people stuck below an overcast or in the rain

 - sitting in the sun on top of an overcast

 - finding the destination airport on time in the right place (or even early!)

 - breaking out at minimums after a stable approach

 - greasing it on (erm, don't manage that quite as often as I would like)

 - that quiet moment when it is just the gyros winding down

I think it is a variation on a military saying, that you can't beat a good sh*t, a good orgasm and a good night landing - with an approach to minimums in a howling crosswind, you can do all three at the same time!

[Hank]

I love takeoff, the acceleration and sight/feel of the ground dropping away.

Breaking out on top of the layer is nice, too. So is weaving between the clouds VFR.

A smooth landing on a calm evening is pretty nice, too. Night currency flights always energize me.

[rbuck]

I love breaking off the runway and feeling the gear raise into the wheel wells. That and evenings/sunsets from the air. 

[Wakeup]

I love the feeling when you walk up to your plane to pre-flight it and think "Yep...it's all mine and it's paid for". Troy

[Piloto]

Taking someone on its first flight.

 

Tio José

[triple8s]

Taking a young person who has never seen an airplane in person and watching their face when the wheels leave the ground. Nothin like seeing the look on their faces.

[Marauder]

Since all the good ones are taken... Pulling up to the gas pump to find a Bo pilot left his receipt in the self serve pump. His has one more digit than my receipt.

[Jerry 5TJ]

....finally getting all the screws back into the belly panels and finishing the annual......

[Piloto]

Not all of them Marauder. One of my favorites moments is coming out alive in the clear after going through a nasty bumpy thunderstorm. I am sure some of you know the exhilaration feeling.

 

José

[FlyDave]

....finally getting all the screws back into the belly panels and finishing the annual......

Spoken by a man that's just starting his annual

[RocketAviator]

Spot on Element landing this year at Oshkosh with the Mooney Caravan!  The whole adventure had been a favorite for me!

[Bennett]

Rolling it on to the runway and not being aware that I have landed. Only happened a few times in 35 years of flying. No bounce no tire sounds at all

[FlyDave]

I don't know if I have a favorite but here's a few:

• When I first open the hangar doors and my plane is sitting there asking me to go flying
• When I sit in the left seat and start to get myself situated
• Starting from cold in 2 blades (if I prime it appropriately for the OAT)
• Throttling up on takeoff - the power is awesome!
• Consistent ROC up to (so far) FL210
• 200 KTAS on 16.5 GPH at FL210 with power to spare
• Departing from a high altitude airport and not having a major concern about density altitude
• Stability on a precision approach
• Landing at night with landing, taxi and recognition lights on (one guy at the airport said he thought I was flying a Pilatus PC12 )

[BorealOne]

Landing on the step on glassy water - you can't see the horizon (best described as flying into a bottomless mirror) so you set up a <100 fpm descent rate and a slight nose up attitude and wait for contact with the water. It's really magic.

[N201MKTurbo]

Flying alone at night in northern Wyoming and seeing a meteor shower.

[Piloto]

Relieving myself with no drips after four hours in-flight, what a feeling!!

[1964-M20E]

Landing on the step on glassy water - you can't see the horizon (best described as flying into a bottomless mirror) so you set up a <100 fpm descent rate and a slight nose up attitude and wait for contact with the water. It's really magic.

Hopefully not in your Mooney.   

[BorealOne]

Let's hope. I think I'd only be able to do that once.