Staff writer
Terry Chizek, of Marion, didn’t plan to become a pilot. It wasn’t something he dreamed about as a child.
But when he started flying radio-controlled planes in 1987, it set him on the path to earn his pilot’s license.
“That’s how I caught the aviation bug,” Chizek said.
He earned his pilot’s license in 1995 and has taken time to fly ever since. He took his modified 1960 Cessna 150 out of its hangar for a few passes around the Marion airport Thursday, just to “warm up the oil.”
For an experienced pilot, flying comes naturally, Chizek said.
“It comes right to you, but you do get rusty if you don’t fly for a long time,” he said.
Chizek said he didn’t have any fear when he was learning to fly, because he knew he was in control of the plane.
Flying is a good way to find a different view of scenery, and it can easily cut travel times by half compared to driving, he said. Chizek likes operating out of a small airport. Getting in and out is quicker and doesn’t involve the hassles a large airport presents.
One of his favorite things to do is flying in formation. It can seem like the plane is stationary when flying next to another airplane, he said.
It can be an expensive hobby, but it doesn’t have to be. A pilot who doesn’t think they have the money or time to keep an airplane can rent an airplane by the hour in some places, Chizek said.
“It’s just like any other sport; it’s all what you put into it,” Chizek said. “You can spend a fortune golfing, skiing, and fishing.”
Anyone interested in becoming a pilot would need to find a flight instructor, usually at a college, he said. A prospective pilot typically can go with an instructor on a demonstration flight, to see if flying is something they really want to do.