From what I've been told by fixed wing pilots, flying a plane isn't really that hard. At least one baggage handler stole a commercial passenger aircraft recently and flew it out, including acrobatics.
Flying one in a safe manner and following all the rules can be pretty difficult however. For example there is an area near me that is from the air as boring as any other part of Texas. It's controlled airspace because it is the Bush Family Ranch. The secret service will investigate you if you fly over it.
Flying is easy to those for whom it's become second nature. At first it's really very difficult to get the plane to do (and keep doing) what you want (or what ATC instructs). At some point, you realize that you're holding a heading and altitude without really thinking about it, while doing a several other things. I think it really depends on who you ask and a whole host of other variables just how easy flying is.
2. Knowing what to do when things go wrong. Any time you read about jets avoiding near collisions, landing in heavy crosswinds, landing safely after engine failure, etc etc, you have many checklists and years of rigorous training to thank for that.
Landing is tough because it’s somewhat counterintuitive. You need to maintain enough airspeed to avoid a stall but obviously you need to slow down to lose altitude and, you know, stop.
Yeah. I've been in an A320 simulator before for a few hours. They are pretty easy to fly and land. What isn't easy is getting one in a state ready to fly and to the runway. I can fly a Cessna 172 (didn't get enough solo hours for PPL though) and it's not difficult. Again prep is the hardest bit.
Oh yeah for larger jet aircraft certainly it is. I read that apparently the SR-71 preflight was so big it was performed by a backup crew and the primary crew had the option to simply jump in and fly if the timetable required it. But a small single engine aircraft isn't nearly as bad
Never got far past my PPL decades ago (less than 100 hours total iirc) but landing was always such a fun dance in Pipers and Cessnas, slipping the plane into the cross-wind to line up the plane at the last moment before touching done.
Pilots with useful vision in only one eye may obtain medical certification upon demonstrating the ability to compensate for the loss of binocular vision and to perform airman duties without compromising aviation safety. The Aviation Medical Examiner should not issue a medical certificate of any class to a monocular applicant unless he/she presents written evidence of prior clearance by the FAA. The Examiner may assist the applicant in the initial steps toward obtaining the clearance by submitting a Report of Eye Evaluation, FAA Form 8500-7, along with the application, and any other available information from the applicant's treating ophthalmologist. An airman is considered to have monocular vision if the best-corrected central visual acuity in an eye is 20/200 or worse.
Flying one in a safe manner and following all the rules can be pretty difficult however. For example there is an area near me that is from the air as boring as any other part of Texas. It's controlled airspace because it is the Bush Family Ranch. The secret service will investigate you if you fly over it.