I am very interested in all sorts of sports, both college and professional. I play tennis, basketball, golf, and billiards (if that's considered a sport). I have recently become very interested in flying and have begun the long road to earning a pilot's license. After about 40 hours of lessons and numerous hours studying, I have gotten through the "solo" flight. A pilot's first "solo" consists of three laps around the airport in the flight pattern, without the instructor. I had to communicate with air traffic control and perform three "touch-n-gos": three take-offs and landings. Here is a picture of the aircraft I am used to flying, the Cessna 182:
Flying is not as simple as getting into the plane, starting it up, and taking off. There is an extensive list of pre-flight operations that must be performed before the engine is even started. Then, once those checks are completed another list must be performed in which the pilot gets in contact with the tower, and makes sure all gauges are reading correctly. Then, once the tower has cleared the pilot for take-off, he can taxi to the runway and lift off.