Humankind has been obsessed with the idea of flight ever since we have seen birds soar above us in the wide open sky. The idea of taking off an climbing high into and above the clouds has been no more than a dream for thousands of years.
Since, 1903 in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, however, when the Wright brothers made their first sustained, controlled flight, our obsession with flight has grown to incredible proportions. We travel all around the country in planes of all sizes, cross the oceans in a matter of hours, and even send people into outer space with regularity.
Now, in our modern-day world, amateur pilots take to the skies in many different ways. In the United States alone, 24 million flight hours of general aviation aircraft are logged every year.
Planes for amateur pilots
For many amateur pilots, the Cessna is the plane of choice for casual flights. Specifically, the Cessna CE-172S Skyhawk SP is the fixed-wing general aviation aircraft that is most popular. In 2015, it was the number one selling plane of its type.
Other ways to fly the skies
It doesn’t take much looking to see that the United States is serious about its aviation community. With the most diverse general aviation community in the world, more than 220,000 aircraft make up a stable that includes amateur-built planes, rotorcraft, balloons, and very sophisticated flying machines called turbojets.
The unmanned drones
Many people might remember the enjoyment they received when they flew their model airplanes around the open field as young people. Many adults still love to fly them as a hobby. What we might not have ever really thought about is the way those types of unmanned planes that are flown remotely would one day be a very real part of all of our lives. Of course, these unmanned planes of today are called drones.
Although we might think of drones as not much more than the “toy” planes of our youth, the fact is that the FAA has designated them as aircraft. They are far more sophisticated than many people might think and as a result of the FAA designation, many drones require a drone insurance policy.
Obtaining insurance for drones is not as complicated as one might think. There are different drone insurance policy options, depending on how you plan on using your particular drone. For the most part, your drone insurance policy is important for liability purposes, as you can probably imagine.
All types of aviation require an aviation insurance policy. Even the Wright brothers found this out early in their flying and manufacturing career. As we expand the ways in which we fly the friendly skies, with every new airplane comes the responsibility to fly safely. From From the first manned flight until now, aviation has come a long way and is still moving onward and upward.
