Learning how to fly aircraft is the realization of a childhood dream for some people. For others, it’s a way to fill a practical need to get them where they want to go.

David Stilley, the medical director of emergency services for Mercy Medical Center-Des Moines, remembers thinking as a child that he would learn how to fly airplanes someday, just like his dad. Stilley said a growing family made his father decide to stop flying when he was still young, but the passion for flying had already gotten into his blood.

“Some of my earliest childhood memories were going on flying trips with my dad,” Stilley said. “Ever since my father had a pilot’s license when I was a small child, it’s kind of been a lifelong plan of mine to get one, too.”

Stilley earned his license about 25 years ago while he was doing his medical training residency in Des Moines. He has owned several airplanes since then, and last fall, he bought a half-stake in a helicopter, with local meteorologist and helicopter instructor John McLaughlin as the other co-owner. Stilley is in the process of completing his helicopter private pilot training at the Ankeny Regional Airport with McLaughlin’s IowaPilot.com.

“I had done some helicopter flights before, when Mercy’s helicopter had to fly to Denver for maintenance or other non-medical trips,” Stilley said. “Those experiences were enough to prove to me that I wanted to finish the training and get my license to fly helicopters.”

John Ramsey, the chairman of Ramsey Auto Center, also decided to take helicopter flying lessons after piloting an airplane for more than 25 years. Ramsey, who flies his single-engine turboprop Meridian at least once a week for business trips all across the country, said flying has become his primary mode of transportation. Having so much experience in a fixed-wing aircraft has made the adjustment to helicopters a real challenge, he said.

“I’ve only had a few (helicopter) lessons so far, and what I’ve found is that it’s totally different and can be very frustrating,” Ramsey said. “It’s a different kind of vehicle. It’s kind of like riding a motorcycle and then riding a bicycle. They do the same thing, just differently. It’s a challenge, but it’s also a lot of fun.”

Stilley agreed that when learning how to pilot a helicopter, someone with previous flying experience has to “unlearn” some of the techniques they’ve used in the past, such as what to do in the event of an engine failure. Also, he said, a pilot has to be more precise when handling a helicopter versus an airplane, since helicopters sometimes must land in tight places. Yet it’s some of the differences between the two aircraft that have made Stilley decide that he favors a helicopter to the small planes he had flown previously.

“A helicopter gives you a lot more flexibility and the freedom of being able to take off and go into flight from any spot,” he said. “You have to fly in fairly fixed locations with the plane – places where you can land. With the helicopter, we lift off from the parking lot outside the hangars, and are up and going in no time. I’ve really enjoyed developing this new skill.”

The idea of taking on a new challenge was what prompted Lee Lundstrom, the owner of Struthers Bros. Kawasaki-Suzuki, to start taking flying lessons in mid-2002 from Exec 1 Aviation in Ankeny. Lundstrom had ridden motorcycles for years, and was ready for a new adventure. He said flying was something he had always wanted to do, so finally at the age of 50, he signed up for lessons.

“There’s a lot to it, but I think that anybody could learn if they had the willpower and the proper training,” he said.

Lundstrom received his private pilot’s license about a year after he started lessons, bought his first small airplane last summer and passed his instrument rating certification test last week. He tries to fit in flying at least a couple of times each week, and said he hopes to take trips outside Iowa with his plane someday.

“Your first solo flight is one of those things that you can never forget, and it’s probably been the high point for me so far,” Lundstrom said. “It’s quite a feeling, taking off for the first time by yourself. Flying is every bit as enjoyable as I hoped it would be. There are probably hobbies that are cheaper, but I wouldn’t want to do without it.”