Kyle Thompson took one last look at the instrument panel of the Cessna 172 Skyhawk. The second-time pilot then looked to his flight instructor and called out “Clear prop!”

The plane’s engine roared, and the nose-mounted propeller spun itself into an almost invisible blur. As the four-seater picked up speed down the runway of Johnston County Airport, Thompson drew that much closer to membership in the county’s most vertically exclusive club.

“Everybody compares everything else to flying, like sailing, riding a motorcycle,” said Dave Keck, an instructor at JNX Flight. “Basically, flying is flying; it isn’t like anything else.”

But, like most pursuits, the thrill of flight is not recession-proof.

Business at the flight school took a nosedive with the economy earlier in the year, but things are already leveling out, said Keck and school owner Paul Forehand. A few weeks ago, Keck said, the school was taking half as many students as last year.

“Obviously, we’ve got somewhat of a slowdown,” he said.

Now, enrollment has climbed to two-thirds of what it was a year ago, Forehand said. About 10 students are enrolled, with more calls and e-mails coming in every day.

Thompson, 18, of Willow Spring, is working on his pilot’s license before he starts school this fall at N.C. State.

“I want to get in the cockpit to see what I’m going to design,” said Thompson, who plans to major in aerospace engineering.

Of course, flying is also just plain fun, Thompson said. “As long as the landing’s good,” he said.

The new students, Keck said, have tended to be older or younger than those in years past. Other newbie pilots have found more spare time because of the economic slowdown.

“It’s the first time he had any time off,” Keck said of an older student.

A pilot’s license is a bit of an investment. Students need at least 40 hours of flight training, which can take up to six months to do at a cost between $7,100 and $8,500, Keck said. Pilots can also get a more-restrictive sport license in as few as 20 hours.

Once they have a license, student can join the eclectic squadron of planes and pilots at Johnston County Airport.

“It’s no different than somebody who likes to go boating or scuba diving,” said Joe Mancusi, president of the local chapter of the Experimental Aircraft Association, or EAA. “It’s what I like to do, to be up in the air and sightseeing and operating the planes.”

The airport’s hangars are home to some venerable flying machines, like Dan Baum’s restored P-51 Mustang, a model that saw action in World War II. The airport also boasts newer contraptions, including a powered glider and high-performance kit-built planes, Mancusi said.

The local EAA has about 40 members and is one of about 1,000 chapters worldwide. Some members own FAA-certified planes, like Mancusi’s 1947 Cessna 120, while others fly “experimental”-class planes.

“It’s not experimental like it sounds, but it’s hand-built,” Mancusi said. Most of the “experimental” planes gain the label because they don’t meet all Federal Aviation Administration guidelines.

Many of the leisure planes out of the county airport fly at about 100 mph and are well-suited for easy-going flying above central Carolina’s wide-open land.

“They’re low and slow, so you can see the country side go by,” Mancusi said. “The older designs, the classics, they have a charm to ‘em, a nostalgia.”

For many pilots, flying is a lifelong pursuit from the moment they take the yoke.

“You usually find out fairly quickly,” Keck said of new students. “It’s amazing ... they have pretty much an ear-to-ear grin.”