Using a prosthetic left arm, Philip Stokes turned the Cessna 172 Skyhawk up, down, left and right at 3,000 feet in the air.

Controlling the four-seater plane is part of the Torrance man’s training to receive a pilot’s license, a childhood dream that was almost lost when a truck hit him on his motorcycle seven years ago.

The accident left the then-17-year-old with debilitating nerve damage that cost him the use of his left arm, which he had amputated in 2012. But he’s intent on regaining some of the freedoms he lost after the accident, and flying a plane has been at the top of his list.

“What’s the difference between clouds and fog?” Stokes’ flight instructor, Bruce Sato, quizzed him Friday during one of his final training flights.

“Altitude?” Stokes said, while navigating the plane through wind pockets back toward Hawthorne Municipal Airport, where he is a student at Beach Cities Aviation Academy.

“That’s good,” Sato said. “There is no difference.”

Stokes, 25, began flight training at the beginning of this year, using his right arm to do most of the work until he and Sato figured out a way to make the prosthesis — gold-colored metal rods held together by screws that can be tightened or loosened as needed — work to his advantage.

With the help of a football glove and ordinary Velcro straps, the pair engineered a left-handed grip that enables Stokes to fly complicated maneuvers such as steep turns and stalls. The gloved prosthesis is strapped tightly to the plane’s yoke so Stokes can change direction without the arm slipping off the controls. His right arm controls the throttle while he operates the rudders with foot pedals.

“The first time he flew great, but I knew he could fly better,” Sato said. “Now he has a lot more confidence.”

Stokes still practices with flight simulators at home using only his right arm — in case something happens midair and he can’t use his prosthesis.

“At first, I figured (only having one arm) would be a challenge for the instructor as well as myself,” Stokes said. “I was nervous, wondering: ‘How am I going to do this?’ It’s not like: ‘How am I going to make this sandwich?’ It’s ‘How am I going to get this thing down?’ ”

Before the accident, Stokes surfed, wrestled and participated in motor sports. His active lifestyle came to a screeching halt when he was 17 and a truck hit him as he drove home from visiting friends in Imperial Beach. Stokes landed on his neck, causing nerve roots to come out of his spine but not severing them. He was left with debilitating pain and a left arm he could no longer use.

Stokes kept the arm while he completed a bachelor’s degree in public policy at UC Berkeley. Now he’s working on a second bachelor’s degree in chemistry and aeronautical engineering while working as a finance analyst. Two years ago, he elected to have the arm amputated because it had atrophied badly and was causing him more pain and chest problems.

Losing the arm actually gave him more freedom than he had with the damaged arm, and learning how to use the prosthesis to his advantage has given him confidence to take on bigger challenges, Stokes said.

“If I ever feel down about something, I just kinda think to this — there’s nothing you can’t do without patience and time,” Stokes said. “One of the hardest things has been relearning the simple things and having to experience how difficult the simple things can be.

“You can be your own worst enemy and that’s when it’s really bad. This has really taught me to overcome my own mental obstacles. It’s very freeing. I can get up and, instead of an early morning motorcycle ride, I can go for an early morning flight. It’s actually very, very relaxing.

“Flying has been the most beautiful thing that’s emerged from the accident.”