Flying again after 24 years

[OldShooter]

Oldshooter, surly you don't wait for airports to be at minimum to practice your approaches?

Of course not, but when I was flying a lot I made a point of trying to do currency flying in real IMC wherever possible. I also had a personal rule to maintain currency on a 3-month basis rather than the FAA's 6 months.

I did not say never practice, or never use it. I said if the weather at your destination is a 100 and 1/4 and plan to go another day! I stand by that.

"Get your IFR ticket and the never plan a trip where you have to use it!" is what you said. I didn't read all that other stuff into the statement.

Remember, we are talking about people that think they are current because they have three landings every 90 days.

I didn't know we were, actually. I have no control over idiots and little interest in worrying about them.

People that are flying not for profit, where a trip on Monday is just as good on Tuesday or next week. Just because you can does not mean it smart to do.

Well, sometimes they are guys who have serious gethomeitis when they're at Grandma's on Sunday afternoon and have to be at work on Monday. Unfortunately, those are also the guys who showed up on Saturday morning and did their three landings while the family waited on the ground.

Also, I don't expect people to take that advice all the time. example John Kennedy.

So much screwed up about that deal I wouldn't even know where to start. At the bottom, probably a serious personality disorder.

 

[Koolau]

It's been almost 50 years now since I was PIC. I still miss it, but I'm sure I'd never pass a 3rd class medical. Still thinking about looking for a pilot who's "pushing the stick around" getting hours for his/her next ticket. I'd happily pay expenses just to get back into the air for a while. Really don't care for commercial flying for all the reasons we've discussed here before. YMMV

 

[cbo111]

IFR only instructor training appeals greatly to me. Loved teaching instruments in the past. I've always liked teaching and taught platform, simulator and flight navigator training at Mather AFB, CA back in the late eighties. I hated night and day celestial, but if you gave me a sextant, I could probably pull it off. I think!

I trained at Mather in 83, muddled through celestial and was "semi-proficient." At assignment night I got orders to Yokota AB, Japan. I soon found myself using celestial to navigate all over the Pacific and got pretty good at it. No GPS back in those days.

 

[Souschef]

It's been almost 50 years now since I was PIC. I still miss it, but I'm sure I'd never pass a 3rd class medical. Still thinking about looking for a pilot who's "pushing the stick around" getting hours for his/her next ticket. I'd happily pay expenses just to get back into the air for a while. Really don't care for commercial flying for all the reasons we've discussed here before. YMMV

i fly for Angel Flight. My copilot has Parkinson's in remission, but can fly the plane. I take it off and land it, he does the rest, including programming the GPS. I am more than happy to pay for the flight.

 

[OldShooter]

It's been almost 50 years now since I was PIC. I still miss it, but I'm sure I'd never pass a 3rd class medical. Still thinking about looking for a pilot who's "pushing the stick around" getting hours for his/her next ticket. I'd happily pay expenses just to get back into the air for a while. Really don't care for commercial flying for all the reasons we've discussed here before. YMMV

A couple of things:

1. You can fly with an instructor even with no medical. You'll have to do some of that anyway, so why not?

2. There is a new thing called "Basic Med" where your own physician can sign you off for what is basically a 3rd class medical. The questionnaire that he/she fills out is available on line, so you can see if you're good to go or not. Basic Med is IIRC not available if you have ever failed an FAA medical but it is available even if you were on a special issuance.

 

[Pilot2013]

I agree about IFR. While I enjoy "using IFR" for many reasons, because it is a very rare event to fly actual IMC, I would not do it without and instructor in the right seat.

 

[Koolau]

A couple of things:

1. You can fly with an instructor even with no medical. You'll have to do some of that anyway, so why not?

2. There is a new thing called "Basic Med" where your own physician can sign you off for what is basically a 3rd class medical. The questionnaire that he/she fills out is available on line, so you can see if you're good to go or not. Basic Med is IIRC not available if you have ever failed an FAA medical but it is available even if you were on a special issuance.

1) Yes, I was aware I could go get some dual, but I just didn't want to pay for an instructor. Just a ride along would satisfy my jones at this point.

2) Thanks for the info. If I ever do consider getting current, I'll look into this. Even when I was a "kid", I almost couldn't get the 3rd class due to a mummer. Took a whole bunch of extra testing and docs to get past the initial issue. Now of days, of course, with echo visualization, they know exactly what makes the extra noise. Back in the day, it was some "expert" guessing (wrong, as it turns out) what was the issue.

Thanks again.

 

[check6]

Everyone is different I guess. I believe and I tell people that it's not like riding a bike.

Sorry OldShooter, I should have qualified that statement. "With over 15K hours it is almost like riding a bike."

 

[CH47]

Ok - I know this is a necropost and on top of that my first post, but I’ve been lurking here for a while. Maybe one day soon I’ll do the “I am”thing

I am still w*rking but getting close and have thought about the whole flying thing a lot. I am a former Army helicopter pilot and IP. Took 25 years off from flying after I separated from the Army and missed it every day. About 4 years ago I told the DW that I was going to start flying. again, and surprisingly it was ok. You have to understand that there are about 4 things on earth that I truly love. My wife, my daughter, my dogs, and flying. That about covers it.

So, I started flying sailplanes at The Soaring Club of Houston. Immediately fell for it. Nothing like flying for 6 hours from a 2000 feet tow. Total cost for the day (and this is after I got my Glider ratings), about $100. That’s something I can live with. If you’ve never tried soaring and there is a quality operation nearby, I highly recommend it.

 

[braumeister]

If you’ve never tried soaring and there is a quality operation nearby, I highly recommend it.

Welcome to the forum!
I agree it must be fantastic for you. Reminds me of a good story.

I had a friend who used to do a lot of that at the Black Forest site near Colorado Springs. This was back in the 70s, and he was really avid. In fact, he set a world altitude record one day and was just over the moon about it.

Two things happened on that flight:

First, his oxygen mask heater crapped out, so most of the flight was:

• Breathe a little while
• Remove the mask and shake the ice crystals out of it
• Repeat

The second thing that happened was a Japanese guy broke his record by a small amount the next day. Since it was less than 24 hours later, my friend never got his name in the record books.

 

[check6]

Took 25 years off from flying after I separated from the Army and missed it every day.

Welcome to the forum and back to flying. There are quite a few pilots here. Once you start flying it never leaves your blood.

George Bush flew fighters for a couple of years then quit and I believe he never flew again. Never understood that.

 

[HadEnuff]

Welcome to the forum and back to flying. There are quite a few pilots here. Once you start flying it never leaves your blood.

George Bush flew fighters for a couple of years then quit and I believe he never flew again. Never understood that.

Being shot down over the Pacific may have soured him on it.

 

[ArcticMike]

With good panel-mounted GPS navigators and an iPad (I use Foreflight backed up by an old Aircharts book) I fell more comfortable flying light IFR now than I did when I was younger. There's a learning curve but more capability than a few years ago.

I like the idea of flying VFR with the instrument capability as a backup -

 

[swoop]

Got my PPL in 2011 at age 55. My father was in the Air Force and somewhere along the way I got the bug. I remember as a kid going into an airplane in display, saw all the buttons and switches and knew I wanted to be the guy to push those buttons and switches. Never flew small planes as a kid but literally thought about it my entire life. Didn’t know anyone that did at the time. One day, when I had the money, the time and the determination I took my first lesson and felt like a weight had been lifted off of my shoulders. Over the years I haven’t flown a lot but keep going back periodically and getting current. Plan on going back next week to get current again after about a year layoff for various reasons. Rarely does a day pass where I don’t think about flying or something happens to make me think about flying. I’m hooked for life!

 

[NanoSour]

For those fellow ER folk with the flying bug, may I suggest flight simming as a very low cost alternative. Home PC flight sims have come a long way since the 80s and X-Plane will provide you with hours and hours of flight enjoyment. The great news is you can fly any equipment to anywhere in the world.

Check out some of the more recent youtube videos of X-Plane to get an idea of what it is capable of.

 

[REWahoo]

Welcome to the forum and back to flying. There are quite a few pilots here. Once you start flying it never leaves your blood.

That's actually not always the case.

My military experience revealed to me there were basically two types of pilots - those who ate, slept, and dreamed of flying and those who viewed it as simply an interesting job.

I was in the interesting job category and never flew again after leaving the Air Force.

 

[REWahoo]

George Bush flew fighters for a couple of years then quit and I believe he never flew again.

Being shot down over the Pacific may have soured him on it.

I think you are confusing father and son.

 

[Walt34]

Another alternative is radio control model airplanes. A relatively large number of R/C pilots also have a license for full size. YMMV of course but for me I found that R/C was almost as much fun as full size, and a LOT cheaper, even when I was running glow engines. With the newer electrics, once past the acquisition cost there is almost no expense. Unless you crash it of course, and that's still a lot easier on the wallet, not to mention almost no risk of any injury.

When I bought the radio transmitter I told DW that it had memory to store setups for 250 different airplanes. Her response was "Don't even think about it!"

 

[HadEnuff]

I think you are confusing father and son.

Did George H continue to fly after WWII? If so, then yes, I am confusing them.

 

[meierlde]

Being shot down over the Pacific may have soured him on it.

That was the first George Bush the second also flew fighters for the Texas National Guard. I do understand that he(2) at one time did sit in the copilots seat of airforce one and get a briefing on how to fly it. Not sure about the first Bush.

 

[aboatguy]

That was the first George Bush the second also flew fighters for the Texas National Guard. I do understand that he(2) at one time did sit in the copilots seat of airforce one and get a briefing on how to fly it. Not sure about the first Bush.

Bush 1, flew Avenger's a single engine torpedo plane and was shot down in the pacific. Bush II flew National Guard Delta Dagger (F102)

Mike

 

[Downtown]

I have an ATP and about 2,000 multiengine hours (I was a naval aviator). It’s very tempting to leave my high compensation sales job to go fly full-time again for a pittance. It’s been about 25 years and I miss it. I’m 53, so I know the clock is ticking. I got my 1st class medical and FCC radiotelephone operator license last month (both required for serious flying jobs). However, I am likely headed for OMY to top-off the coffers. In the meantime, I’d love to find a weekend SIC gig flying King Airs to get current. I’ll also attend an AOPA Rusty Pilots Seminar in a few weeks to see how much re-learning I need to do. It’s nice to know I’m not alone!

 

[World Traveler]

I have an ATP and about 2,000 multiengine hours (I was a naval aviator). It’s very tempting to leave my high compensation sales job to go fly full-time again for a pittance. It’s been about 25 years and I miss it. I’m 53, so I know the clock is ticking. I got my 1st class medical and FCC radiotelephone operator license last month (both required for serious flying jobs). However, I am likely headed for OMY to top-off the coffers. In the meantime, I’d love to find a weekend SIC gig flying King Airs to get current. I’ll also attend an AOPA Rusty Pilots Seminar in a few weeks to see how much re-learning I need to do. It’s nice to know I’m not alone!

I think you will find that returning to flying is like riding a bike, It will come back quick. Good Luck!

 

[LastOfTheBoomers]

I have an ATP and about 2,000 multiengine hours (I was a naval aviator). It’s very tempting to leave my high compensation sales job to go fly full-time again for a pittance. It’s been about 25 years and I miss it. I’m 53, so I know the clock is ticking. I got my 1st class medical and FCC radiotelephone operator license last month (both required for serious flying jobs). However, I am likely headed for OMY to top-off the coffers. In the meantime, I’d love to find a weekend SIC gig flying King Airs to get current. I’ll also attend an AOPA Rusty Pilots Seminar in a few weeks to see how much re-learning I need to do. It’s nice to know I’m not alone!

A good friend of mine got hired by Mesa - and he had offers from Republic and a couple others - at age 53 with exactly 1500 hours of mostly single engine Cessna time. He also gave up his big VP career. He is flying a nice e-175.
The regionals are so desperate for pilots.

The pay rate is better than it was. It just comes down to lifestyle - putting up with the hours and schedule.

 

[World Traveler]

A good friend of mine got hired by Mesa - and he had offers from Republic and a couple others - at age 53 with exactly 1500 hours of mostly single engine Cessna time. He also gave up his big VP career. He is flying a nice e-175.
The regionals are so desperate for pilots.

The pay rate is better than it was. It just comes down to lifestyle - putting up with the hours and schedule.

Downtown,
What is your end goal? You will fly your butt off and your schedule will not be your own. I flew for the majors. I made a lot of money my final year and I was flying the 777. I retired (FIREd at 52) I got my life back: holidays, weekends and I could plan more than one month at a time. It was a great job flying sweet aircraft but it comes at a cost. It's all about seniority. It is a good time for the young pups when they reach our age they will probably have a great schedule and pay. I'm not trying to rain on your parade just another perspective.