For the pilots

[blueskyk]

Am I the only "unpowered" flight person here?! In college, I flew hang-gliders and became an instructor with an expert rating. Then got a sailplane license. I still recall a flight when an eagle and I climbed in a huge desert thermal together and thought it was one of the most perfect moments of my life.

Later, I took up skydiving (800+ jumps) and competed in 4-way. All the airtime ended when I discovered horses (well, wait a minute - had a little airtime there as well...).

 

[NanoSour]

Got my PP in college and went on to fly in the military for 20 years. During that time I co-owned a twin engine for 3 years before kids started arriving. Following the military, I flew for a multi-national Megacorp which was a ton of fun and great equipment. At this time it's all out of my system and no desire to fly commercially or recreationally. Like most don't even like flying on commercial airlines, especially since the invention of the TSA (Thousands Standing Around). No offense intended to those that do that job.

 

[ls99]

Before leaving Hungary as a kid, did ground school, received some instruction time in winched up gliders.
Much later in my over a dozen years in the Aleutians, while working on seismic stations spread over several hundred miles, got maybe two dozen hours of stick time in helicopters, Huey, JetRanger, Hiller(gas engine powered like the series MASH, and Hughes 500. Maybe an hour in Beachcraft Bonanza. Along the way got some hang gliding time.

Other air commute: US Army parachutist, Airborne. Which reminds me on my fifth Jump of airbone school, had a cigarette roll after exiting C130 side door, by the time I figured out what procedure to use for this malfunction, I was doing it. And high winds upon landing, proper PLF performed, again the cutaway pprocedure to prevent getting dragged was done well before my thinking kicked in. The intensive training worked very well.

Never went for pilot license.
Wow, this dredged up some long buried memories.

 

[Bamaman]

My immediate neighbors were the first pilots for FedEx. They paid for flight school with their GI Bill, and started out flying Falcon 33 jets for $24K per year. It took 5-6 years before FedEx switched to Boeing 727's and incomes raised. I loved hearing their war stories--flying fighter jets, etc.

Ended up with a lot of pilot friends over the years. One close friend was the SR71 pilot that set the coast/coast record on the last SR71 flight. Another friend shares a hanger with Bill Elliott in North Georgia. Another friend's family flies a JetRanger to avoid Atlanta traffic, and has landing pads at their homes and at work. A fraternity brother worked for Elvis maintaining his planes, and he was the youngest JetStar pilot ever.

 

[stepford]

Am I the only "unpowered" flight person here?! In college, I flew hang-gliders and became an instructor with an expert rating. Then got a sailplane license. I still recall a flight when an eagle and I climbed in a huge desert thermal together and thought it was one of the most perfect moments of my life.

Though I answered "Private Pilot (inactive)" in the poll I spent a lot more time flying hang gliders than powered planes. Over the years I eventually became an Advanced Instructor and Master rated pilot, but let all that slide in my mid-40s. On retirement I was really excited to get back into flying and pursued it for the first 9 months or so, but it just wasn't as much fun in my late 50s as it was in my 20s and 30s. I still have a few wings in my garage, but don't expect to pull them out anytime soon.

We could have a separate thread on NSTIWTIWGD stories sometime - all pilots have some.

 

[blueskyk]

We could have a separate thread on NSTIWTIWGD stories sometime - all pilots have some.

Yay! I'm not alone on the unpowered flight thing! I almost posted a NSTIWTIWGD story after Is99 posted about his parachute cigarette roll but thought hmmm, that could easily hijack the thread

I'm quite sure, at 64, I could no longer manage a no wind cliff launch....

 

[stepford]

I'm quite sure, at 64, I could no longer manage a no wind cliff launch....

No wind *cliff* might be doable (it is just falling after all). No wind, high altitude, flat slope launches - with 120 lbs of glider + gear - like I did in my comp days 25-30 years ago... not a chance.

I agree, one could easily hijack the thread by BSing about the glory days of hang gliding, but the whole point of this thread was to be more inclusive by asking for everyone's experiences and dreams of flight - so I think we'd best not. There is that new NSTIWTIWGD thread, though, if you have any particularly juicy tales...

 

[ncbill]

Never for me.

Youngest kid started taking lessons in high school...will finish their PPL this summer.

Oldest kid just graduated/commissioned...assigned to flight school.

I joke they'll both end up flying helos in their respective branches (since they both prefer fixed-wing)

 

[pullin]

I answered Professional, I guess it's the best fit. Commercial, Instr, Multi, CFI, and CFII (no MEI). I instructed most of the last 35 years while working at various aerospace companies. I'm not sure if I broke even or made a little money when all is said and done.

To EarlyBirdly -- I worked as a programmer at Boeing during the late 80s. Some of my code is (was) in the flap/slat controllers in the 747-400. I was there at Everett for first flight. And I had at least one of my flight students up front in the 400 before Delta retired them. I can claim a pilot I trained, was flying a plane I programmed.

And if I may continue bragging -- another student I trained lifted off from DFW this week for the first time in a 767-300. It was my son. And he did it on the same week I retired.

Still celebrating here.

 

[EarlyBirdly]

"To EarlyBirdly -- I worked as a programmer at Boeing during the late 80s. Some of my code is (was) in the flap/slat controllers in the 747-400."


Now THAT must have been some complicated code seeing as we basically disassembled and reassembled the entire wing every time we threw that flap handle.



( Further Snarky Comments on Boeing and "code" now deleted. But, I still feel like the first time a serious girlfriend lied to me. (!) )

 

[DatumPoint5]

In the mid-1970's I purchased and glided through many hours of hang gliding with a "Pliable Moose" hang glider....... https://www.equip-bid.com/auction/3867/item/1

Absolutely loved that hang glider!!!!

 

[EarlyBirdly]

Bought a less than gently used Rogallo wing back in 1978. I was a 19 year old PP with damn near 200 hrs so I figured I knew everything. I also knew, as we all do at 19, that Death was for "Old People".


So, my buddies and I promptly took the thing out to a large cliff and hurled ourselves off it. No instruction, no internet videos, NADA.


Several days (and incidents) later I attempted a "Turn" after launch to return to the edge of the plateau and avoid climbing back up the hill. Okay, besides laziness, my motivation was to impress the girlfriends of all my buddies watching from the top of the hill. At about 30-50 feet I promptly turned, stalled, rolled inverted and came crashing down on the plateau as friends and girlfriends scattered beneath me. I can say that there eyes were HUGE as they looked up at me and ran in all different directions.


Luckily, the kingpost and the left wingtip took the brunt of the impact and I was only knocked out for a few seconds as well as bruised up quite a bit. Thank God for having the foresight, if not the hang-gliding fashion sense , to have been wearing a football helmet and various pieces of hockey and basketball equipment to cushion the blow.


Good times, and my first bit of proof that God really does watch over the mentally and physically infirm, Drunks, and (at that time, "future") Airline Pilots.

 

[blueskyk]

Whoa!!!! I never expected to be reminded about the Moose and Rogallo on an early retirement forum - how fun And then to hear you went on to become responsible pilots anyway....Other than dislocating an elbow after hitting a cholla cactus on landing, I didn't really have any bad wrecks on a hang-glider. Mostly did desert thermalling with a mountain take off.

I myself was an ElectraFlyer Cirrus 5 girl. Here's a Glider Rider ad I flew for in 1979 (they had just come out with the smaller "C" version and were promoting it for women).

 

[stepford]

You both have me beat by a couple of years. I started out on a Raven 209 back in '81 (followed by a 160 Attack Duck in '84, a 166 Magic IV in '88, a 155 Moyes XS in '91, a couple of 147 Xtralites in the mid '90s, a Millenium rigid wing in '98, and finally my only Topless - a Litespeed in '03). Of them all I liked the Xtralite best. I could land those things anywhere.

I flew a bit on an easy Falcon and then on the Litespeed again back in 2016 after I retired, but it wasn't as much fun (and I wasn't as sharp) as 20 years earlier. Haven't picked up a wing in almost 3 years.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

I used to fly for a living, hence my username. I haven't flown in about 10 years, but I have a basket-case 1947 Stinson 108-3 sitting in my garage, waiting to be rebuilt. I am single and multi rated commercial, and CFII. I keep the Instructor certificate current just because I don't want to let it lapse, but I would not hire me as an instructor.

My Dad owned a 108 for many, many years and used it as his primary way to commute in the late 50s. (he lived about 50 miles from Cherry Point NAS where he w*rked as an A&P). When they moved to Atlanta, he kept it at the airport that was about 1/10th of a mile from the house. A couple years later, they tore down the airport and he disassembled the plane and stuck it in his garage. As a kid, I logged HUNDREDS of hours in that plane. Sadly, it was sold after a number of years and I don't think it has flown since.

That old Stinson in the garage was much of the reason I went in the Air Force. I was never an AF pilot (flight engineer on C-5 instead but still a very cool gig!) but did earn my private/instrument and did own a Cherokee for a few years. I did enjoy owning the plane, but once I moved back to Georgia, it got too expensive to keep around. There were way too many retired Delta pilots making sure the hangar rents were just out of my $$$ zone.

 

[Souschef]

The Stinson was what got me flying. I was doing all the electrical and radio work on the plane, and figured I should get my license so I could fly it. That was 1972, and I was flying it until he sold it. I went dormant for a number of years due to other obligations, then started again when I moved a half mile from a small airport when I retired.

 

[stepford]

then started again when I moved a half mile from a small airport when I retired.

Just to connect with your story, I've flown out of that particular small airport in Santa Paula a couple of times (and landed gliders in the adjacent river bed a few more). My most vivid memory though, was as a passenger in a friend's C152. He had just gotten his license, was into any way to get hours he could, and so was willing to take me on a tour of the Ojai backcountry. Though I'd trained in similar aircraft, what I realized that warm summer day was how pitifully underpowered the 152 is. On a 90 degree day with 350 lb of human aboard we were lucky to climb at 150-200 fpm. So it took a LOOONG time to get up to the 6-7000 MSL necessary to safely explore the Topa Topa mountains.

 

[deserat]

Private pilot, instrument rated - am pursuing commercial rating and have recently started flying (a lot!) in the last few months...my last night cross country was from KTUS-KDVR and back I was thinking about whether I really want this or not...as a previous poster said, you really need to fly consistently to stay proficient and it takes $$$ to do that. I have been flying an Arrow lately and it is a bit more to manage than a 172-152....it is also faster and gets you where you want to go more quickly.

I decided that *if* I wish to pursue this, purchasing a used plane is the best plan...so, I will need to think some more. I have several female friends who own planes and that motivates them to fly more....

I do have one bucket goal and that is to fly in the Air Race Classic (used to be the Powder Puff Derby) before I die...I have a friend who is a retired C-130 pilot and we have two agreements: we will fly the Air Race Classic together (her pilot, me nav-co-pilot, and a do week long hike in Patagonia (not necessarily at the same time/year)- we are waiting for her son to graduate from high school in 4 years or so...

Flying can be fun, boring and terrifying. It is a skill that needs to be maintained like any other one and that mean consistent practice.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

I decided that *if* I wish to pursue this, purchasing a used plane is the best plan...so, I will need to think some more. I have several female friends who own planes and that motivates them to fly more....

There is a lot of information out there (obviously) and I am probably stating the obvious, but perhaps consider a partnership or flying club. Plane ownership is pretty fantastic, but with the right mix of people then saving a substantial amount of money to boot is even better! I would have done that in lieu of sole ownership, but being in the Air Force (and subject to reassignment at any time) that just wasn't feasible. If I were to catch the flying bug again, I would most certainly look into some sort of joint deal.

 

[check6]

One close friend was the SR71 pilot that set the coast/coast record on the last SR71 flight.

That would be Ed Yielding, an acquaintance.

 

[Gearhead Jim]

Started flying a Cub at age 16 and mandatory retirement from United at 60. Best job and best life I could imagine.


But with the reduced retirement income and inevitable slowing of reflexes in the future, I quit airplanes at retirement and took up a safer and less expensive (??) hobby- Corvettes. Road trips all over the US and some racing. 14 years of that and still having fun.

 

[CalTex]

Flying was a lifelong dream and I owned a Cessna 172 for several years. I loved it and still miss it. Economics was the reason for giving it up. Not a LBYM activity.

 

[ncbill]

There is a lot of information out there (obviously) and I am probably stating the obvious, but perhaps consider a partnership or flying club. Plane ownership is pretty fantastic, but with the right mix of people then saving a substantial amount of money to boot is even better! I would have done that in lieu of sole ownership, but being in the Air Force (and subject to reassignment at any time) that just wasn't feasible. If I were to catch the flying bug again, I would most certainly look into some sort of joint deal.

This is what my kid will do this fall after they finish their pilot's license this summer (passed the written, just oral & check-ride left)

The club at their school rents for ~$60/hour.

 

[check6]

Soloed on Hawaii's Ford Island prior to military and airline flying. Currently flying the experimental plane in my avatar. Everyone likes photos:

One of my last flights in #381. Seven years later it was accidentally shot down by a Navy F-14 in the Med. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/friendly-fire-victim-outraged-over-navy-officers-admiral-promotion/

Here is one we gave to the Honduran AF replacing their old and outdated F-86's by an old and outdated A-37:

Here is one I built 30 yrs ago that is collecting dust in someone's hangar:

 

[check6]

Started flying a Cub at age 16 and mandatory retirement from United at 60.

UAL was my first choice but hired as a "570," I had to go elsewhere.