Any Pilots Among Members?

[joemd11]

Piloon,
Very intersting stories! Thanks for sharing with us.

 

[mjarrels]

Not licensed, but spent 21 years in Navy aviation and was able to get stick time flying our NUH-1E huey and RH-53D helos. Most aircraft that I was around were tailhooks.

mark

 

[PILOON]

Well you missed out on a real fun car.
As to flying, well I am getting a real itch to just bite the bullet and hire me a plane and instructor. Bet i could even teach most of them a trick or 2. LOL
When I learned on the J3 I was solo at 12 hours and had my ticket at 45. We flew out of a farm field and my instructor was a real bush pilot type who taught me some real neat stuff. Back then the government even gave us a $400 credit to learn.
I gave up the J3 when I discovered that cars were driving faster than I could fly.
When I purchased the J3 it was on floats and we put it on wheels, blocked off the local road and took off one early Easter morning.
A local cop blocked traffic for us. One problem arose as a semi rig was in our way, The cop knocked on the guy's door and asked him to move his rig as a plane needed to go by. The driver never even hesitated (like it happened every day). (Bet he had something to hide.)
Oh yep, had lots of fun with planes. Only crashed twice! LOL. At least I can talk about it. Both incidents were uneventful due to good training and experience. Did scare the s--t out of passengers however.
My Cessna 170 had a total engine failure at 5000ft. The crankshaft simply broke in half. Fortunately i was over a farm that was like 6000 ft long and it was just like landing at Montreal international. Only problem was that the soil was freshly tilled and the AC flipped over causing considerable damage.
I rebuilt the bird within 3 months in my garage and had her back in the air with a new engine and all new paint job plus many mods. Flew her for additional 4 years B4 swapping (even) for a sweet C 182.
Even managed to pocked about $1500. profit as many discarded components were re sell-able. A very lucky find of low time used engine enabled that to happen. Believe it or not my insurance company even delivered the settlement while my plane was still upside down in the farmers field in North Carolina. I loaded it in a U-Haul and drove the plane back to Montreal where I lived. (along with most repair parts needed) Crossing the border was another fun episode.

 

[HillStreet]

V1rotate,

I agree. Now is a good time to buy an airplane if you're looking. There are a lot of good older GA airplanes available. I know of a few partnerships that started by a few people buying a Cessna or Piper (primarily because there a lot of them) and getting their licenses.

 

[mostly_gas]

Pilot here, learned to fly in '75, got laid off by Cessna before they hired me .Been inactive for years, as others have stated you are in or out. C150-C210, 310,401, Piper arrow Cherokee 6, Seneca.

 

[HillStreet]

Army aviator. Fixed and rotary wing qualified. Hold commercial multi engine instrument (not current).

Flew two year in Vietnam. Mostly O-1's.

Jim, I have the utmost respect for military aviators. My first ride ever in a helicopter was in a Blackhawk in 2006 in Iraq. I was not a soldier but an Army civilian working for VCorps. Couldn't believe how smooth it was. Great experience.

 

[HillStreet]

Wow 99% stuck wing folks.....:laughing: I was able to rub belly and pat head at the same time, so got into helo's......:laughing:

Been flying since 1985, mostly in military. Went from shooting folks to saving them.....(Army to Coast Guard). Still flying offshore oil rigs overseas.

Wow Scout,

Quite a flying career. When I watch Coast Guard rescues on video I gaze in wide wonder at the skill level you guys have and dangerous weather you encounter.

 

[HillStreet]

When you have the money , you also have the family responsibilities, house payments et al. Now close to retirement age and you have the time, but the prices are through the roof. Vicious circle isn't it?
I'm 67, I am pretty quite sure I could pass the medical, but 5 years ago the price to learn to fly was $5,000.oo + $110.oo/hr for the plane. Now with ramp fees up big time, the cost of the plane, the cost of insurance, not to mention fuel, etc. as much as I love flying I have admitted to myself that it will never happen. :irked: I will shelf that dream along with the Buggatti Veyron.

Yeah, familiar story. I started flying when my kids got settled in their lives. But my work still demanded travel and a lot of time. When I realized I was spending north of $500 a month to rent an airplane to fly in circles, I decided to buy a 1965 Cessna 172. Had a prebuy inspection done and it was in excellent condition and has been a very reliable bird for the past 10+ years.

I stopped counting the costs. I keep it in annual, insure it, hangar it, and my costs are actually less than renting. I hope to have it 5 more years, I just like flying too much to give it up. I don't drink, golf, camp, or smoke so I gotta spend all my extra cash (haha) somewhere. Who knows, maybe I'll fly until I'm 85 but mid to late 60s is more like it.

 

[Bailout]

Love being a pilot... 3000+ Herc hours (C-130) and now fly the MQ-9 Reaper. Ratings up to my ATP. Hoping to move on to the airlines.

Brian

 

[PILOON]

When gas prices went wild I simply quit. My C-182 had long range tanks ant the fill up was a shocker (to me). Also shortly later I sold the aviation business. The buyer mismanaged as well was dealt a few nasty blows that he could not survive.
That C-182 was a sweet bird with lots of mods and all King IFR avionics as well as A/P.
AWD's and TBO's and SBs would eat up most folks pay checks, ex mandatory prop OH every 5 years (mainly due to Orings) at $500. a time, then came a mandatory AWD to replace the 2 fuel tanks etc etc.
AND I was in the trade! c/w A & P ticket as well as the Cdn AME lisc. Also held both Cdn and US pilot ticket but never IFR rated but had about 5000 hrs as private pilot.
But fly I did, and not 'around the patch' but mostly trips that took me clean across Canada and south to Fla more than once.
I flew all 10 Cnd Provinces, most States ,went to Bahamas (yep that triangle) St Pierre Miglon.
Earlier on as a art supply sales rep I flew all my territory (Quebec) many times giving 3 times the coverage as any competitor could. I was very fortunate in that my employer allowed me to use my A/C and compensated my expenses making work lots of fun.
Imagine being able to take your hobby to work every day! It was not work but every day play!

Thanks for allowing me to reminisce.