Any pilots here?

[Tay]

Anybody here a pilot? General aviation, commercial or corporate?

 

[dsol]

Private pilot here, but have not flown but once in the last 20 years. That was in an light sport in the front seat. I would like to start flying again, but it is too expensive for me right now. Kids are nearing college age and trying to move into a larger home with a "mom suite" so I don't have to maintain two houses all the time.

There was an old hangar at the end of my neighborhood, drove by one day and the door was open. Stopped to talk to the old man out in the yard and saw an old Ercoupe in the back. Been there for years he said. The hangar was part of an airfield used for some minor training during WWII he thought. Anyway a couple of years ago, some asshat set fire to the place, everything burned up. I half thought of trying to buy that plane and restore it before the fire.

 

[kawtech87]

My dad is a private pilot. We used to travel all over the country in the 1947 Ryan Navion he restored. Until it got to expensive. We haven't flown for some time now.

 

[cyprant]

I detail airplanes for a very prestigious corporate flight department.

 

[vvet762]

ATP here. 5300+ total time. I flew mostly Part 135 charter in Cheyenne's, various King Airs ( A100 ((what a dog)), B200((my favorite)) and F90). I'm also typed in Cessna Citation 5. Lost my job in Warsaw, In when the owner's hunting buddy was looking for a seat. He got mine. Couldn't find another flying job in Ft. Wayne, IN area. Wouldn't make my kids move away from their school and friends just for me to have fun, so I had to change careers. Now I'm back to being a service tech. Home every night at 5:20 and absolutely no weekends! I miss flying.

 

[BE Mike]

Long retired. Started my flying in Army flight school. Got my single and multi-engine airplane Commercial Instrument ticket in college after leaving the Army. Got my instructor's rating and later added an instrument instructor's rating. Before retirement, flew helicopters and single-engine airplanes for 10 years. I logged over 10,000 hours of accident-free flying. I passed up a couple of flying jobs after retirement, but flew for enjoyment for a couple of years. I haven't flown since 9/11.

 

[femurphy77]

I have been know to pick it up from over there and pile it over here!!

(Never drove 'em but worked on a lot of 'em at United, before they bent us ALL over, good to know their raking it in hand over fist now)

 

[Tay]

Very nice. I'm currently working on my Private. I just passed my written and just have to get my XC's out of the way now. I'm hoping to fly commercially one day!

 

[DragonGunner]

Flew Powered Parachutes, was a BFI so I could fly my 2 seater. Sold it back in 2005.....but hope to get back into it again someday.

 

[vvet762]

Long retired. Started my flying in Army flight school. Got my single and multi-engine airplane Commercial Instrument ticket in college after leaving the Army. Got my instructor's rating and later added an instrument instructor's rating. Before retirement, flew helicopters and single-engine airplanes for 10 years. I logged over 10,000 hours of accident-free flying. I passed up a couple of flying jobs after retirement, but flew for enjoyment for a couple of years. I haven't flown since 9/11.

Is that a loach in your picture? I was a grunt in Vietnam and we had a group of choppers called YELLOW SCARF. Hated those guys. They would fly tree top until Charlie would shoot them up then we had to CA back out to the field. Seems that every time we would come in for stand down Yellow scarf would find something. I did enjoy the cobra gunships. What an awesome ship. Had a lot of respect for those guys, especially the loach pilot.

 

[vvet762]

Very nice. I'm currently working on my Private. I just passed my written and just have to get my XC's out of the way now. I'm hoping to fly commercially one day!

Congratulations. I got lost on my first cross country. While I was trying to find out where I was, I lost a lot of altitude and finally looked out the window to see a water tower with the name of the town on it. What luck. Then I flew into clouds and instant IMC. After getting VFR again the rest of the trip was a breeze. Just don't get rattled. You'll remember the training some day, in the future, when you are flying in the flight levels, sitting back drinking coffee, letting the AP fly the plane and making a huge amount of money. Wow, you will even get paid to have all that fun. But now learn as much as you can and expect to scare yourself a lot. Be safe!

 

[Farmritch]

Taildragger only here
Champ.Pa-12, J3, J5, Decathlon, Stearman,Harvard,Luscombe.

 

[hoosierdoc]

Ok our trip to Caribbean recently two youngish, maybe 30 year old pilots were riding down for vacation. Seems like a great career if you can make it.

Part of me really wants to get my private license, but another part of me knows doctors tend to die in plane crashes and maybe it's not a good idea.

 

[Principal Skinr]

I received my private license many years ago, when still in high school. I haven't flown as pilot in command in a long while, but I've been able to hitch rides in the right seat here and there. (Not as often as I'd like!) I've got most of my time in Piper Tomohawks, Warrior II's, and Archer II's. I've also flown Cessna 172's and 150's. I've had some really fun right seat time in my brother-in-law's Cessna 180 on floats! He lives on Lake Washington, in Seattle, and has his plane on a dock lift right in his back yard!

If anyone wants company on a flight, let me know. My job keeps my schedule tight, but I'd jump at any chance for a ride!

 

[Principal Skinr]

Congratulations. I got lost on my first cross country. While I was trying to find out where I was, I lost a lot of altitude and finally looked out the window to see a water tower with the name of the town on it. What luck. Then I flew into clouds and instant IMC. After getting VFR again the rest of the trip was a breeze. Just don't get rattled. You'll remember the training some day, in the future, when you are flying in the flight levels, sitting back drinking coffee, letting the AP fly the plane and making a huge amount of money. Wow, you will even get paid to have all that fun. But now learn as much as you can and expect to scare yourself a lot. Be safe!

I got lost between Danville, IL, and Evansville, IN on mine! I figured it out with landmarks and the chart, but it scared the crap out of me. I was smart enough to top off the tanks in Danville, though, so I could have flown quite awhile, if needed. You learn quite a bit from an experience like that! I was nervous as hell, too. I was just a teenager.

 

[BE Mike]

Is that a loach in your picture? I was a grunt in Vietnam and we had a group of choppers called YELLOW SCARF. Hated those guys. They would fly tree top until Charlie would shoot them up then we had to CA back out to the field. Seems that every time we would come in for stand down Yellow scarf would find something. I did enjoy the cobra gunships. What an awesome ship. Had a lot of respect for those guys, especially the loach pilot.

Yes, it is an OH-6A (Loach). In the Army, I logged more time in them than the UH-1 (Huey). Our call sign was Thunder, so don't hate on me. Thanks for your service.

 

[BE Mike]

Ok our trip to Caribbean recently two youngish, maybe 30 year old pilots were riding down for vacation. Seems like a great career if you can make it.

Part of me really wants to get my private license, but another part of me knows doctors tend to die in plane crashes and maybe it's not a good idea.

Doctors are smart and quick to learn. That being said, they are very busy with their work. Some of the trouble with doctor pilots is that they get more of an airplane than they can comfortably handle because, although capable, they just can't find the time to stay proficient.

 

[ces6508]

Ok our trip to Caribbean recently two youngish, maybe 30 year old pilots were riding down for vacation. Seems like a great career if you can make it.

Part of me really wants to get my private license, but another part of me knows doctors tend to die in plane crashes and maybe it's not a good idea.

Your chance of dying by the hand of another doctor is much high than dying in a plane crash.

 

[TB1999]

Wifey was a pilot/flight instructor until her medical got pulled for having MS. She sure misses it, but it always made me nervous for her. Her 10k annual salary was pretty easy to leave behind though.

 

[Sgtusmc]

Have always wanted to get my own ultra-light. Don't live in an area where I could take off and land any time I wanted though. Nice little bug out vehicle possibly for a single person.