Any other pilots out there? I'm not current do to the cost of renting but I am an instrument rated pilot with a decent amount of hours in the soup. I actually prefer flying in clouds than flying out of them. Go figure? Oh, and I am afraid go heights too!

Lol, I'm terrified of flying so I avoid it at all costs.

I must say while I used to fly on commercial airlines I no longer do. For one, the seats are SO uncomfortable. I also find airports unpleasant and with so many delays and being there early and waiting for connecting flights the whole business has turned me off. My brother lives in Berlin Germany as he drums for Blue Man Group and I'd love to visit Europe but even with that as an opportunity I find myself avoiding any commercial travel.

Private flying is different but as mentioned previously - very expensive and being a gear slut, I simply cannot afford two expensive hobbies.

BTW, sorry for the couple of typos in the past post "due" and I think there was one other one.

I had several terrifying experiences while in the military. I was part of a medevac team and the helicopters I flew in had to make emergency landings. One time we landed hard in the middle of a sugar cane field.

Before I used to be uneasy of flying, but those experiences on the helicopters increased the fear factor exponentially.

I can only imagine! I was on a helicopter once as a kid and it scared the hell out of me and that was without any incident.

Glad you survived your mishaps without injury!!!

What sort of aircraft are you rated on, @ PdotDdot ?

Have always wanted to get a PPL but cost/time etc prohibit - a man can only have so many expensive passions and for me at the moment it's guitars! :D

Pilot and CFI here

Hi Whitecat. I am instrumented rated for single engine land. I mostly flew Cessna 172's. You are right - this is an expensive road to go down. One of my flying buddies is married to a Colorectal surgeon and she bought him a plane. He flies her all over the place as she gives lots of lectures and they write off the costs on their taxes. He owns a Bellanca Viking and has top of the line stuff in the panel. Must be nice.

I miss flying but I am working towards retirement so gave it up so I could save some loot for the geezer days.

I will say this - it is fun and if you can afford it, you can do stuff like go places a car cannot get you in short amounts of time. When I got my private I started working the line at the flight school I learned at. I had a set of keys!!! There were nights where I'd head down to the airport in the middle of night, gas up a plane and take off. What a sense of freedom that was.

As to guitars - I have a 59 Start and a 1939 Martin D18. I have others but those are the two gems in the litter.

Glad to know there is at least one other pilot in this forum. Do you plan on a life in commercial flying? Just curious as so many pilots become CFI's to build hours towards a commercial future as you know. Happy flying...! :-)

Nope. I'm 50 and I'll keep it as a hobby/retirement thing.

Safe skies to you too!

Here is my best "Pilot Story". I had just finished reading an article by Richard Collins about partial panel flying. I was getting near my IFR check ride. I had a flight set up with my instructor to practice for the check ride and he had invited another student to sit in the back and watch.

Well this was Minnesota an the dead of winter and as luck would have it, there was a pretty hefty snow storm. Probably not the best decision my flight instructor made but he said "let's go" so we did. The first leg was to fly from Crystal airport outside if Minneapolis up to ST Cloud - shoot the approach, go missed and then head to the next leg. I flew the approach, went missed and did a couple of turns in the hold when I started noticing something was up. I mentioned it to my flight instructor and he suggested it was just turbulence but I felt that my instruments were indicating an issue.

Within about 5 minutes my airspeed indicator went to 0 (pito tube iced over even with pito heat on), then the attitude indicator started spinning like a pinwheel. We lost two primary indicators within minutes of each other and we were deep in the soup.

I probably should have been nervous but having just read the article on flying partial panel I just started using the ball and heading indicator as well as including the compass in the scan. I was going to report an emergency to ATC but my instructor knew they'd route us to Minneapolis and so we just headed back for Crystal, reported to the tower we had the runway in sight and landed.

Looking back it was stupid to have taken off but at the time I trusted my instructor and just saw it as an opportunity to get more real IMC flying time which I love.

It was good experience though in the sense it built up my confidence to handle an emergency.

Any emergency parachutes on board? I've also seen some Cessna's that come with a built in parachute for the air-frame.

I've ridden in a stunt helicopter a few times back when I worked on movies.... scary fun!

But today the only pilot I know is an old friend who worked in a music store with me, he was going to school to become a jet fighter pilot. And what do you know, Commander Fiitzhugh Lee is the squadron leader of the Royal Maces on the George Washington Aircraft carrier today. Damn I'm proud of that guy.

I got my PPL when I was 17 years old. I'm 38 and I haven't flown since (time/money constraints). I still remember how to take off but I don't think I could safely land. I want to get into it again someday just not in the next 10 years. I'm also afraid of heights and I hate turbulence as a passenger.

Yeah, flying is expensive. I too hate turbulence. Just before the check ride for my private I went up and did a couple of spins in a Cessna 150. I have never been so scared in all my life. I figured I had better see what they are like and know how to get out of them but two was all I could muster and I'd never do it again. I hated doing stalls because if your ball is not centered you can have a serious wing drop which leads into a spin and that drop is the worst part. Once you are in the spin it is not so bad but that feee fall is just too much for me. I am pretty sure my piloting days are done but I do miss the instrument flying especially when in the clouds. I also miss the camaraderie that comes with hanging out with other pilots but I get that here with other slutz instead.

Very cool indeed. I think the thing I am most proud of in my life is getting my instrument rating. Becoming a fighter pilot is light years above that. I tip my cap and salute your pal!

Here's a great tribute to commercial aviation.

Paraglider pilot here!

Do you have any pics of it? If so, pls post em'.

Not a pilot but that seems logical since then you can't see how high up you are.

That's my next hobby! Been meeting with a local instructor and looking at prices. I think I will be able to get one in the spring...

I've been extremely lazy in editing video or taking photos but here is a couple short towed glides to show what it is like around here

https://vimeo.com/158803704
https://vimeo.com/125618590

-Tomi

That looks like it's extremely fun!

Just found this thread. I have been surprised by how many pilots I have met who are musicians. I have a PPL and about 150 hrs TT.