Do you fly?

[CornusKousa]

Only in the most high fidelity combat aviation home simulator ever...DCS.

https://j.gifs.com/r8o3l4@facebook.gif

I have a whole room for it, 2 cockpits a SeaBug and a Viper, flight suits...1,000% full on dork.

The old man (actual F-111/F-15 pilot) and I go pretty hard with ACM sometimes, it's a blast.

But no I don't actually fly.

 

[jaF0]

I tried, but my arms got tired.

 

[HisArpy]

I tried, but my arms got tired.

You need to deploy more flaps.

 

[twister947]

I still think translational lift is magic.

 

[juttjaw]

No but I drove a train once. That was cool. Probably illegal as fuck and woulda got a couple fired as well but they let me so whatevs. Was fun tho.

You dont "drive" a train, you operate or run a locomotive or engine. In a locomotive, you simply apply power or brakes, it drives itself.

Anyway, i dont fly, but it is something i intend to do as time moves forward. I have always been fascinated with aviation and airplanes.

 

[Comshaw]

The short conversation about the RC-3 Seabee in Thor's "To the Future" thread got me thinking.


I can fly. I don't at this time** for a specific reason. However, the question is; do you?


BTW, I don't mean commercial. I mean, you, at the controls, flying the airplane, yourself (with or without a CFI in the right seat).



Do you?





**This might be changing in the near future, I'm considering flying again as a sport pilot.

"Taxi"
Harry Chapin
It was raining hard in 'Frisco
I needed one more fare to make my night
A lady up ahead waved to flag me down
She got in at the light

Oh, where you going to, my lady blue
It's a shame you ruined your gown in the rain
She just looked out the window
She said, Sixteen Parkside Lane

Something about her was familiar
I could swear I'd seen her face before
But she said, I'm sure you're mistaken
And she didn't say anything more

It took a while, but she looked in the mirror
And she glanced at the license for my name
A smile seemed to come to her slowly
It was a sad smile, just the same

And she said, How are you Harry
I said, How are you Sue
Through the too many miles
And the too little smiles
I still remember you

It was somewhere in a fairy tale
I used to take her home in my car
We learned about love in the back of a Dodge
The lesson hadn't gone too far

You see, she was gonna be an actress
And I was gonna learn to fly
She took off to find the footlights
And I took off to find the sky

Oh, I've got something inside me
To drive a princess blind
There's a wild man, wizard
He's hiding in me, illuminating my mind
Oh, I've got something inside me
Not what my life's about
'Cause I've been letting my outside tide me
Over 'til my time, runs out

(Baby's so high that she's skying)
(Yes, she's flying, afraid to fall)
(I'll tell you why baby's crying)
('Cause she's dying, aren't we all)

There was not much more for us to talk about
Whatever we had once was gone
So I turned my cab into the driveway
Past the gate and the fine trimmed lawns

And she said, we must get together
But I knew it'd never be arranged
And she handed me twenty dollars
For a two fifty fare
She said, Harry, keep the change

Well, another man might have been angry
And another man might have been hurt
But another man never would've let her go
I stashed the bill in my shirt

And she walked away in silence
It's strange, how you never know
But we'd both gotten what we'd asked for
Such a long, long time ago

You see, she was gonna be an actress
And I was gonna learn to fly
She took off to find the footlights
And I took off for the sky

And here, she's acting happy
Inside her handsome home
And me, I'm flying in my taxi
Taking tips, and getting stoned
I go flying so high, when I'm stoned



Comshaw

 

[Conager]

I have, and given the opportunity, I'll fly again.

 

[thør]

it is something i intend to do as time moves forward. I have always been fascinated with aviation and airplanes.

Time goes fast. Do it. I had intentions, but never acted on them.

 

[juttjaw]

Time goes fast. Do it. I had intentions, but never acted on them.

There are two local airports that give lessons, one of which, my father learned to fly. He also owned and flew an ultra light. Before my time, however. I was a very late oops, he and my mother had lived llifetimes before i came around.

Its in my 2 to 3 year plan. If nothing else, just go up with an instructor as long as the money keeps flowing.

 

[FL30]

FL30 - bus driver, CFI, or just a pastime?


For me, I've always wanted to fly but never really had a chance when younger. Now that I'm older my physical condition is limiting.

I'd love to fly a warbird. Most aviators want to fly the fast ones like the P51 Mustang, the Spitfire, or the F4U Corsair but for me even one of the old biplanes like the de Haviland Gypsy Moth would work for that bucket list item.

silver bus and for fun to get away from everyone and have my own peace & quite except for the sound of the engine

 

[hippiesfembichild]

Does a broom count? Asking for a friend

 

[dinny]

Last commercial flight: back from the Vietnam War, see no need to every fly anywhere ever again that way for any reason. If I can't get there on the Harley, I ain't going. Last private flight: my banker took me up in his Cessna 172 over Eastern Montana for a couple of hours and let me fly it and take it back to the airport. Enjoyable, but not necessary.

 

[HisArpy]

silver bus and for fun to get away from everyone and have my own peace & quite except for the sound of the engine

You probably have more than enough hours to qualify for your CFI ticket.

I was thinking about that the other day, where most commercial pilots don't teach and I couldn't figure out why. There are lots of private aviation aircraft out there just basically sitting and doing nothing. Why aren't those owners teaching more pilots or letting aspiring pilots use them to learn in.

That sounds like a fairly reasonable question because if more modern aircraft were available, along with some rules changes, general aviation might get the much needed restart the FAA has been trying to do since the 70's.

The answer is insurance. Insurers won't insure or they'll charge premiums so high no one can afford it.

The counter punch to that is an aviation equivalent to Flood Insurance, government sponsored insurance at rates most people can afford. Do that, plus some rules changes to swap basic pvt pilot SEL (Single Engine Land) ratings to VFR/day only sport pilot licensing, and more people would teach and fly.

 

[jaF0]

Soon .....


https://y.yarn.co/b155d2e8-bb39-43f1-84bf-635a8947dc7c_screenshot.jpg


.

 

[HisArpy]

Soon .....

Actually...


You Tube video - Kein Vision's "Aircar" makes a 35 minute flight and then drives off

 

[FL30]

You probably have more than enough hours to qualify for your CFI ticket.

I was thinking about that the other day, where most commercial pilots don't teach and I couldn't figure out why. There are lots of private aviation aircraft out there just basically sitting and doing nothing. Why aren't those owners teaching more pilots or letting aspiring pilots use them to learn in.

That sounds like a fairly reasonable question because if more modern aircraft were available, along with some rules changes, general aviation might get the much needed restart the FAA has been trying to do since the 70's.

The answer is insurance. Insurers won't insure or they'll charge premiums so high no one can afford it.

The counter punch to that is an aviation equivalent to Flood Insurance, government sponsored insurance at rates most people can afford. Do that, plus some rules changes to swap basic pvt pilot SEL (Single Engine Land) ratings to VFR/day only sport pilot licensing, and more people would teach and fly.

Silver bus = commercial

way more hours than I really ever need, just my yearly training to stay qualified to keep earning a living

Also for fun - just to get away from everyone except myself and the sound of the engine and to NOT be flying on someone else's time constraint to go where someone else wants to go

Lots of reasons why aviation is so expensive. Parts are expensive because they have to have a LOT better quality control. Prime example, there is an alternator that is used on a certain GA airplane that is the exact same one that is used in a popular car. However, the difference in cost is about $400 more for the airplane part as it is FAA CERTIFIED for use on airplanes. It is tested probably every other one when it comes down the factory assembly line, whereas the one for the car is probably tested one out of every 400/500 hundred or even less.

Same with aviation gas - very expensive as it still has lead in it (although low lead) as the engines have not been updated in over 50/60 years and it is an EXTREMLY small market. The engine that is in a brand new Cessna Skyhawk is the exact same one that was used 40 years ago, except fuel injection is primarily used now instead of carburetor's.

Because the market is so small, not much money is put into research for newer engines, fuel, etc.

The only real difference that has been made in the last few years has been in radios and navigation systems as most people can afford GPS systems - whether installed or handheld.

The AOPA actually did a recent article on why the cost of aviation is so high compared to the automotive industry and part of it is because it is such a very small market so not a lot of dollars. You can probably look it up or find it on the AOPA website.

In the USA there are less than 400k pilots out of almost 300 million people. Not a big population of pilots.

Lots of training to learn the RULES & REGULATIONS of flying. Medicals are required to fly depending on your age and the type of license that you hold and can be every year, every 2 years or possibly every 3 years. A lot of people lose their license every year due to medical issues.

Every aircraft is different - so you have to learn THAT airplane and the bigger and more complex, then more training and more licenses or type ratings. Manufacturers put things in different places in the cockpit so you need to know where those things are. Lots of accidents have happened because someone used the wrong lever because they were not familiar with that airplane.

No drug use - lots of prohibited drugs - even over the counter as they can have adverse effects on your decision making skills.

FAA mandated check rides every one to two years - again it depends on the type of license that you have.

Yes, insurance is a big factor too. Lots of stupid, stupid mistakes that never should have happened. All light airplanes stopped being produced in the late 70's because of a lawsuit that a pilot's widow won against Cessna. Pilot took of from a CLOSED runway, with a CRANE in the middle of the runway, OVERLOADED and crashed and died. Although the pilot made all the wrong decisions and paid with his life, his widow WON the lawsuit against Cessna due to liability. (NO LYING - you can look it up). Since they lost - all airplane manufacturer's stopped producing small planes, until Congress enacted a law that did away with liability issues.

Lots of other stupid stuff by pilots and some accidents that were not due to the pilots fault. However, in most cases there is always a fatality involved so insurance rates are high because of that and usually more damage is done to the plane or surrounding area. Even though plane crashes are rare, when they do happen, they get a LOT more scrutiny, than an auto wreck does and the press sensationalizes the crash. More people die in auto wrecks in a given month than people die in plane crashes in a year.

There have been instances where the industry has tried to make it more affordable - sport planes was one of them. However, even sport planes were over $100K new so there really wasn't much of a market for them as they were restricted as to how far they could fly and they couldn't fly at night.

Whereas, most good used Cessna's, Piper's, etc., could be had for anywhere between $35 to $50 and had no restrictions. You could fly them anytime for any length of a trip.

One thing that is changing in GA is that there are now some affordable simulators that you can actually get SOME of your training in so it does cut down the time and cost of your training. You can't get all of it in a sim, but you can use some of the hours for your ratings/license. However, you can always fly more sim time to get more proficient so that when you do actually fly in the plane, you're a better pilot and can pass the check ride easier.

I could on and on, but I think I've gone on for to much here already.

If you want to discuss further, pm me.