Bluedog Posted May 8, 2013 Share Posted May 8, 2013 Hi all, Just curious as to how everyone handles not being able to fly for an extended period........ Do you lose interest or stay involved? I am a student with 6.1 hours in a Jabiru, and I work a 28/9 FIFO roster so due to commitments last break and getting married in the USA during my next break in 3 weeks, by the time I have my next lessons it will be almost 3 months between lessons. I pass my time in camp by reading forums such as this one, and reading books and magazines (and a fair bit of daydreaming!). I think for myself, even if I could never fly again I would still be obsessed with aircraft, and people have often commented over the years that I am abnormally interested in aircraft, and even though I still fly regularly to and from work I still get the same buzz watching aircraft take off and land at the airport as I always have, and still enjoy my commercial flights as well as my lessons. I can't wait to get back up there again! Anyway, this is how I came to wonder what you do when you can't fly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pmccarthy Posted May 8, 2013 Share Posted May 8, 2013 Keep reading about it, thinking about it and dreaming about it. I had some years when I couldn't fly and under the rules then my license lapsed. I used to dream about flight planning and then flying on a long cross- country. Trouble was, I used to wake up in a fright thinking I had been flying while unlicensed. Now I fly every week if I can. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bubbleboy Posted May 8, 2013 Share Posted May 8, 2013 I build my Pietenpol Air Camper! Scotty Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ballpoint 246niner Posted May 8, 2013 Share Posted May 8, 2013 And your getting married! - get used to longer breaks in flying then..... 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bubbleboy Posted May 8, 2013 Share Posted May 8, 2013 And your getting married! - get used to longer breaks in flying then..... Then there will be kids and no more flying for many years! 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluedog Posted May 8, 2013 Author Share Posted May 8, 2013 And your getting married! - get used to longer breaks in flying then..... Haha, I'd say I'd be fairly quickly divorced if she tried that on! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ballpoint 246niner Posted May 8, 2013 Share Posted May 8, 2013 No mate, sounds like you've got heaps of passion, don't lose it and balance the rest good luck with the upcoming wedding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluedog Posted May 8, 2013 Author Share Posted May 8, 2013 My 5 year old twin boys actually think Daddy flies himself to work now! Now that's what I call dreaming! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluedog Posted May 8, 2013 Author Share Posted May 8, 2013 Much appreciated Ballpoint, it took me many years to be in the position I'm in now to be undertaking lessons, and I am very grateful for the opportunities I now have......... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nomadpete Posted May 8, 2013 Share Posted May 8, 2013 You might have some moments when you think that flying is all fading out of your life, BUT once you've been bitten by the bug - sooner or later you'll find yourself back around aircraft. From time to time I have been away from flying and yes, I lost some skills during each absence. Then I enjoyed the challenge of brushing off the cobwebs and renewing the joy. However, enjoy and foster your relationship first and foremost. Your flying is not damaged by having an on-and-off relationship, but your personal relationship needs constant care. Congratulations on your coming wedding. 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sapphire Posted May 8, 2013 Share Posted May 8, 2013 You have expensive hobbies-flying and women. May have have to give one away if finances go short. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulh Posted May 8, 2013 Share Posted May 8, 2013 Well I read this forum and magazines etc, go look at the sky when I hear an aircraft ( lucky for me I live near a flight path plus see the tiger moths taking joy flights on the weekends) Do some chair practice as my instructor recommended when I haven't flown for while ie do circuits or forced landings in an office chair visualising the scene etc , don't laugh it works for Matt Hall so it must help. ( I don't recommend chair practice whilst driving the car as the rudder pedals don't seem to have the correct effect) Day dream when the never ending to do list allows and then when you get back in the cockpit, savour every moment, cause it really is a privilege to fly just for fun pretty much where ever we want. (Excluding of course controlled airspace) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluedog Posted May 8, 2013 Author Share Posted May 8, 2013 Thanks nomadpete, I am lucky that I have an exceptional relationship, one that allows me to go to work for a month and never have the problems that so many guys have with their relationships out here....... They say pipeliners have a relationship failure rate of 90% My first and foremost priorities when I come home are my children and my (soon to be) wife, to make my children better people than I am as person and to see them happy is the only thing that guides me as a father. Thanks for the tip paulh, I have a photo of the Jabiru's instrument panel as my desktop background and usually sit there once a week imagining the stuff I've been taught and trying to familiarise myself with it. It's nowhere near as useful as the actual flying but I am driven to learn as much as I can however I can, and try to be the best pilot I can personally be....... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
farri Posted May 8, 2013 Share Posted May 8, 2013 G`Day Bluedog, If you`re not already doing so, take advantage of any spare time you have,by studying Basic Aeronauticle Knowledge ( BAK ). Frank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluedog Posted May 8, 2013 Author Share Posted May 8, 2013 Cheers Frank, I've got my training manual up here in camp with me, but haven't touched it for a while, so I really should reread over what I've studied. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyvulcan Posted May 9, 2013 Share Posted May 9, 2013 Hi Bluey, As well as reading this forum, there is also another forum www.homebuiltairplanes.com where design and construction of experimental aircraft are discussed. If you can subscribe to aviation mags such as Kitplanes and the EAAs Sport Aviation, it will help maintain the enthusiasm reading those. Also, look at getting a Flight Simulator program such as X-plane, see www.x-plane.com. I spent many hours designing and flying aircraft using that program. These are all portable options that you can take on the road with you. Cheers, Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
facthunter Posted May 9, 2013 Share Posted May 9, 2013 So much good advice. I still drop everything and run outside if I hear a different engine sound in the air. To be able to engage in powered flight is only available for a little over 100 years. Not a bad idea to look at different designs or books that relate to aviation. My first book of significance was Fate Is The Hunter (Earnest K Gann).Nev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluedog Posted May 9, 2013 Author Share Posted May 9, 2013 Thanks Dave, I'll look into those. Nev, I've heard that book mentioned favourably many times on forums, so once I finish with Stick and Rudder I'll probably get that one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Howard Hughes Posted May 9, 2013 Share Posted May 9, 2013 If you need something to put you to sleep at night, I can recommend 'Aerodynamics for Naval Aviators' !! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ozzie Posted May 9, 2013 Share Posted May 9, 2013 Dream about the " good old days". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ayavner Posted May 9, 2013 Share Posted May 9, 2013 Flight Sim X is a good way to at least keep having the right thoughts at the right time while you go thru a practice flight, its amazing how it helps if you really treat it like a lesson, ie make the radio calls out loud, think about the wind and the BUMFISH checks, etc... gotten me through a couple long spells between lessons. Good luck on the wedding AND the marriage! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nomadpete Posted May 9, 2013 Share Posted May 9, 2013 There are only two times when you won't understand your woman - before the wedding, and after the wedding........ 1 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sapphire Posted May 11, 2013 Share Posted May 11, 2013 My first flight was at about ten years in a carboard box with a model airplane propeller glued to the front. Should have kept it for non flyable days and good for cheap flying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mAgNeToDrOp Posted May 11, 2013 Share Posted May 11, 2013 Work on my scratch build model spitfire, starting the wings (72") . 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaz3g Posted May 11, 2013 Share Posted May 11, 2013 So much good advice. I still drop everything and run outside if I hear a different engine sound in the air. To be able to engage in powered flight is only available for a little over 100 years. Not a bad idea to look at different designs or books that relate to aviation. My first book of significance was Fate Is The Hunter (Earnest K Gann).Nev I read a lot...always have. I especially like WWI and WWII aviation history and good fiction about the same era. I have about 50 Biggles Books and read and retread them, too :-) Have just re-read Ivan Southall's biographical account of Bluey Truscott's life and service. It is a fascinating story of incredible courage. Bluey's war service began with an Australian squadron in UK flying Spitfires and ended when he was killed in a Kittyhawk just after the Battle of Milne Bay. This was the turning point in the war against Japan and it all happened at a tiny airfield called Gurney Field bulldozed out of the swamps at the very south east end of NG . Gurney Field was named after Squadron Leader Bob Gurney, another hero of the war in the Pacific. From here Bluey and his amazing bunch of Aussie pilots supported a vastly outnumbered Australian Regiment to hang on against a naval, air and land assault by Japanese forces determined to take it and bypass the Kokoda Trail to Moresby. The invaders gave up and left tens of thousands of their dead behind! An incredible story that had me flying a Kittyhawk with him in my dreams (like Bluey, I'd have preferred a Spitfire but the P40 sure was tough...he fired so many rounds out of his .50 cals they became almost smooth-bored .60s instead). Kaz (Karen Gurney) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now