Flying for a purpose

[pmccarthy]

On Saturday I took a friend flying. He trains air observers for the fire authority and wanted to check out some locations. We had a two hour flight plan and a dozen locations to check, on a day of scattered showers and storms that kept most people on the ground. It was the most fun I have had flying for quite a while.

 

We always had clear corridors available with known airstrips in range, but had to weave through the weather. Got rain on the windscreen occasionally but never worse, and always comfortably in VMC. The difference from my usual weekend flying was that it was done with a purpose, with a series of challenges to locate points on the ground that were quite difficult to find. None of the usual cross-country monotony, although I do enjoy long cross country flights. We found all the locations despite the weather, with the help of GPS.

 

I think I will design a few challenges for our club, with places to identify and describe in some way from the air, to spice up our pie and fly Saturdays.

 

 

[DrZoos]

Your weekend sounds remarkably similar to mine.

 

Had a similar experience sat flying my first trip into mountains and dodging small weather cells with an instructor on board. A few diverts off track, trying to spot landmarks etc. Thoroughly enjoyable, despite only making it 90% of the way to our destination before we aborted due to low cloud near our destination. Awesome time and learned an amazing amount.

 

 

[facthunter]

You might have well done something there which is not all too common. (giving the trip away when you are near the destination). This is where the "press on" mentality is at it's strongest and most lethal.

 

Regarding Flying "for a purpose", the majority of mine has been like that. That's just how it turned out as most was" Being trained, Flying to a destination, Training others, dropping chutists searches, etc. I find I can't imagine something else. I mean I love stooging around places when the conditions are perfect, but you rarely get to choose those conditions, especially when you are paid to do it. That's past most likely, but I would still have a Purpose to any flight. In any case , don't let the magic of it become something you lose by letting boredom set in. Nev

 

 

[kaz3g]

Well, I won $50 for flying on Sunday and it happened like this...

 

I am a member of the Goulburn Valley Aeroclub at Shepparton. The club sets a pretty busy calendar of events -- get-togethers, fly-ins, social nights and skills days.

 

Sunday was a flying poker game. $10 entry after a great breakfast in the clubhouse. Both GA and RA aircraft participated. The Auster was the slowest and a Cirrus the quickest, so they started me last.

 

We flew from Shepp to Wahring, Elmore, Kyabram and back to Shepp. A card was given to each pilot on landing until we each had 5 cards. Back at Shepp we showed our hands.

 

A few wild cards were included in the decks and anyone drawing one of these got their money back. The rest of the pool was collected by me after I discovered 3 Aces and a pair of 7's in my envelopes.

 

And although I started last I got home in front of two of the others. Just goes to show how much time you can save if you DON'T fly 747 circuits.

 

Kaz

 

 

[Ballpoint 246niner]

I try to get all our students to set a goal for each flight, and self assess their success at the end. It's easy to get all cosy and float around up there but having some interesting task setting can help in further training fly to x and tell me how long it took. Fly a square with each leg over 10 mins and report what you see at each turn point etc etc etc, keeping your flying interesting is the conduit for continued learning whether you have 50 hours or 5000.

 

 

[rankamateur]

Right now blowing some random holes in the sky would have a certain appeal too!

 

 

[facthunter]

See how you go doing a figure 8 at 60 degrees bank with set speed and height. Be active with throttle. Don't do it with something the wings fall off, as when you hit your slipstream there is a bit of a bump.Nev

 

 

[rankamateur]

See how you go doing a figure 8 at 60 degrees bank with set speed and height. Be active with throttle. Don't do it with something the wings fall off, as when you hit your slipstream there is a bit of a bump.Nev

I did solo circles at 30 degrees when I was training, trying to roll out on the same heading I went into the turn. After about 6 or 8 of them I got so messed up in the head that I had to have a stern talk to myself about who was going to fly the plane. I opened the vents wide and went and practiced straight and level for a while, did the trick.

 

 

[Ballpoint 246niner]

Hey Rank we are now operating a Tecnam in Armidale if you want to get some airtime???

 

 

[poteroo]

Formation flying is an excellent purpose for any pilot. Keeps you sharp. More 'difficult' than it looks - but if you can fly your aircraft accurately, then a formation endorsement is achievable. happy days,

 

 

[rankamateur]

Hey Rank we are now operating a Tecnam in Armidale if you want to get some airtime???

Still got to build a left wing and somewhere to sit before it will matter much, by then I will need to visit my daughter in brisbane, and I get bored easy!

 

 

[sfGnome]

...I will need to visit my daughter in brisbane...

I can't think of a better purpose for my flying than visiting my Daughter in Vic.