With much glee, I became a PP-ASEL on March 30. I haven’t flown since. Wait,
wait…lemme explain….I had been offered a new job in a different town, so I
built some "finish flying" time into my move…..the weather cooperated, I
flew like a maniac for a couple of weeks, and I finished up. And three days
later, I moved 200 miles away.
So one of my first projects is to find an FBO…..I do…it’s 40 minutes from
home, but looks like a good outfit. They have 1 cherokee….a 180….I have
done all my training in 140s, but folks tell me switching to the 180 is no big
deal. So I schedule a check out ride. One weekend I awoke feeling ill, so I
cancelled….the rest of the times it was raining/blowing/no ceiling to speak
of…..then I was out of town…had a message yesterday from the CFI wondering
if I was still interested in getting checked out in their plane. I am, of
course, but it’s almost like I am forgetting I am an actual pilot and not
still a student…and I am feeling guilty every time there is a beautiful,
sunny, no wind day.
But what bugs me is that I have had no real burning desire to go flying….I
haven’t even taken my first passenger up! But yet, I have spent so much time
and money to acheive this goal….I can’t just waste it. So I guess I am
frustrated AND guilty! 
Any wise words of encouragement?
(I have a feeling those words will be "just do it!")
Thanks,
Colleen
In article <condron.3.18.31A3C…@pop.service.ohio-state.edu>,
condro…@pop.service.ohio-state.edu (colleen condron) wrote:
>Any wise words of encouragement?
>(I have a feeling those words will be "just do it!")
Okay… Just do it! <G>
Seriously, I suspect it is just a combination of a bunch of smaller things:
o You really pushed to finish, resulting in a little "burnout".
o You have the stress of a new job and a new city — that takes all the
spare "energy" we normally use for relaxation and enjoyment.
o You may also have a little (possibly sub-concious) nervousness about being
"out of the nest" on your own, without *any* supervision. I mean,
even as a solo pilot you were still under your instructor’s wing.
Probably a little nervous about getting "evaluated" by a new (and
unknown) instructor, too.
My suspicion is that it is temporary. Don’t worry about it. And while you
may want to push yourself a little to get checked out, don’t push TO MUCH!
Really, take a deep breath, and just do it.
jmk
Colleen – rather than just flying "because you feel guilty", suggest
choosing some fun place to go, packing a picnic lunch, taking a friend,
and enjoying yourself. some thoughts in your neighborhood:
– Rough River State Park, KY
– dunes on Lake Michigan (i dunno which airports are best),
– Dayton (Xenia-Green Co), OH and see the USAF museum,
– Meigs for a day in the city,
– how about a weekend in Ottawa or Toronto or Nashville?
Fly-ins are listed in the flying magazines or newspapers, and can be
a lot of fun, too.
These are what my wife and I started doing, and, well, never stopped
until we reach one ocean or the other.
The possibilities are endless, all depends on what you enjoy. And if
you just enjoy flying around, why not try out some ultralights (I
think Delaware Co OH has some for rent?)
– rod farlee
In article <condron.3.18.31A3C…@pop.service.ohio-state.edu>,
colleen condron <condro…@pop.service.ohio-state.edu> wrote:
>With much glee, I became a PP-ASEL on March 30. I haven’t flown since.
…….
>But what bugs me is that I have had no real burning desire to go flying….
>Any wise words of encouragement?
Yeah. I find that I get the itch to leave the ground real bad after about
two weeks without flying. If I don’t get up, I’ll get progressively more
"antsy" for a week or two more, and then I start to lose interest. After
a month to six weeks, doing yard work may look more attractive than heading
for the airport. Once I get back in the air, I remember why and it goes
deep down again.
In other words, you’re not alone. Every once in a while I get discouraged
over the expense or something (like blowing a magneto last Sunday), and
I get tempted to just stay down. I try real hard to not stay down long
enough to stop caring.
Get back in the air and get some solo time in. The fun’s just started!
———————————————————————–
|
George Patterson – | A Confederate States of America dollar is worth
| more today than a United States of America dollar.
|
———————————————————————–
In article <condron.3.18.31A3C…@pop.service.ohio-state.edu>,
condro…@pop.service.ohio-state.edu (colleen condron) writes:
>With much glee, I became a PP-ASEL on March 30. I haven’t flown since.
>Wait,
>wait…lemme explain….I had been offered a new job in a different town,
so
>I
>built some "finish flying" time into my move…..the weather cooperated,
I
>flew like a maniac for a couple of weeks, and I finished up. And three
days
>later, I moved 200 miles away.
Find some flying friends. Look for EAA Chapters, flying clubs, grass
strips, anywhere people who fly in your area might congregate. This time
of the year, there should be lots of little fly-ins going on as well as
pancake breakfasts and the like.
Blue skies and light winds,
Patrick
condro…@pop.service.ohio-state.edu (colleen condron) wrote:
<SNIP>
>still a student…and I am feeling guilty every time there is a beautiful,
>sunny, no wind day.
>But what bugs me is that I have had no real burning desire to go flying….I
>haven’t even taken my first passenger up! But yet, I have spent so much time
>and money to acheive this goal….I can’t just waste it. So I guess I am
>frustrated AND guilty!
>Any wise words of encouragement?
>(I have a feeling those words will be "just do it!")
>Thanks,
>Colleen
Colleen: Maybe you’ve accomplished what you really wanted, and are done.
You got your license. SOme people fly to get a license, and once
attained, they are happy and that phase of their life is complete.
Others get a license so they can fly. That’s us who get depressed and
irritable when we don’t "get air time".
Relax. Remember – you are a pilot. Flying or not, you are a pilot. When
the internal need strikes, go fly.
- Blue Skies – Peter
also sprach condro…@pop.service.ohio-state.edu (colleen condron):
Your story sounds like mine in several ways.
>With much glee, I became a PP-ASEL on March 30. I haven’t flown since. Wait,
>wait…lemme explain….I had been offered a new job in a different town, so I
>built some "finish flying" time into my move…..the weather cooperated, I
>flew like a maniac for a couple of weeks, and I finished up. And three days
>later, I moved 200 miles away.
I took ground school at a local jr. college and passed my written in
Dec. 1991, then started flight training. Between budget and weather, I
found myself coming up on the expiration date of the written in Dec.
1993 (’93 was the year of the Great Flood here in the Midwest) and
needing just a few hours cross-country time and the final review with
CFI before my checkride. Seemed like Sept. through the first part of
Dec. was a complete washout weather-wise. Then came about two weeks of
decent wx in mid-December; I flew more in those two weeks than I had in
the three months previous. My CFI pronounced me ready, I took the
checkride, and I passed. Then came the question, what to do?
<snip>
>but it’s almost like I am forgetting I am an actual pilot and not
>still a student…and I am feeling guilty every time there is a beautiful,
>sunny, no wind day.
(I’m not the only person who’s encountered this?)
>But what bugs me is that I have had no real burning desire to go flying….I
>haven’t even taken my first passenger up! But yet, I have spent so much time
>and money to acheive this goal….I can’t just waste it. So I guess I am
>frustrated AND guilty!
I continued to fly sporadically for a few months, and did take my first
passenger (a lady student I was trying to impress) on a cross-country to
see some DC-3s parked at a field in east-central MO. But I was going
about it rather aimlessly; didn’t really have a goal once I had the
ticket in my hand. Then for practical reasons my agenda had to change
(dental problems forced me to decide between braces or dentures, and I
chose braces – imagine a 38-year-old man walking around with braces!)
and that just crashed my flying budget. So I kind of got used to the
idea of giving up flying for a while… I watched many gorgeous days go
by in the following 16 months, while questioning whether I still had the
desire to fly, and what was the point. I lost touch with my instructor
and the people I had come to know; and the airport where I learned to
fly closed down in the meantime, lost to what some call "progress"… so
the territory became more unfamiliar, my confidence waned, and reasons
to go became harder to find. I found myself in need of a BFR, with zero
flying hours in 16 months, and questioning whether I wanted to continue.
I’d better stop droning on and get to my point.
>Any wise words of encouragement?
"Just do it!" pretty well sums up what it comes down to… in my case,
two pivotal events became catalysts in getting me off my duff and back
into the left seat. A new coworker turned out to be a student just hours
away from his checkride and we naturally started talking flying… and I
still hedged on my decision. Then one day I got a flyer in the mail from
none other than my old instructor, who was free-lancing on his way to
being hired by a local commuter airline. That did it. I decided to go,
just to see if I could still do it, and called him up. It was a happy
reunion, and after one flight I’d made up my mind to get my BFR. I
discovered that I did have goals; there were places I wanted to fly to,
things I wanted to see – heck, I’d forgotten what a joy it was just to
go up and noodle around above the "madding crowds". :)
I was lucky – even after 16 months away, the CFI said I flew like I
"must have been born with the gene" — but I know that there is still
rust to be shaken off, and my level of proficiency isn’t what it was two
years ago. But I find myself with renewed confidence and desire, and
eager follow this new course to wherever it leads. I got my first
low-wing time and my checkout in a Cherokee 180 (you’ll love it) and I’m
looking forward to getting taildragger time and maybe some aerobatic
instruction. I just soloed the Cherokee for the first time the other
day. That airplane’s really growing on me.
Keep on going with it – don’t let your proficiency rust away if you can
avoid it. We as pilots are graced, I feel, with a very special gift –
the gift of flight.
>(I have a feeling those words will be "just do it!")
So that’s basically my story. Hope these ramblings have been of help.
–
___________________________________________
harry barr / meer…@i1.net / h…@genie.com
————
PPSEL – Licensed to learn
C150, C172, PA-28-181 and growing
>In article <condron.3.18.31A3C…@pop.service.ohio-state.edu>,
>condro…@pop.service.ohio-state.edu (colleen condron) writes:
>>With much glee, I became a PP-ASEL on March 30. I haven’t flown since.
>>Wait,
>>wait…lemme explain….I had been offered a new job in a different town,
>so
>>I
>>built some "finish flying" time into my move…..the weather cooperated,
>I
>>flew like a maniac for a couple of weeks, and I finished up. And three
>days
>>later, I moved 200 miles away.
It comes and goes, but you may never fly as often as you did. Working for your
license is an exciting thing. Grabbing a burger in a cowtown 100 miles away
just isn’t the same.
After I got my license I didn’t fly for a while too. Burnout. Then I flew
every week or two. Recently I didn’t fly for the better part of a year –
pretty common with homebuilders. (My plane just passed inspection – woowoo – I
expect the only person that’s going to see much of me this month is the guy in
the gas truck.)
-Dean
‘inkster. nonce-wd.
[f. ink v. or n.1 + -ster.]
A scribbler, an inferior writer.
1860 Reade Eighth Commandm. 343 These inksters are the enemies not only of the country but of the human race.
condro…@pop.service.ohio-state.edu (colleen condron) writes:
>But what bugs me is that I have had no real burning desire to go flying….I
>haven’t even taken my first passenger up! But yet, I have spent so much time
>and money to acheive this goal….I can’t just waste it. So I guess I am
>frustrated AND guilty!
It gets worse. I’ve got 1000 hours and about 5 years ago realized that I
really was getting no thrill from the same stuff. I had learned how to
do long flights, hadle unexpected weather, fly into weird airports and
deal with faulty equipment. The only things I had not really done much
were too dangerous to want to do..and yet I felt like trying them. So I
stopped flying. Last summer I got checked out again, and yet it still
doesn’t pull me to go flying, it’s fun but no better than just a nice
drive in the mountains or whatever..
Like you I feel "guilty" for not wanting to fly. Wish I could find a good
reason to get into it again.
–
Alan L. Peterman (503)-684-1984 hm & work
a…@qiclab.scn.rain.com Tigard, Oregon 97224
As I get older the days seem longer and the years seem shorter!
Alan Peterman <a…@qiclab.scn.rain.com> wrote:
>Wish I could find a good reason to get [flying] again.
What to do after you’ve got your ATP? How about:
1) taildraggers [into grass strips]
2) [antique] open-cockpit biplanes
3) float flying
4) gliders
5) aerobatics
6) instructing
7) working on/restoring/building airplanes
Any one of the above is good for thousands of hours.
–
#include <std.disclaimer>
Andrew, yeah, all those sound really nice to do with advanced ratings
*Any* help in
and certificates, but a very pertinent question stands: all the entries
on your list (except for instructing) involve money and can be seen as
recreation. In what cogent way can you use your certificates? Pardon
me for this but I am trying to explain to my girl-friend why it is that
I work so hard to spend it all on getting my private.
this matter would be appreciated.
Frederic.
F. Woodbridge <fwood…@oe.fau.edu> wrote:
*Any* help in this matter would be appreciated.
>In what cogent way can you use your certificates? I am trying to explain
>to my girl-friend why it is that I work so hard to spend it all on getting
>my private.
Hmm. Flying is something you do [or rather, that I do] because
you want to, not because you think you should. It’s sorta like
religion that way. In fact, joining the fraternity of pilots is
more than a little like joining a cult, to tell you the truth.
What matters is whether you like flying or not. If you don’t
enjoy it, don’t do it, no matter how much you’re pressured to.
Life is too short to be miserable.
However. If you do enjoy flying, don’t let others around you
dissuade you from doing what you want to do. Again, life is
too short.
I don’t suppose this has helped very much … I do remember,
though, what gordon baxter said when asked about the Problem
with Flying and Spouses. His response: "my first wife didn’t
like flying, either" :>
Flying is more than a hobby. More than a job. It’s a way of life.
–
#include <std.disclaimer>
colleen condron writes:
>But what bugs me is that I have had no real burning desire to go flying….I
>haven’t even taken my first passenger up! But yet, I have spent so much time
>and money to acheive this goal….I can’t just waste it. So I guess I am
>frustrated AND guilty!
Alan L. Peterman writes:
It gets worse. I’ve got 1000 hours and about 5 years ago realized that I
really was getting no thrill from the same stuff. I had learned how to
do long flights, hadle unexpected weather, fly into weird airports and
deal with faulty equipment. The only things I had not really done much
were too dangerous to want to do..and yet I felt like trying them. So I
stopped flying. Last summer I got checked out again, and yet it still
doesn’t pull me to go flying, it’s fun but no better than just a nice
drive in the mountains or whatever..
Like you I feel "guilty" for not wanting to fly. Wish I could find a good
reason to get into it again.
============================
I can’t see these kinds of "bored with flying" comments without
throwing in my usual plug for flying saiplanes. If the sky is
where you want to be, but powered flying is just not keeping you
excited, then flying sailplanes is for you.
Find a glider operation or club in your area a go take a lesson.
You may discover that you really do still love flying. It will
also make you a better power pilot.
jeff
Try Soaring, it adds new challenge to flying (and lots of pure fun)
—
Yuval Stein
_|_
______(.)______
In article <31B44403.5…@oe.fau.edu>,
F. Woodbridge <fwood…@oe.fau.edu> wrote:
*Any* help in
>Pardon
>me for this but I am trying to explain to my girl-friend why it is that
>I work so hard to spend it all on getting my private.
>this matter would be appreciated.
If you have to explain, get a different girlfriend. Or do without.
———————————————————————–
| Woodrow Wilson’s mind has been described as
George Patterson – | resembling the fields of New England – highly
| cultivated but essentially barren.
———————————————————————–