Getting a little sick of it all

In article SBS1c.42336$ko6.374355@attbi_s02, "Jay Honeck"
wrote:

Well, if you don't feel comfortable sharing with me, then stay on the
ground.

You fly just 2 hours per month?

cripes, between work, the crappy weather, and getting a whopper
of the flu, yesterday was the first time I flew since Thanksgiving.

--
Bob Noel

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:hoM1c.43350$PR3.848841@attbi_s03...
Two hours/month; seems hardly worth the bother.

That's for sure.

Of course, that's an AVERAGE number. In that total you've got folks like
Mary and me, who fly every few days -- AND the folks who own the Hangar
Queens that never, ever move.

Which brings up two more questions he

1. WHY own a plane, and never fly it?
2. Do you feel comfortable sharing the sky with someone who flies just 2
hours per month?

Well, added it up, I flew 30 hours 55 minutes over the past year.

1) I fly whenever I can. Even if only for a 45 minute local jaunt. In
fact, most of my flying is 45min - 1.5 hour local. Why own? Because
if I didn't, I'd be doing maybe 10-12 hours a year. Maybe not even
that. Maybe I'd have given up. As it is, I can drive down and take off
whenever the weather's nice and I have time. I can fly "home" for the
weekend, I can fly away all day, I can go and have a two hour lunch
somewhere and not have to worry about getting the plane back for the
next person within a 2 hour slot. I don't have to book two weeks in
advance and hope for the best weather wise then wait another two
weeks before trying again if I can't fly.

I also like the plane I have, none of this Cessper stuff.

Is my flying worth the bother? Well, judge from my previous posts
on here! :-)

2) As the low time pilot, I have observed two things. If I fly during the
week, I'm usually the least competent, at least everyone else seems to
know exactly what they're doing. If I fly at weekends, my relative
confidence/competence level seems to go up quite a bit!

Paul

Jay Honeck wrote:
Two hours/month; seems hardly worth the bother.
That's for sure.

That's NOT for sure. There are times that I can only fly 2 hours per
month, but I'll bet I'm just as good as a pilot as you, if not better.

Of course, that's an AVERAGE number. In that total you've got folks like
Mary and me, who fly every few days -- AND the folks who own the Hangar
Queens that never, ever move.

Which brings up two more questions he

1. WHY own a plane, and never fly it?
2. Do you feel comfortable sharing the sky with someone who flies just 2
hours per month?

I think the 2 hour a month generalization is misleading. If you fly once
a month, for 2 hours, then you're probably rusty. If you fly once a
week, for a 1/2 hour, which has several takeoffs and landings, then
you're probably staying as sharp as anyone else (other than the guys who
are lucky enough to fly every day).

--- Jay


--
__!__
Jay and Teresa Masino ___(_)___
http://www2.ari.net/jmasino ! ! !
http://www.oceancityairport.com
http://www.oc-adolfos.com

I think the 2 hour a month generalization is misleading. If you fly once
a month, for 2 hours, then you're probably rusty. If you fly once a
week, for a 1/2 hour, which has several takeoffs and landings, then
you're probably staying as sharp as anyone else (other than the guys who
are lucky enough to fly every day).

True enough.

I wasn't referring to the guys who fly the pattern for 30 minutes a week. I
know several of them, and they are probably the best pilots around.

In fact, we hear one guy on Unicom at the inn practically every sunny day.
(He has a very pronounced accent, so we recognize him instantly.) The guy
apparently owns his own plane, and NEVER leaves the pattern. He's probably
got more landings than I do, in the 18 months I've been hearing him!

Those guys don't worry me. It's the ones who don't open the hangar for four
months, and THEN go fly that scare me. I'm sure in a few flights they're
back up to speed, but I've still got to share the sky with them while they
are trying to figure out how to enter the pattern again...
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

"Jay Honeck" writes:

1. WHY own a plane, and never fly it?

Sometimes, I question why I own a plane and always fly it.

2. Do you feel comfortable sharing the sky with someone who flies just 2
hours per month?

It gives me pause, but it's a big sky out there, I reckon.

-jav

"Dan Luke" wrote
The average private airplane flies 26 hours a year.

That surprises me.

Two hours/month; seems hardly worth the bother.

Note I said average, not median. You fly 120 hours a year, I've been
known to fly twice that. For every one of us, how many have to not
fly at all to make the numbers work?

I've looked at the private planes at my home field, and the average is
just about right - but the distribution is bimodal. There are the
people flying 50+ hours, and there are the people flying less than 20.
I think half the planes fly once or twice a year or not at all.

Michael

"Dan Luke" writes:

"Michael" wrote:
The average private airplane flies 26 hours a year.

That surprises me.

Two hours/month; seems hardly worth the bother.

It's not. It's not safe either. That's how much I was flying before
I bought my own airplane; my flying club moved one direction, I moved
the other, and suddenly a 3 mile trip turned into 40 miles.

Now I fly over 100 hours a year, not a huge amount but I'm a lot safer
and enjoy it a lot more.

"Bob Fry" wrote:
It's not. It's not safe either. That's how much I was
flying before I bought my own airplane; my flying club
moved one direction, I moved the other, and suddenly
a 3 mile trip turned into 40 miles.

Now I fly over 100 hours a year, not a huge amount but
I'm a lot safer and enjoy it a lot more.

My story almost exactly.

What I will never understand are the owners who almost never fly. I can
see a temporary stretch of low or no activity for health, financial or
other oersonal reasons, but there are so many who own an aircraft for
years and just let it sit. I don't get it.
--
Dan
C172RG at BFM
(remove pants to reply by email)

"Dan Luke" wrote in message
...
My story almost exactly.

What I will never understand are the owners who almost never fly. I can
see a temporary stretch of low or no activity for health, financial or
other oersonal reasons, but there are so many who own an aircraft for
years and just let it sit. I don't get it.

Ego? Some weird sentimental attachment?

In article , "Tom Sixkiller"
wrote:

What I will never understand are the owners who almost never fly. I can
see a temporary stretch of low or no activity for health, financial or
other oersonal reasons, but there are so many who own an aircraft for
years and just let it sit. I don't get it.

Ego? Some weird sentimental attachment?

Once the airplane is paid for and has sat for a year or two, it
really doesn't cost the owner much to let an airplane sit longer.
I was almost in that position (long story) - while I was deciding
what to do with my airplane, it only cost me insurance (non-flying)
and tie-down ($45/month) to have the airplane sit there.

--
Bob Noel