How old is too old to fly?

Dennis O'Connor wrote:

I'll even be around then, much less be able to handle a ship like that in a
crosswind......

Handling a 195 in a crosswind is a piece of cake compared to taxiing it on the
ground. You can't see a thing around that big Jacobs. Your ground track looks
like a spastic snake made it.

George Patterson
A diplomat is a person who can tell you to go to hell in such a way that
you look forward to the trip.

"G.R. Patterson III" wrote in message

I'll be happy to be old and flying solo as long as a I can
do it safely. Just not sure if I'll be the best judge of
my safe flying when I'm on the tail end of my years.

There was a guy I flew with in the 727 some years ago, a close friend at the
time. His Dad had retired from United some years before that, and was still
flying a corporate craft -- KA-200, iirc -- at the age of 81 when he finally
retired. That was in the early nineties.

JG

There's two major differences...

1. A little bit of lane swerving VFR at 150kts and 6500' is probably not
going to hurt anyone. Even on a 100' wide runway in a single-engine
plane, there won't be anyone in the lane next to you if you swerve a
bit...

The same may not hold true of at 50MPH on a 2-lane "highway".

2. Pilots can't go more than a couple of years without having a doctor
and an instructor verify their continued ability to fly.

The same does not hold true of automobile licenses.




R. Hubbell wrote in
news:20040305083821.7b5873a9@fstop:

With the recent talk about diving and flying and personal limitations
I wonder how older pilots feel about their own abilities to keep fresh
and when do you hang up the wings? Or do you just limit your flying
and take it easier as long as the medical is good?

I'm sure there's a point when passengers start saying "well
yeah I'd love to go flying but I have to water the lawn".

I'll be happy to be old and flying solo as long as a I can
do it safely. Just not sure if I'll be the best judge of
my safe flying when I'm on the tail end of my years.


I started thinking about this while driving with an old friend.
He didn't notice that he was lane-wandering, while other drivers
did notice. Otherwise he is a safe driver, just not as precise
I suppose.

R. Hubbell

Hi,

my CFI was 72 years when I trained for the PPL. This man was _great_. He
was calm, experienced and he knew about the risks involved.

I'm still dreaming about flying as precise and
always-two-steps-ahead-of-the-plane as he did.

Regards,
Peter

(who thinks it's totally absurd about measuring age by years. Give a
twenty year old person a troublesome weak, just 5 hours sleep a night,
dehydration the days before and a bottle of diet coke warmed by sunlight
before the flight - and you'll see _real_ bad performance...)

R. Hubbell wrote in
news:20040305083821.7b5873a9@fstop:

With the recent talk about diving and flying and personal limitations
I wonder how older pilots feel about their own abilities to keep fresh
and when do you hang up the wings? Or do you just limit your flying
and take it easier as long as the medical is good?

I'm sure there's a point when passengers start saying "well
yeah I'd love to go flying but I have to water the lawn".

I'll be happy to be old and flying solo as long as a I can
do it safely. Just not sure if I'll be the best judge of
my safe flying when I'm on the tail end of my years.

Remember the 80 year-old Citation pilot who ditched his plane in the lake in
Washington last year? Man...80 years old and doing SP in a Citation and
performing a ditching that would do someone half his age proud.


I started thinking about this while driving with an old friend.
He didn't notice that he was lane-wandering, while other drivers
did notice.

Those who noticed were the ones whose lane he intruded into.

Otherwise he is a safe driver, just not as precise
I suppose.

I'd say if he can't keep it in his own lane, he's NOT a safe driver.

Dan, I thought the FAA revised the timeline for medical certificates to
the following:

16-39 three years
40-70 two years
70-75 one year
75-?? six months

I just Googled this subject and got this:

Class 3 medical certificates are for private pilot duties only. They
have the least restrictive medical requirements and the certificates
are generally good for 3 years for applicants under age 40 and 2 years
for those 40 and over.

And the back of my cert still says "24 or 36 months".




all the best -- Dan Ford
email: (requires authentication)

see the Warbird's Forum at www.warbirdforum.com
and the Piper Cub Forum at www.pipercubforum.com

Ralph Charles, who died in 2002, was an active pilot at the age of
103.

http://www.leftseat.com/Programs/pilotage.htm



all the best -- Dan Ford
email: (requires authentication)

see the Warbird's Forum at www.warbirdforum.com
and the Piper Cub Forum at www.pipercubforum.com

"C J Campbell" wrote in message ...
"R. Hubbell" wrote in message
snip

snip
Even if a pilot does not feel qualified to act as PIC he may still keep
flying by taking an instructor or pilot friend along with him. I regularly
fly with people whose skills have deteriorated so much that they can no
longer fly alone. Sometimes they have terminal diseases, such as cancer, but
they want to fly just one more time.

I also sometimes fly with disabled people who know that they will never be
able to get a pilot certificate, but who want to see what it is like to fly
an airplane at least once in their lives. Some of them come back once in
awhile. Often people like this will bring along a family member who will
take pictures of the flight.

I'm in my late fifties, and have never taken formal flight
instruction. I have flown three airplanes, and would like to become a
pilot. I have noticed in the last 5 years or so that it takes me a
LONG time to work through a problem that arises unexpectedly. That
discovery is one reason I chose not to seek a PPL. Lately, however, I
have considered taking lessons without the expectation that I could
ever be safe flying solo. The money I would spend on lessons would be
purely for the fun of being in the air at the controls for however
many hours I could afford to pay an instructor to babysit me.
Pokey

Well, you won't be any better if you wait another five years, now will
you... What do you expect from us? If you want to take flying lessons,
just do it...

"Pokey" wrote in message Lately, however, I
have considered taking lessons without the expectation that I could
ever be safe flying solo.

"John Gaquin" wrote in message

There was a guy I flew with in the 727 some years ago, a close friend at
the
time. His Dad had retired from United some years before that, and was
still
flying a corporate craft -- KA-200, iirc -- at the age of 81 when he
finally
retired. That was in the early nineties.

Just as an aside/addendum, I recall my friend telling me that when his Dad
closed his logbook, he had well over 41,000 hours documented, and had not
even logged a few years of barnstorming in the thirties.

JG