returning to flying after 29 years

On Apr 29, 10:55*am, "PPL-A (Canada)" wrote:
On Apr 28, 7:39*pm, Qzectb wrote:



I got my pilot license in 1978 when I was 20, continued flying into
1979 accumulating a total of 70 hours, and then stopped when I became
a university student and had neither money nor time. But I've been
longing to get back into it all this time, and yesterday, my wife
totally surprised me for my birthday by taking me to the airport and
saying, "you're going flying". Sure enough, she had scheduled time
with an instructor and a C-172, and she said she was giving her
blessing on my doing whatever it takes to get current again.

So I went through the preflight with the instructor, took off and
climbed out with relatively minimal prompting, successfully executed
two 360-degree steep turns (the instructor actually told me I did them
more accurately with respect to altitude and attitude than he could
have done!), a touch and go landing, and then a final landing. *Okay,
so I flared a little high on my first landing but managed to recover
and land without a bounce - I had a bit of that tendency even when I
was flying regularly.

The net result is that I convinced myself that I can handle (or will
soon handle) the physical part of flying about as well and safely as I
ever could. * Also, I'm a professional meteorologist, so I probably
still know the weather stuff about as well as anyone who flies.

It's everything else that's got me nervous: *tower communications,
controlled airspace, etc. *Among other things, I realize that the
entire airspace classification system has changed since I last flew.

I find that about 50% of what I hear on the radio is just plain
unintelligible. *It always WAS hard for me to make out what was being
said, even when I knew roughly what to expect, but it seems worse
today. *Maybe it's my middle-aged ears.

So I'm wondering whether anyone has suggestions on how to smooth the
transition back to regular flying most cost-effectively. *Are there
books or computer software packages that would do an especially good
job of refreshing me on the parts I feel weak on, so that I can save
dual-time for the things that can't be covered well via self-study?

Side note: *When I last flew, a C-152 was $19/hour wet, a C-172 was
$24/hour. *There was no GPS. *There were effectively no electronic
navigation calculators. *There was only one fuel sump checkpoint in
each wing, and (to my recollection at least) no strobes on wingtips.
Also fewer switches to mess with on the panel. *The C-172 engine was
carbureted, not fuel-injection. * *And yet, overall, I'm amazed at how
little the 172 has changed in three decades.

Hi Q!

Do yourself a favor if you're a bit mic shy and confused about radio
and airspace:

1. *Take your instruction at a flight school that works out of an
aerodrome that has a control tower, preferably one that is near (and
whose controlled airspace is probably tucked underneath) a large and
busy hub or international airport. *I trained at Toronto City Centre
Airport (CYTZ), about 25 miles from an international airport (CYYZ -
Pearson), and each and every flight involved a lot of precise and
frequent radio work, both with CYTZ ATIS ground and tower, but also
the regional Toronto Centre when you wanted to climb above the City
Center airspace. *You learned by having to do it ... on every single
flight. *Some people I have met that are lowish-time private pilots
avoided this kind of airport on purpose for their ab initio training
to avoid the quick and frequent radio activity, and I found that they
were never forced to learn ... so they didn't, and tend to still shy
away from busy airspace, or climbing to better cruising altitudes
because of the dreaded international airport controlled airspace above
them. *It's important to understand both how to accept/decline
clearances and take instructions, recognize the "picture" of the space
around you by listening to what other planes near you are being told
to do as well as by looking out the windows. *Of course you should
also fly to and around uncontrolled aerodromes as well in order to
understand how they work and what your responsibilities are on the
radio when in the airspace around them too. *Cross country hours can
be used to get to them, or ask to go do your touch-and-goes at a
different aerodrome than where the flight school is located. *Get used
to what goes on at as many aerodromes as possible while training.
That way you will learn procedures properly, not just how they apply
specifically at the aerodrome where your flight school is located.

2. *There's lots of good training software (at least for airspace and
radio work in the U.S. ... *Canada lags behind here pretty
significantly ... we had a good 20 page book that taught the
essentials of radio work for 20 bucks though!!!) ... buy some and use
it.

3. *After a bit of work on the software or learning materials, find
some live ATC broadcasts on the internet, get the VFR and IFR charts
and airport configuration diagrams and approach plates for the airport
you want to listen to, and then listen to the internet broadcasts for
a couple of hours a week and look at the charts. *Jot down any
questions and ask your instructor on the next lesson. *Probably most
of it will be IFR clearances that aren't relevant early in re-
training, but it's an investment in time for later. *If you enter
airspace with considerable IFR activity you'll at least get to
recognize those calls and start getting a picture of all the planes
around you and what they are doing.

If the flying went well on the first re-acquaintance flight don't let
the radio and airspace stuff worry you too much. *Train at a towered
airport (but make some trips to uncontrolled aerodromes) *and you'll
be proficient and confident much more quickly.

Good luck!

PPL-A (Canada).

Oh yes ... forgot ...
1. If you're worried about your hearing ... get that checked first. A
medical right now might be a wise investment even if the results are
disappointing.

2. If the hearing is still fine then invest in at least a good,
comfortable pair of noise canceling headphones. The rental ones are
often old noisy and uncomfortable. if you're getting back into flying
despite the new world of $150 - $195 per hour wet with instructor
C-172 SPs then you no doubt have the means for $500 to $1000 for your
own nice headset ... go for it ... it's not as fun to fly when you
can't hear and the top of your head hurts from crappy rental headsets.

3. Learn to fly the model of plane you will later want to take out as
a rental (or buy !?!). I saved quite a bit of money by training in
old C-150/152s up until just before my dual cross-country lesson,
then did the second half of my training and check flight in a shiny
new fuel injected (gladly leaving carb heat behind), 180 horse power
172 SP (with GPS, all digital radios, two COM and two NAV radios, ILS
and DME, ADF etc. ... no glass cockpit, but still very nice, and
clean). Most importantly the 172 SP could hold a couple of other
people and some baggage and cameras, etc, and still climb OK with full
tanks; and most importantly the bigger, newer, cleaner plane with lots
of instruments and avionics instilled far more confidence in my
passengers than the old faded 150/152 with its two seats and worn out
looking cabin.

I stayed current (within the flight schools regs.) on both 150s and
the 172s for about 6 months (practice in the 150 and 172SP, but only
take out friends and family in the 172!), but soon gave up on the 150
when a 200 HP ("high-performance" in Canada) Piper Arrow with
retractable gear and constant speed prop. caught my eye at a flight
school 30 nm from my local airport!

Cheers!

PPL-A (Canada)