Too Old?

On Mon, 1 Sep 2008 04:23:01 +0000 (UTC), Bertie the Bunyip wrote:

There have been people in their 90s with commercial certificates. I
know someone who taught after he retired well into his 80s and
continued to fly into his 90s.
Then there's Bob Hoover and Duane Cole...


I know somebody who was Chief Pilot for Eastern and still flies at 92
-- then we had another old Eastern guy who died at 102 -- he was
flying his Bonanza until shortly before his death. Car rental
companies wouldn't rent to him because he was too old!

I know quite a few pilots flying well into their 70s -- some in
high-performance planes.

Yeah, and why not. I think Pappy chalk operated commercially into his
80's, for instanc

Don't shoot this messenger, I am not *for* age cutoffs but I am
approaching my 60s and have only been a pilot for a short time. I'd like
to think that there never will be age cutoffs but I want to explore the
realities of it before I commit to a plane purchase, for instance.

Another poster mentioned auto cos that won't rent to the elderly. If it
becomes an issue, I can see rentals to elderly pilots being cut off.
That leaves plane ownership and that means only the wealthy, well-heeled
in retirement types, that's a small # of elderly pilots.