2019 - Year in Review

Logged about 90 hours on the trusty RV-9A this year.

--flew from CA to AirVenture with my good friend Greg, who two years ago was a corporate head-hunter. I took him up in the RV back then, he got super inspired, quit his job, took out an $80K loan and went through the ATP program at Long Beach. He's now a commercial pilot and CFI as well...he was able to sign off my flight review on the trip too!

--overnight trip to Page, AZ, and wonderful scenic flight over Lake Powell. 40 kt winds over rough terrain made for a very bumpy ride from Vegas to Page, and a sloooooww return trip, a good portion at maneuvering speed.

--first and last flight to Catalina. A memorable experience with a good friend, but I'n not crazy about flying over even a little water, the $35 landing fee is pretty steep, and the repaved runway is really bumpy!

--met up with Jack Fleetwood for a photo shoot in Sedona, AZ. What a blast! Great people, to-die-for scenery and a chance to do some safe, close-in maneuvering with the photo plane. Took my favorite image and had a 30" x 40" print on aluminum made for the living room. Jack, you rock!! :D:D

--usual lunch hops to Camarillo, Big Bear, Mojave, Apple Valley (new restaurant!) and an especially memorable trip to Kern Valley. A beautiful approach paralleling the river and overflying foliage.

Gonna kick off 2020 right with a New Years Day fly-in to Lake Havasu, and then to Phoenix to visit friends.

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midlifeflyer said:
A few years ago I noticed I was fling less. My 2017 total was 31 hours. I began to be concerned it wasn't enough to maintain the level of proficiency I want as I get older, so resolved to fly more. Placed a recurring reminder which pops up every two weeks to schedule a flight. 31 hours in 2017 and 43 in 2018 became 77 in 2019.
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If I’d have known you were that low the day we flew 79M up to BJC I would have told ya to teach me something to get a couple more hours in your book that year! LOL. :)

Should’a done that anyway but can’t fix the past... :)
 
Not a great year for me.

Only 32.2 hours.

Bellanca Super Viking (my plane) : 23.2
Decathlon : 1.9
Great Lakes biplane: 7

Took my plane for it’s annual in May, and a cracked crankcase was found. Some delays at the factory for the reman mean I’m not going to have my plane back till January. The new engine was finally delivered right before Christmas, so at least there’s progress. I hope I still remember how to fly it. An entire summer of potential weekend trips.... gone.

And then the Decathlon that I was renting for acro also went into the shop. It’s not expected out until May of 2020. Corrosion, spar replacement, complete recover.

My only salvation is the Great Lakes. I need 3 more hours of dual (club rules) till I can solo in it. I finished he required 50 landings today. For the next 3 hours, we’ll be wearing chutes and having fun.
 
Mixed bag for me as well. 40ish hours, but the year's not over yet.

The good: I flew my son to Tangier Island, visited some friends for my college reunion, and did an overnight trip with my son to see his grandparents.

The bad: I had an expensive lesson, but am better for it, and my plane has fewer unknown unknowns.

The ugly: I took a second swing at the commercial while AOG; got the written out of the way and did some maneuvers. There has been a lot of reevaluation this year. With two young kids, it's increasingly difficult to make the time to fly, and working 4000 hours to fly 40 feels Pyrrhic, but we are still lucky to be able to do what we do for fun.
 
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Started the year as a private single engine, and ended as single and multi commercial. Getting paid to fly some scenic flights lately.

Added 99.3 hours to the green paper so far this year and weather permitting I’ll get over 100 since there are still a few days left.
 
Velocity173 said:
Typical year for me. On track for 110 hrs for work. Did get a 407GX qual and a significant pay increase though.
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407 GXi with single pilot IFR is where it’s at. ;)
 
I ended up flying about 130 hours, all in the MU2. I’m finishing up the year pushing 400 hours in the plane and the more I fly it, the more I love it. Almost all flying for Cloud Nine but we’re down in Cabo now (another first for me). The plane is mechanically solid and next up is working on Avionics upgrades. I did ADS-B this year but the plane is still running on steam other than an old Sandel 3308. For the kind of flying the plane sees, a better panel is warranted.

A couple programs certified. You’re welcome.
 
I finished the year with a little under 100 hours flown. Was hoping for a bit more but the plane has been down for many weeks throughout the year for various upgrades.

Highlights of my 2019 aviation:
-Flew into Oshkosh
-Flew into Sun n Fun
-Flew into Rough River POA fly-in
-Flew down to Tx to have the STEC 3100 installed
-Flew to Put-in-Bay, Ohio
-Flew a Gulf Coast trip (Tampa, Key West, Destin, Gulfport/Biloxi)
-Flew down to GA/TN for some family trips
-Flew the plane to Zephyrhills, FL where it is now at Hawk Aircraft Painting getting painted
-Installed a new Avidyne Avionics Suite (IFD550/IFD540/AMX240/EX500/AXP322/SkyTrax605A/SkyTrax100B), had the panel re-cut, and installed a new heater/shoulder harnesses/2 new vacuum pumps/new engine baffles

Goals for 2020:
-Less down time and more flying!
 
0 hours. Plane still broken, lawyers involved.

Bathroom remodel under 6 months to go.
 
denverpilot said:
If I’d have known you were that low the day we flew 79M up to BJC I would have told ya to teach me something to get a couple more hours in your book that year! LOL. :)

Should’a done that anyway but can’t fix the past... :)
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That's ok. Jan and my multi-day flight to Pennsylvania and Michigan this year made up for it :D
 
Ted DuPuis said:
407 GXi with single pilot IFR is where it’s at. ;)
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Yeah we actually have two in the company but they don’t fly them IFR. Not sure what the deal is with that.

Separate qual for the GXI as well. Apparently the engine differences (dual FADEC) are enough to require more training.
 
I think I am less goal-oriented than you Type-A pilots.

So... same as last year:

1. No cartwheeling fireballs
2. No smoking divots
3. No aluminum rain (now carbon fiber)
Not even "I have a number for you to call when you land"

Ergo, I can unequivocally state that 2019 was awesome.
 
2019 was a good year for my flying. Got my first flights West of the Mississippi. Landed in 5 new states. First soft field landings.

For 2019
New ratings: 1 (glider)
New endorsements: 1 (motor glider)
Total hours: 160
ASEL: 138
Glider: 22
Glider tows: 48
Solo time: 87
Soft field landings: 2
Cross country: 69
Night: 9
Dual: 10
PIC: 150
Complex: 66
High perf: 10

Airports visited: 44
States visited: 8
Aircraft flown: 7
 
Velocity173 said:
Yeah we actually have two in the company but they don’t fly them IFR. Not sure what the deal is with that.

Separate qual for the GXI as well. Apparently the engine differences (dual FADEC) are enough to require more training.
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The GX is not IFR certified. Neither was the GXi. The IFR package changes a good chunk of things both with the helicopter and the Avionics.

And yeah, engine changes as well as Avionics upgrade (G1000 to G1000 NXi) for GX to GXi.
 
100.3 hours but hope to fly the 31st. A bit less than my goal of 10 hours a month but some good quals this year.

- instrument rating last May and have managed to stay current and proficient.
- complex endorsement
- logged my first floatplane time! There will be more of that down the road.
 
Pretty light GA year for me since I deployed this year. I'd have to look but probably only 65 hours on the Bo in 2019. About 20 in the T-6.

On the good front:
- Flew the fam (wife & 1 year old daughter) to the Bahamas in the Bo.
- Did my last deployment before I retire!
- Did my last Red Flag before I retire!
- Led the squadron full of jets all over Asia and the Pacific.
- Likely my last time crossing the Pacific in an F-15 (Guam to Hawaii 7.6 and Hawaii to New Orleans 8.4)
- Applied for retirement from the USAF and should officially be a "mister" (as opposed to Lt Col) on 1 Dec 2020 (then back to Delta!)

Life is good folks, bring on 2020!
 
434 hours for me this year and added another type rating. 403 hours for my job and 31 hours in our 310 we bought in March 2019. I wanted to fly the 310 more but it was down for various mtx events and upgrades this year. Cool flights included a trip to London in the CL-650. My last crossing was in 2012. The highlight in 2019: I was an FO on the CL-650 and upgraded to Captain on the Phenom 300 after 13 years at my company, which came with a nice pay raise.

Here's a breakdown of my 434 hours:
- Cessna 310 - 31 hours
- CE-680 - 2 hours
- CL-605/650 - 311 hours
- Phenom 300 - 90 hours

Next year I hope to make it to Sun n Fun or Oshkosh if I can get the time off for work. 2020 should include 2 prop OH's and a new paint job.
 
EvilEagle said:
Pretty light GA year for me since I deployed this year. I'd have to look but probably only 65 hours on the Bo in 2019. About 20 in the T-6.

On the good front:
- Flew the fam (wife & 1 year old daughter) to the Bahamas in the Bo.
- Did my last deployment before I retire!
- Did my last Red Flag before I retire!
- Led the squadron full of jets all over Asia and the Pacific.
- Likely my last time crossing the Pacific in an F-15 (Guam to Hawaii 7.6 and Hawaii to New Orleans 8.4)
- Applied for retirement from the USAF and should officially be a "mister" (as opposed to Lt Col) on 1 Dec 2020 (then back to Delta!)

Life is good folks, bring on 2020!
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Congrats on the retirement. I retired "young" from the TXANG in 2015 at 23 years (8 enlisted 15 officer) and never looked back. Life is great with one job now.
 
Bad year for flying about 15 hours. I got left in the “waiting” pool for my initial flight course until August. :mad:

Next year I hope to start flying more in my club. Especially now that my girl keeps asking when I’m taking her flying.

I also hope to get started on remodeling the bathrooms and the garage.
 
Fracpilot said:
Congrats on the retirement. I retired "young" from the TXANG in 2015 at 23 years (8 enlisted 15 officer) and never looked back. Life is great with one job now.
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No kidding on the 2nd job. I retired from the USNR in 07 and found I had a life. It’s easy to forget how much time flying in the reserves takes not to mention the 5 recalls in 10 years.
 
2019 was the year my childhood dream of becoming a pilot became a reality.

  • Flew 79 hours this year
  • Got PPL in June
  • Passed instrument written in December - prepping for checkride now.
  • Cirrus SR20 transition training complete
  • Ordered a plane :)
  • Took the wife for flight
  • Took son for first GA flight
  • Planning a bunch more stuff in 2020
 
Great year for me aviation wise. Started the year with getting my IR in February. Have been trying my hardest to put it to use and have gotten 40 actual hours since then so I’m happy with it!
Had the chance to fly aerobatics in an extra 300, which was probably the highlight of my Aviation career so far.
Got to college and found our flying club and made a ton of pilot friends and have had some really cool fly ins and such through that.
Finally topped the year off by flying into JFK in a 172 to pick up my sister and fly back out. Made a 747 hold position for me on the ground and really don’t think it gets better than that.
Hopefully 2020 can live up to 2019 (hoping CPL and CFI!)
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
I think I am less goal-oriented than you Type-A pilots.

So... same as last year:

1. No cartwheeling fireballs
2. No smoking divots
3. No aluminum rain (now carbon fiber)
Not even "I have a number for you to call when you land"

Ergo, I can unequivocally state that 2019 was awesome.
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I noticed you left out "contact-induced maintenance items". :)
 
Dave is my hero. I'll never have the adventures he does. But all-in-all, 2019 was pretty good. Went to Triple Tree, AOPA Fly-In, and Sun 'n Fun.

Most of my flying involves shooting video so that, as always, was a lot of fun. I also had a surprise purchase of a new engine and figured I'd add a Lynx NGT-9000 transponder while I was at it.
 
I had a great flying year in 2019... Quite a few hours in the following.
Christen Eagle
Pitts S1C
540 Skybolt
J3-Cub
Stearman
Cessna 140
Cessna 172
Cessna 175
V35B Bonanza
550 powered M35 Bonanza
The longest trip was from Oregon to Texas in the Cessna 175. It was a blast! Took 8 days and made lots of fun stops renting cars and goofing off.
My fuel bill kills me each month but it is well worth it. Better than buying alcohol and cigarettes!
 
Timbeck2 said:
Bad news - only 27.5 hours flown
Good news - 434 hours towards A&P cert
other good news - attended two fly ins and made some new friends
bad news - it didn't make one of the guys' who flew with me highlight reel

so screw that guy! ;)
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OMG! How could I leave the old man in the golf shirt and hat off the list??? :)

Seriously, meeting and getting to fly with you, and lunch with the rest of the Arizona PoA crowd certainly made my highlight reel. As well as seeing the Boneyard and the Pima Air and Space Museum. Hoping I can go back to Tucson instead of Delaware for recurrent this year.
 
Dave Theisen said:
OMG! How could I leave the old man in the golf shirt and hat off the list??? :)

Seriously, meeting and getting to fly with you, and lunch with the rest of the Arizona PoA crowd certainly made my highlight reel. As well as seeing the Boneyard and the Pima Air and Space Museum. Hoping I can go back to Tucson instead of Delaware for recurrent this year.
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Just checked - not on your highlight reel.

Still chapped. :mad:

;)
 
Crop wise , it was a poor year. Aviation wise , it was a good year . Started down the road to a lifelong dream . Own a 1959 Cessna 172 and 25 hours into PPL . At Age 79 its a late start but got to getter done ! Bucket list nearing bottom. :)
 
14.4 hours this year. Not much GA.

Now, as self-loading cargo on pressurized aluminum mailing tubes (and some composite ones) -

SEA-LIH-SEA Vacation on Kauai
PDX-SLC-BOI-PDX Brother's wedding in Utah
SEA-SFO-SIN-HKT-SIN-SFO-SEA Standards meetings in Singapore, vacation in Phuket
PDX-SFO-PVR-SFO-PDX Vacation in Puerto Vallarta
PDX-DEN-MSY-IAH-PDX IEEE International Symposium on EMC/SIPI in New Orleans followed by vacation
SEA-IAD-BCN-IAD-SEA Standards meetings in Barcelona, followed by vacation
SEA-LIH-SEA Vacation on Kauai
SEA-SFO-PVG-SFO-SEA Standards meetings in Shanghai

I'm retired, but I'm still active in some standards work. Nice being able to combine the two.
 
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