2019 - Year in Review

Dave Theisen

Dave Theisen

Final Approach
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Feb 23, 2005
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Marietta, GA
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Display name:
Dave Theisen
What did everybody do this year?

I had it pretty good. 420 hours. Some highlights:

Flyins: Triple Tree Chilly Chili Flyin. (Beautiful facility), Rough River, Oshkosh.

I got typed in the Challenger 604, which led to my first Atlantic Crossing. Not many people can say that on their first visit to Europe that they drove themselves. :) What made it extra special was that my wife airlined over and met me in Paris! Also went to Rome and refueled in Iceland on the way home.

I got to bring my wife and daughter with me on a trip to Marsh Harbour, Bahamas. So glad that they got to visit Elbow Cay before the devastation caused by the hurricane.

Flew a PC-12 to Belize. Got to land at a private strip on shrimp farm. Definitely a trip I’d like to do again.

Flew with @Timbeck2 in Tucson to meet some other great PoA’ers for lunch.

OK folks, your turn. BBC
 
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Aviation-wise?

63.5 PIC, didn't have access to a plane until late June, so "par" I think.

Got signed off and passed O&P to become an A&P over at Bakers. Terrifying.

Got one student from start to finish and through their checkride.

Lost about a pint of blood starting to clean up the "WTF"ery of wiring behind my panel. Pro-tip: A metal glovebox is not a reasonable place to mount a VHF splitter OR a bus junction. Pro-tip #2: If you DO get up to such chicanery, don't use a bolt through the back of the glovebox held by a tiny nut back there. (how the F did they even...). Still about 3 pints of work left to do, plus, get to install a FS210 in there. I am on a mission to remove every last ziptie from the airplane, both behind the panel and in the cowlings. The plane is grotty with those things, and not a single one flush-cut.

And... no incidents or accidents. Lately, that seems to be a solid "B" grade on the old bell-curve. Freaking aluminum rain everywhere. :eek:
 
A mix aviation-wise. On the minus side I didn't fly much due to being busy with the home downsizing; my lowest hours in a year so far (42.6). On the plus side I did buy into a SR22 co-ownership late in the year. :D

Planning on making up on the hours in 2020. Got three flights already planned for January. Another in February and looking for another Angel Flight mission in Feb too. :cool:
 
Didn’t add up my hours as PIC yet... but we did some nice flights this year:

> End of March / early April: Bahamas, Key West and Sun N Fun; picked up some kitties in Charlotte, NC and flew them to MI. I had extensive IMC time on our flight from Florida to North Carolina. Loved it!
> April: Rough River Fly In :cornut::happydance:; took back some kitties to MI
> July: took some back country flying lessons in Alaska with Alaska Floats and Skies - an awesome experience
> August: Wilmington, NC, First Flight Airport and Outer Banks; took some kitties back to MI
> Labor Day Weekend: 6Y9 fly in and North Fox Island. It‘s always good to see old and meet new friends :cheers:
> September: flew some pet foxes for PNP

We also did some breakfast runs and did some flights just for fun. :hairraise:
 
Ugh. 46.5 (0.7 in actual instrument conditions). I think it's my lowest ever for a year. I blame a job change plus some extended MX.

Looks like 14.1 hours and 42 approaches in an AATD, though.
 
18 missions for Flights for Life, carrying boxes of blood and platelets. Got my airplane photographed by @Lowflynjack with the red rocks of Sedona as the background, and now she is "Miss October" in Jack's beautiful 2020 calendar. A couple of fun meetups with POA stalwarts, including flights with @Mtns2Skies as a passenger. Good workout in a [biennial] flight review with @Walboy. Lots of amazing Southwestern scenery. Saw 162 knots groundspeed in level flight in smooth air (not bad for a 172 :)). Of course, I also saw 90 knots on the return trip. :oops:

Cherished every minute.

Grateful to be flying at all after prostate cancer diagnosis in June and surgery in July (thank you Basic Med).
 
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Graduated my first PPL student.

Had to learn a bunch of new Garmin touch-screen GPS technology.

Packed up the 172 and left home for a long trip... uhh... well, the end of that story will have to wait until August of 2020 because I'm still on it.
So far, I'm about 6000+ miles and 95+ hours in.
Highlights: 7 days through Canada, 6Y9 fly-in, taking my Ph.D. advisor for a ride, helping to build a neutrino detector, lots of great airport camping, Death Valley "Chicken Strip", formation flight with Lowflynjack...
 
Had the Sport in a hangar all year, It's been great to pamper the 74 Beech. It's been parked outside in Juneau since 1996. Flying the whole time but outside.

Did a lot of work and a few upgrades, panel mounted intercom, 406 ELT, painted wings to name a few

Weather this summer in Juneau was awesome, flew almost every weekend..:)
 
Depending on which log you ask, 40-50 hours of drone time this year - a far cry from 2018's. All this training and admin work instead of flying in the field has my hours suffering. On the plus side, it's mostly on larger drones than I flew in 2018.

I had a kid!
 
It my first year with a ppl. And what a year it was! 161 hours, some out of state vacations, first landings in Sedona, and I bought my first plane. An RV9A! I’ve got over 130 hours in this bird and it’s epic. Along with it we scored a hanger 2 miles from the house. It’s gonna be tough to beat 2019!!
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Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 
overdrive148 said:
Depending on which log you ask, 40-50 hours of drone time this year - a far cry from 2018's. All this training and admin work instead of flying in the field has my hours suffering. On the plus side, it's mostly on larger drones than I flew in 2018.

I had a kid!
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You know I don’t really mean this when I say that I have to post this for you... lol. You’ve probably seen it but I had to laugh...

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I kid. I kid. ;) ;) ;)
 
denverpilot said:
You know I don’t really mean this when I say that I have to post this for you... lol. You’ve probably seen it but I had to laugh...I kid. I kid. ;) ;) ;)
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I have heard it a lot - I got into it with one guy on FB who, among other things, said that he could see a ping pong ball from 10000ft and that drones were useless. He admitted to having a Part 107 but said that he wasn't a drone pilot and insisted that drone pilots weren't 'real pilots'. I made him this:

AyUSsPO.png


He wanted some more and wanted to list off all of his ratings and certs, so I ended the conversation telling him I also have a PPL cert but I had to get a type rating for his mom since she's over 12,500lb.
 
overdrive148 said:
He wanted some more and wanted to list off all of his ratings and certs, so I ended the conversation telling him I also have a PPL cert but I had to get a type rating for his mom since she's over 12,500lb.
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Oh lord. Laughing out loud here like a fool in the living room at 23:30. Hahahahaha.

Type rating for your mom!!!! I’m dying here.

:) :) :)
 
Logged a little over 600 hours in the 737 for work, but joined a small flying club in the Fall to get me back into flying GA on a regular basis. So I put about 15 hours into both a 172M and a 172S. It’s been fun! On the work front, I began upgrade training last week.

Not aviation related, but I also got married in early May! :D That was the reason I missed Rough River, but I’m all signed up and have a 172 reserved to take me there in 2020.
 
Peter Anderson said:
An RV9A! I’ve got over 130 hours in this bird and it’s epic. Along with it we scored a hanger 2 miles from the house. It’s gonna be tough to beat 2019!
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The RV-9A looks like a real fun plane to fly. 166mph with an O-320 and stall speeds less than 50 mph, TO and land in 400 ft. What more could you ask for.

Nice looking plane, congrats.
 
No idea how many hours I actually flew this year, but it was the lowest amount for work in a long time, and the most for fun in a very long time. Bought an airplane with a friend, flew to OSH with my dad, and started a new part 91 job. Flew the work airplane so little I actually was out of landing currency. Overall a very good year.
 
We bought our new to us plane (Commander 112A) the end of April and it sat through May while arranging transition training. Finally in June I got back to flying, almost a year after our accident.

By The Numbers:
ASEL: 1336.1

2019: 56.0
Complex: 55.5
Cross Country: 33.8
Simulated Instrument: 5.2
PIC: 56.0

New Airports - 4
KMSV - Sullivan County Airport
KHGR - Hagerstown Regional Airport
KCXO - Conroe-North Houston Regional
T74 - Taylor Municipal

Our Flight Journal blog post on the year in review.
 
Still over in Europe without a plane but did get some flying in during two vacations.

Vacation #1: spent a week in Florida doing tailwheel training. Got 11.1 hours total. About half in a J3 Cub and the other half in a Stearman. Also got my high HP endorsement.

Vacation #2: our annual home leave. Took my plane to northern Wisconsin with my dad (his first flight with me) and also did a few local flights.

Total hours: 22.4
 
39.3 hours total time this year, including a trip back to Michigan. Teaching full-time doesn't leave a lot of time for flying anyway, except during the summer when I do more hiking now than flying. January and February are generally unflyable here even on nice days without an SUV, because the county almost never plows the parking areas. Plus: annual is now a month down, and I finally got my ADS-B install done, another few weeks down. I really can't complain too much, but I need to fly that bird more next year. That there's my New Year's resolution.
 
Similar year as @Hang 4
150 hours, added an instrument rating to my commercial.

Went to the Skywagon Convention where I learned of many more upgrades I needed to do to my plane :). Did those upgrades and finally after 2 years of work have it completely mechanically where I want it, time to work on cosmetics.
 
Pilawt said:
Got my airplane photographed by @Lowflynjack with the red rocks of Sedona as the background, and now she is "Miss October" in Jack's beautiful 2020 calendar.
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Jeff - It makes me happy to see you listed me as a good part of your year! It was awesome to meet you and that trip was great for me.

2019 was a good year and a bad year for me. I had got a lot of new business this year and met a lot of new friends. I think I set a personal record for the number of photos I took! We had the amazing trip to Sedona where I met a few of you. Great weather, great backdrop for photos, and I got to spend a lot of time with some old friends I hadn't seen in a couple of years.

I got to spend some time with my Dad when he really needed me there... not enough, but some. Spent a couple of nights in the hospital with him watching him flirt with girls a third of his age! My Dad turned 76 on August 19th and he passed away on September 19th. I miss him so very much, but I've got good friends and I've been busy at work, so it hasn't hit me like I know it will. He was my hero. He saved my Mom's life in 1998 by stopping an attacker. Because of him, we got to keep her with us for another 14 years. He was stabbed in the heart, the lungs, his hands, and much more, but he still won the fight. I like to think I'm tough, but nobody is as strong as he was.

I got to fly a lot. I got to help mentor a couple of struggling student pilots. I got to watch some young friends grow into their new lives as airline pilots. I was invited back to Oshkosh for 2020! I owned and flew an aerobatic biplane, which was something I wanted to do while I was still young enough to bend it around the sky... it was a blast, but I'm over it!

Thank you guys for supporting my photography. I know I've only personally me a few of you, but I feel like I know you all. Happy New Year. Looking forward to a great 2020.
 
Typical year for me. On track for 110 hrs for work. Did get a 407GX qual and a significant pay increase though.

On track for 50 hrs of personal flying with the usual SE area cross country flights. Upgrades are Aera 660 and GDL39 in the Glasair and Appareo ADS-B in the Velocity.

2020 should be similar.
 
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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