An old guy finally learns to fly

Henning said:
No worries, keep flying dual until it works out one way or the other. If you have conferred with Dr Bruce or a similarly competent AME and are confident it will issue, consider that you can do all your instrument training in that time as well if you want to do the extra work and do an extra 50 hrs of dual X/C which also contains your 40hrs IR training. You'll be flying **** hot by then. You might even get the FSDO to give you a free combo ride as they are looking into this type of combined program training. They may be interested in seeing how someone does who is a willing participant.
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Had no idea that was an option. I will need to check my wallet and with my instructor. Thanks!
 
Well forget everything I said about not soloing and getting my medical in October. When I flew with my instructor Wednesday he gave me a pre-solo written test to take home.....no hurry he said.....just start working on it. Well, I called OKC on a lark today and lo and behold I have been approved and my cert. is in the mail!!! I called my instructor with the good news and he said " get the test done over the weekend":hairraise::hairraise::hairraise::yikes:
 
mikeinbama said:
Well forget everything I said about not soloing and getting my medical in October. When I flew with my instructor Wednesday he gave me a pre-solo written test to take home.....no hurry he said.....just start working on it. Well, I called OKC on a lark today and lo and behold I have been approved and my cert. is in the mail!!! I called my instructor with the good news and he said " get the test done over the weekend":hairraise::hairraise::hairraise::yikes:
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Excellent news!!
 
mikeinbama said:
Well forget everything I said about not soloing and getting my medical in October. When I flew with my instructor Wednesday he gave me a pre-solo written test to take home.....no hurry he said.....just start working on it. Well, I called OKC on a lark today and lo and behold I have been approved and my cert. is in the mail!!! I called my instructor with the good news and he said " get the test done over the weekend":hairraise::hairraise::hairraise::yikes:
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Woohoo! Happy for you. Solo write-up expected soon!
 
Eagle I said:
Oh how I love this kind of thread! I spent most of my life dreaming about flying, but didn't actually start training until age 53. I got my sport pilot certificate two years later and it was the best $$$$ (use your imagination and fill in the blank here, because I stopped counting long ago) I ever spent! Good for you Mike, and everyone else who understood that it's never too late to realize a dream, or to at least try. As the saying goes, we're far more likely to regret the things in life we didn't do than the things we did.
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The highlighted part is crucial! If you can do that it will be fun, if you can't a lot of the fun gets sucked out of it. I've been on both sides.
 
Mike, you started a month ago and you are ready to solo this weekend. Old(-ish) or not, that is great progress!!
So don't worry about your age, you are doing just fine. (actually, statistically, you are doing better than many others).
At our age, we cannot call ourselves old. Instead, we have something that the youngins don't have: plenty of knowledge and experience. And we use it to our advantage.

Good luck on your solo and son't shake, it is fun!! Grease the li'l Cherokee on three times and show 'em how it's done. Yeah, old man power, boo-yah!! :D
(btw, I too learned in a Cherokee, great airplanes)
 
BigBadLou said:
Mike, you started a month ago and you are ready to solo this weekend. Old(-ish) or not, that is great progress!!
So don't worry about your age, you are doing just fine. (actually, statistically, you are doing better than many others).
At our age, we cannot call ourselves old. Instead, we have something that the youngins don't have: plenty of knowledge and experience. And we use it to our advantage.

Good luck on your solo and son't shake, it is fun!! Grease the li'l Cherokee on three times and show 'em how it's done. Yeah, old man power, boo-yah!! :D
(btw, I too learned in a Cherokee, great airplanes)
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Thanks for the encouraging words. But to be clear, I don't know when I will solo, and I am really not anxious to. My instructor just encouraged me to finish the test this weekend. I still don't think I am landing well enough to solo. I have exactly 31 landings in my logbook including all the ones he helped on. It is starting to make sense, but I still don't have a clear picture of landings. Good times though, I am having a blast!!!
 
By all means then talk to your instructor and address the concerns you have.
I know I have. I flat out told my instructor "I don't think I am ready, I would like another lesson" and he simply agreed and that's how it went. I practiced with him some more landings and especially xwind (which I felt deficient in) and it helped me build my my confidence and I felt ready then.
If you don't feel ready, you will have a nagging thought in the back of your mind, it is not fun.
Talk to your instructor, I am sure you can work it out.
You are supposed to have fun! If there are any doubts, address them.
And one more time: have fun! :)
 
Sounds like you're ready to solo to me, or close to it.

I remember the day well...had no idea my instructor thought I was ready at 6.5 hours dual. I hadn't prepped myself psychologically. He hopped out, handed me the keys, and that was it! Nice landing, no problem.

I still have the Polaroid (if you don't know what that is, you're young...be thankful) he snapped in 1972. Just a kid...white T-shirt, jeans, and knees shaking!

I'm guessing we'll see a new post soon with some great news! Keep at it!!!
 
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So today we went to a nearby airport for some landings. It is shorter/narrower than my home field. Home is 5400x150, this one is 3000x80. Did all kinds of approaches, engine outs, 180 glides, normal, no flaps, shorts and softs. It was fun and I had a few that were pretty good. Went home and did one more engine out. Taxied off the runway and started my checklist and my instructor says, " so when do you think you will be ready to solo?" I say about 3 more flights. He says " you are ready now, I'll fly with you two more times and one of those is solo day.":hairraise: so it looks like I'm soloing on 8/23.:hairraise::goofy:
 
Nice. Have fun. Don't psyche yourself out about the solo. He will only do it in very controlled conditions and the point is to build confidence so he won't set you up to fail. Just fly the plane as usual other than it'll be a couple hundred pounds lighter and climb better. ;)
 
Henning said:
No worries, keep flying dual until it works out one way or the other. If you have conferred with Dr Bruce or a similarly competent AME and are confident it will issue, consider that you can do all your instrument training in that time as well if you want to do the extra work and do an extra 50 hrs of dual X/C which also contains your 40hrs IR training. You'll be flying **** hot by then. You might even get the FSDO to give you a free combo ride as they are looking into this type of combined program training. They may be interested in seeing how someone does who is a willing participant.
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I think what you're referring to is possible only under a FAR Part 141 program.
 
Jaybird180 said:
I think what you're referring to is possible only under a FAR Part 141 program.
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Only if you want to cut the required times down. If you do all the requirements for both ratings individually, there is no reason the rides may not be combined.
 
Turns out to be moot. I got my medical in record time and my instructor says I am soloing next Saturday, the 23rd.
 
Henning said:
Only if you want to cut the required times down. If you do all the requirements for both ratings individually, there is no reason the rides may not be combined.
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There is no other provision in the regs. You have to hold a PP in order to see the examiner for the IA and 2 checkrides with IACRA checks would be a bit much.
 
Way to go Mike! You are about to realize a dream :)!
 
One day after a couple times around the patch, my instructor told me to taxi in the leave the engine running. Just before hopping out he said, "it's all yours kid.. stay in the pattern" I was 16 with 10 hours dual under my belt. I think it being pretty much a surprise helped me by not having time to agonize about it days ahead of time.
 
N321SR said:
One day after a couple times around the patch, my instructor told me to taxi in the leave the engine running. Just before hopping out he said, "it's all yours kid.. stay in the pattern" I was 16 with 10 hours dual under my belt. I think it being pretty much a surprise helped me by not having time to agonize about it days ahead of time.
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Mine was similar to that, except I was 39 and it was 2 months ago.
 
Today I did a whole bunch of landings, I didn't know an engine could fail so many times in one day.:confused: Slips and s-turns and flaps and no flaps and 180's and getting a stern talking to about all my mistakes. When we get inside my instructor start filling in my logbook, sometimes he does it, mostly I do. But today he is doing it. Then he opens it to the back and says " I am gonna save us some time on Saturday morning and go ahead and sign these endorsements now".:hairraise: So, weather permitting, I will solo on Saturday. Wish me luck!
 
mikeinbama said:
Today I did a whole bunch of landings, I didn't know an engine could fail so many times in one day.:confused: Slips and s-turns and flaps and no flaps and 180's and getting a stern talking to about all my mistakes. When we get inside my instructor start filling in my logbook, sometimes he does it, mostly I do. But today he is doing it. Then he opens it to the back and says " I am gonna save us some time on Saturday morning and go ahead and sign these endorsements now".:hairraise: So, weather permitting, I will solo on Saturday. Wish me luck!
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Good luck!:thumbsup: Savor every moment, because it'll be a simply amazing time of your life!
 
Way to go, Mike!

Have someone film it for you. Photos on one round, video on another. It makes for nice reviews, and gives you a view of yourself that you can never see. My wife just flipped her camera to video, worked very well.
 
mikeinbama said:
So today we went to a nearby airport for some landings. It is shorter/narrower than my home field. Home is 5400x150, this one is 3000x80. Did all kinds of approaches, engine outs, 180 glides, normal, no flaps, shorts and softs. It was fun and I had a few that were pretty good. Went home and did one more engine out. Taxied off the runway and started my checklist and my instructor says, " so when do you think you will be ready to solo?" I say about 3 more flights. He says " you are ready now, I'll fly with you two more times and one of those is solo day.":hairraise: so it looks like I'm soloing on 8/23.:hairraise::goofy:
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Your home field has a commercial sized runway. Most GA runways are 75 x 3500. You will also see a lot of 50 x 2800 runways. So don't get used to your home runway, it will be scarce in your normal flying.
 
CTLSi said:
Your home field has a commercial sized runway. Most GA runways are 75 x 3500. You will also see a lot of 50 x 2800 runways. So don't get used to your home runway, it will be scarce in your normal flying.
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I learned on 3001 x 75, and my parents now live near one that's 2770 x 30, with lights right at the edge. My first visit was hair-raising, watching those lights pass under the wingtips. One of the few times I've wished to be in a high-wing! :D

Around here, though, many of the runways are around 5000' long. I'm getting spoiled . . .
 
Hank S said:
Around here, though, many of the runways are around 5000' long. I'm getting spoiled . . .
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Same here, spoiled by mile-long and 75-wide runways here in Texas.
I guess everything is bigger in Texas! :)
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My home airport also has a 1550x25 (the original) runway. I occasionally land there to keep my skills sharp and it is fun! :)
 
No doubt shorter runways will be common. I didn't really have trouble getting it down in 3000. And it would have been even easier if I had been doing normal landings.


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jsterner said:
Mike, looking at your avatar you aren't even close to being an OLD guy. I'm 78 and after 49 yrs away from flying recently got my medical, renewed my PPL and checked out for solo. It is great and you won't regret it.


Jerry
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That's awesome Jerry!
 
Congratulations for fighting through self doubt to get after that dream Mike!

I am in a similar situation. I always wanted to fly and at 45-46 it takes a little more gusto to get after it. Like others have said here though, I think it builds character and makes you want to "be better" like be healthier, smarter and better rested. Hitting the books all these years later and learning all these new things is good for all us guys over late 30 something as well.

Have fun and keep us updated as I will!
 
Today is the day. Weather is no factor other than it will be hot even at 9am. Solo write up coming. To be continued.............
 
Good luck... although you are probably done now, so congrats!
 
.5 PIC in the logbook. It was amazing. Two laps with my instructor. He had me stop on the runway and he shook my hand and hopped out. Three stop and goes that we're not too shabby. On the last lap, a PC12 called a 5 mile final and the guys on the Unicom told him there was a solo student in the pattern on his last lap. The Pilatus pilot said he would give way and follow me in. After I landed he called me and congratulated me on a nice landing. Good times.


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mikeinbama said:
.5 PIC in the logbook. It was amazing. Two laps with my instructor. He had me stop on the runway and he shook my hand and hopped out. Three stop and goes that we're not too shabby. On the last lap, a PC12 called a 5 mile final and the guys on the Unicom told him there was a solo student in the pattern on his last lap. The Pilatus pilot said he would give way and follow me in. After I landed he called me and congratulated me on a nice landing. Good times.


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Congratulations, pilot!
 
Congrats. This thread is awesome. It should be linked to the awesome thread. :)
 
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