Cure for burnout?

Tarheel Pilot

Tarheel Pilot

Line Up and Wait
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Tarheel Pilot
Hey, haven't been here on awhile, I've been busy with Grad school and other stuff, even though I still do fly weekly. I do have a question though, has anyone ever been through a burn out with aviation? You know you're not as excited as you were once about it, and it seem like it doesn't have the same appeal that it once does? I love flying, I mean I always look forward to going to the airport and climbing into the Piper, but every once in awhile, I feel like I need to take a break, or that I feel burned out, has anyone else had this problem and how do you find the cure for it?
 
I think we all feel that way about things we like. With flying, you might think about goals you'd like to accomplish (like taking a vacation in a plane; attending a fly in (Hey... AOPA in CT might be a good one)). You might also consider flying for a reason. Check out Angelflight or similar volunteer flying service. While one of the biggest names, Angel Flight is not the only one. There's Civil Air Patrol, Coast Guard Auxiliary Aviation, and, in some parts of the west, the sherriffs (yeah, who knew!). You might also find someone to share flying with that might have their own goals. Go check out in a new plane. Start IFR, Commercial, CFI.
So many things to do. Just not enough money!
 
Been there, done that. My burnout was mission related -- I found long crosscountry flying boring. Actually, I found airplanes, in general, with all due respect to the fixed-wingers on this board, boring. Not a condemnation of airplanes, just the way I happen to feel.

The cure for me was rotorcraft. I love flying helicopters and my wife loves 'em too. I look forward to every flight and have a great time from lighting up to shutting down. Another 100 hours or so and I'll have more rotary-wing hours than fixed!
 
Take a break from piloting. Go to an airshow, or an aviation museum, to see some inspiring classic aircraft. Read aviation novels. Take an opportunity to fly somewhere new and totally different, and/or a totally different type of aircraft.

It does get tedious when your mission is always the same and you run out of things to do with an airplane.
 
I find that varying the type of flying I do keeps it interesting.

Here's the different types I do in my Citabria:

- Go to a fly-in, pancake breakfast, open-house, etc.
- Get together with a bunch of other same-type planes and fly around together all day
- Spend all day landing at a bunch of new airports for the Conus Challenge
- Do an "airwork" flight: practice stalls, steep turns, slow flight, landings
- Fun flight at low-level, nape of the earth
- Long-cross country to visit an aviation museum, airshow, see foliage, or old buddy
- Do aerobatics
- Take people for rides
- Spend a couple of weeks flying around this beautiful country of ours
 
Respectfully; if you are getting bored it might be better to completely take a break. Being burned out, and forcing yourself to continue is risky because your sharpness will suffer.
Being bored, and trying new things....make sure your heart is in it because a new rating, a new type of flying means you will have to pay attention and put an effort in order to do it right and stay safe.
Getting bored and going buzzing etc is just plain trouble, I will try to find an accident later of an acquaintance in my pilot community who got bored and started barrel rolling his bonanza. Sad funeral.

here:
http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief2.asp?ev_id=20001208X08609&ntsbno=FTW97FA302&akey=1
 
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Tarheel Pilot said:
has anyone ever been through a burn out with aviation? You know you're not as excited as you were once about it, and it seem like it doesn't have the same appeal that it once does?
Click to expand...

I did, early this year.

I had a great year for flying in 2006, with a new adventure or two every month: Flying a brand-new G1000 182 to Key West in January, flying Cubs on skis in February, a Twin Comanche from Portland down the Columbia River, out over the Pacific, down to Tillamook and back in March, did my first few ILS's to minimums in actual and then got my IR in April, did my first hard-core IMC flight with approach in May, first aerobatic flight with Chip in the Extra in June, first flight in a seaplane and first time camping with the plane all week at OSH in July, took my mom flying for the first time in August, flew the Extra with Chip again in September, first glider flight in October... Actually didn't have anything in November but at the end of December I did several approaches in actual, down to 300 feet at GRB and about 800 feet at MSN on the ILS's and then my first ASR approach, also in actual, the next day.

After that, I started getting the feeling that I'd done it all and my regular flying seemed kind of boring. While normally I'd have suggested to myself that I go get some time in a taildragger or try something else new, well, that's what I'd been doing all year. I enjoyed those things, especially the acro, skiplanes, seaplanes, and glider but all were quite some distance away and not easily accessible and I couldn't exactly do a hammerhead in the 182. :no: :(

So, for me what returned the smile to my face WAS to do something different: To not leave the pattern. I went out on a day that could only be described as b*tchin' cold and flew the 182 around the pattern a bunch of times. Winter flying is great anyway: Snow covered the surrounding landscape, visibility was easily 100 miles, and the air was absolutely smooth and syrupy thick. The airplane clawed for the sky at 1800 fpm, easily reaching pattern altitude before the end of the runway. Every time around, I tried to make my landing just that much more perfect.

After all of that fun and varied flying I'd done in the previous year, it was the simple act of going around the pattern and trying to be as precise as possible with an airplane I thought I knew that did it for me. I didn't get in the airplane that day trying to cure my burnout, but when I returned to earth the smile was back. :)
 
flybill7 said:
- Get together with a bunch of other same-type planes and fly around together all day

- Fun flight at low-level, nape of the earth
Click to expand...


Favorites of mine. :)

Also, some good formation time with some buds that I trust is ALWAYS great.
 
Try something different.

Get a tailwheel endorsement, try a light sport, find a G1000 and get some time in it.

Quite honestly, this is the main reason that I am glad I am a renter and not an Owner. One week I fly a Citabria, the next week a Warrior, the following a C172 with the G1000. I know many of you will argue that I cannot be as proficient as one who flies the same aircraft constantly. You are correct. I am constantly learning and re-learning thing. This does mean that I have to be more conservative in my acceptance of risk regarding things like weather, terrain and distance, but I fly just to enjoy flying, not on a mission.

I just got checked out in a Sky Arrow 600 and it is a blast. I can't wait to get back in it.

Roger
 
I got burned out earlier this year. I do traffic reporting, and the job is a bit like Goundhog Day....same danged thing day in and day out. I was so bored, I kept hoping for an engine failure so I could land on the highway (not really).
Taking a few weeks off certainly helped.
I've been flying for around three years now, and at least once each of those years, I have had to go out of town for a few weeks, and I've found that being away from flying really helps get back into it. I start seeing planes flying over head, and thinking, "that could be me".
When I started doing my "day job" as a sound engineer back in the early 90s, the guy who I worked for, who was also my mentor, said to me once, "If it's not fun, why do it?". I've pretty much lived that statement ever since. Granted, it's made me pretty poor financially, but I'm rich in spirit.
 
Tarheel- I think your answer lies in the cause of your burnout.

Are you flying too often, and not feeling any benefit from it? Are you just bored and looking for something exciting? Are you involved in flying as a business and the additional dimensions involved make you uninterested in flying for yourself?

There have been many great suggestions offered in previous posts, so I need not repeat them. But analyzing the source of your discontent is your first step to resolving it.

Sometimes its a change of scenery, sometimes a new mission, sometimes its just a break. But hopefully, you will find your answers and be airborne with a huge smile very soon!
 
Take your friends out when you fly. Just because you can solo as a pilot doesn't mean you have too.
 
I wish I could get burn-out from flying too much. I do hear ya, tho. I used to teach scuba. After 6 years of hauling tanks, dealing with uninterested students, a decline in the respect at the dive shop (as well as classes), I just retired. The result, I found that I still love scuba. I went to the local quarry just for a dive and felt relieved, thrilled and had a ball.

What the heck does this have to do with flying ? Burn-out is burn-out, if you can find a way to shake it up so that the burn-out isn't associated with the topic then you win. Retiring from teaching was my ticket to keep diving. Otherwise, y'all would find my gear on eBay at deep discounts. ;-)
 
Well I think my burnout may be over. I start solo cross country in my training now (PA28-180 was in the shop for awhile) and I'm really excited about flying into a new airport. I will be flying into Southern Pine NC.
 
Southern Pines is a great airport. Watch for the ultralights using RWY-14/32.
 
Nope. I only have about 340 hrs in less than 2 yrs, so I fly a lot but haven't been flying for long. Every time I go to the airport I'm excited, even when I don't plan to fly. Sometimes I get worn out from thinking/reading/talking flying, but I have yet to feel ho-hum about climbing in and going. Maybe the thrill will wear off in a few years, but for now I still feel like I'm living the dream, 0.1hrs at a time.
 
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