Flying has improved my driving

Jaybird180

Jaybird180

Final Approach
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Jaybird180
Has flying changed or impacted the way you drive your car? Perhaps the way you approach driving?

I learned to drive at 15 (learner's permit) and got official license several months before my 17th birthday (don't recall exactly what month). However my head was mostly in aviation books, not car books. So I learned about adding throttle in a coordinated turn. I still do that by habit today (very fun in my rear-wheel-drive car).

I got my motorcycle license at 28 and have been riding sportbikes since. Smooth, continuous application of throttle after being established on turn-in through apex to exit is a discipline that I practice on every ride.

I got my PPL at 35.

Cars, motorcycles and airplanes....I'm sure they've influenced each other...somehow.

How has flying impacted your operation of other conveyances?
 
You mean like doing a walk-around the car before you get in?

(Not that I've ever done that.)
 
I drove in the fog better after I got my IR.
 
My driving isn't as good as before I was a pilot.

Riding motorcycles did make me a better driver, though.
 
The state trooper asked why I was going 60 in a 45. He did not understand 1.3 x Vso, so I still got a ticket.
 
Once I was clocked going 110 on the I-80 through Richmond in a Corolla. CHP dude asked me "So, where is your pilot's license?" So I pulled it out!

He kindly wrote me up for 90 (whatever) because a) there was no traffic at all, b) it was my birthday, and c) no judge would believe a Corolla could go 110 anyway.
 
I think it has.

I think my observational skills and energy management habits are better, for sure. I also tend to be more careful about checking weather and selecting routes accordingly before long trips.

For example, there's a very nice road in New York State called the Taconic State Parkway that's a favorite of tightwad shunpikers like myself because it has no tolls and is very scenic. But in a snowstorm (or even bad rain), it becomes treacherous. Nowadays, I take a minute to check the weather along the route before departing on trips where I normally use the Taconic.

-Rich
 
If anything I'm more cautious when I drive in terms of looking ahead for things. I have always tried to, but lately it's been more natural for me. I got my license at 14, so by the time I was 18 I was already over getting tickets and pulled over. It's true, if you have a slow car you drive fast, but in my fast car I drive slow!
 
I don't sleep as well when driving.
 
I find myself scanning the gauges more often when I drive.

Love the "where's your pilots license" response.
 
I've gotten much better at calculating en route times and fuel burn since I started keeping an E6B in the glove box.

:D
 
I did save myself some embarassment by doing a final walkaround before putting my father in laws boat in the water. Found that I hadn't put the plug in yet.
 
DaleB said:
I've gotten much better at calculating en route times and fuel burn since I started keeping an E6B in the glove box.

:D
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I was going to reply with a BS flag...then I saw the smilie
 
My driving has gotten worse because every time I'm in my car and I see a plane in the sky I end up staring at it and trying to figure out what kind of plane it is and what it's doing. I can't help myself lol.

Riding a motorcycle has definitely made me a better driver. I learned to better anticipate the actions of other vehicles.
 
Another one for motorcycles. I've ridden trail bikes since I was a kid. Bought a cruiser (V-Star 650) to ride around Nebraska. Moved to Houston, sold the V-Star, and bought a SV650 to commute to work.

Riding a motorcycle in Houston on a daily basis made me a significantly more aware (paranoid) rider, and that definitely translated to driving.
 
I've found that getting better at driving is good for you but freaks the idiots around you out, so it has to be exercised carefully. I dunno if it's the airplane flying or just having always taken vehicles truly off-road where inches do count or what, but I do fine in my trucks and formerly in my Jeeps. Towing, whatever... No big deal. Just operate the thing, and adjust for conditions. Kinda like the airplane.

Shooting a full sized truck into a mall parking spot perfectly at high-ish speeds will elicit screams of terror from soccer moms who have zero kinesthetic or natural distance measuring ability. That's always entertaining.

They will then proceed to act like you are the idiot, sometimes loudly, to which anyone standing nearby will succumb to their "must be the dumb white guy's fault if a lady with kids is yelling at him" and look on disapprovingly.

Meanwhile, you just want to get into the damn mall, which you hate going to anyway, get your item and get the hell out. No time for the mall drama queens.

Only way I could make It worse would be to drive a RED pickup truck, perhaps with a gun rack. Instant societal "you must be an idiot". Just ask TV. Maybe even worthy of a reality show. :)

Only way I could make it better would be to do it 5 or 10 MPH faster in a Prius. "Ooh that's a sporty little thing, isn't it? So good for the environment!"

Changing lanes evn mildly quickly in a full sized truck will send the masses scattering too. Especially with rear tinted windows. "Aiiiieeee! That maniac in the Yukon is dodging lanes, and because his windows are tinted I bet he can't see out!!" ROFL.

My favorite drivers to mess with are the Infinity SUV driving middle aged ladies who think parking lot rows are only wide enough for their vehicle going opposite directions (male BMW drivers often exhibit this too).

I can easily get past you with a couple of inches to spare between our mirrors, and not even slow down, if you're just going to sit there and stare like there's some kind of problem.

Maybe it comes from having the Infinity on a lease that doesn't have gap insurance, I don't know. They shake their heads and give disapproving looks and are still sitting there when I'm finished parking three rows away. Eh lady, if you got time to sit there staring at traffic in a busy parking lot, we will happily just go around you. Enjoy that quality time in leather-appointed luxury. We got **** to do here.

Use your newfound driving skill with caution. It scares the sheep. ;)
 
I think in all honesty, driving, and riding motorcycles in different countries has improved my driving more than anything. In Southeast Asia, traffic never stops at most intersections, never stays in marked lanes and often travels the wrong direction down the road in addition to being very heavy. You learn to merge, fit and avoid very well.

Side note - locals over there are very good at this. They don't do very well on our roads when they initially come over here because, rules aside, they aren't used to high speeds. Out in the country, where traffic is light and you can actually travel at a high speed, you see lots of really gnarly accidents.
 
denverpilot said:
I've found that getting better at driving is good for you but freaks the idiots around you out, so it has to be exercised carefully. I dunno if it's the airplane flying or just having always taken vehicles truly off-road where inches do count or what, but I do fine in my trucks and formerly in my Jeeps. Towing, whatever... No big deal. Just operate the thing, and adjust for conditions. Kinda like the airplane.

Shooting a full sized truck into a mall parking spot perfectly at high-ish speeds will elicit screams of terror from soccer moms who have zero kinesthetic or natural distance measuring ability. That's always entertaining.

They will then proceed to act like you are the idiot, sometimes loudly, to which anyone standing nearby will succumb to their "must be the dumb white guy's fault if a lady with kids is yelling at him" and look on disapprovingly.

Meanwhile, you just want to get into the damn mall, which you hate going to anyway, get your item and get the hell out. No time for the mall drama queens.

Only way I could make It worse would be to drive a RED pickup truck, perhaps with a gun rack. Instant societal "you must be an idiot". Just ask TV. Maybe even worthy of a reality show. :)

Only way I could make it better would be to do it 5 or 10 MPH faster in a Prius. "Ooh that's a sporty little thing, isn't it? So good for the environment!"

Changing lanes evn mildly quickly in a full sized truck will send the masses scattering too. Especially with rear tinted windows. "Aiiiieeee! That maniac in the Yukon is dodging lanes, and because his windows are tinted I bet he can't see out!!" ROFL.

My favorite drivers to mess with are the Infinity SUV driving middle aged ladies who think parking lot rows are only wide enough for their vehicle going opposite directions (male BMW drivers often exhibit this too).

I can easily get past you with a couple of inches to spare between our mirrors, and not even slow down, if you're just going to sit there and stare like there's some kind of problem.

Maybe it comes from having the Infinity on a lease that doesn't have gap insurance, I don't know. They shake their heads and give disapproving looks and are still sitting there when I'm finished parking three rows away. Eh lady, if you got time to sit there staring at traffic in a busy parking lot, we will happily just go around you. Enjoy that quality time in leather-appointed luxury. We got **** to do here.

Use your newfound driving skill with caution. It scares the sheep. ;)
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Nicely written.

When I lived in The City, those of us who were natives in the know knew to avoid driving during or on the first day after the first snowstorm of the season that resulted in any accumulation, no matter how little. This was because every year, a new crop of immigrants from lands where snow was something they only read about just had to go out and drive in it to see what it was like.

That was always a good day to stay home. Let the new folks get it out of their systems and/or smash up their cars, either of which outcomes would nonetheless thin the traffic for the next day and the rest of the winter.

Once in a while, though, I'd already be out and about when the snow started falling, at which time some of these jokers would STOP IN THE MIDDLE OF THE HIGHWAY and stare at the snow! I'm serious. They would just stop right there in the middle of the L.I.E. and stare at the snow like they'd never seen it before.

Well, in fairness, many of them hadn't seen it before; so I guess that could explain their initial fascination. But one would hope that the cacophony of horns and the traffic behind and around them swerving in all directions would jolt them back to reality. And sometimes it did. But others would just keep staring at the snow in front of them as if they were expecting dancers to leap out and start performing The Nutcracker.

Where I live now, we get something similar during the summer and during hunting season. Almost all of our mountain roads have no posted speed limits, which means the limit is 55 or as conditions permit, whichever is lower. But some of the visiting city folks drive around 20 -- or less if it's winter and there's snow on the ground, which sometimes means that when they hit a hill, they slip off the road for lack of forward momentum.

I lived for two winters in Syracuse and one in Oswego when I was a young man, so I'm no stranger to snow. So I try to be patient with the clueless.

-Rich
 
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I honestly think flying has made me a lot worse driver.

We can "gawk around" a lot when we fly...no yellow line to our immediate left...or white to the right. Get a mile off course on a nice VFR day and who cares.

Get 3' off course while driving and it can be a bad day.
 
Just don't drive straddling the dashed line like you do on the runway.

One day we were driving through the mountains in heavy fog. As we were ascending the sky started to get brighter. I told my wife if she climbed another 500 feet, she'd be on top.
 
The only thing I learned while flying that has effected my driving is probably to avoid using low RPMs and high MP.
 
flyingron said:
Just don't drive straddling the dashed line like you do on the runway.
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I do it all the time when I'm out on a road all by myself with no other vehicles nearby. By now it's definitely cutting deep into the vehicle repair shops and new vehicle dealerships retirement funds due to a lack of deer and forest creature related damage.
 
denverpilot said:
Only way I could make It worse would be to drive a RED pickup truck, perhaps with a gun rack. Instant societal "you must be an idiot". Just ask TV. Maybe even worthy of a reality show. :)
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You forgot the "stack" exhaust setup (like 18 wheelers). Then everyone knows you have must an enormous penis. :yes:
 
flyingron said:
Just don't drive straddling the dashed line like you do on the runway.
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That's how I fixed my landing alignment, lingering over the lines a leeeetle longer during lane changes; helped my sight picture.
 
Another vote for bikes. After years on motorcycles I seem to have an idiot radar, sort of a steiney sense, that picks out distracted or otherwise disabled drivers. I feel sorry for motorcycle newbies, there are more distracted drivers than ever before.
 
Motorcycle riding made my automobile driving much better, as now I EXPECT drivers to do stupid things, and anticipate them. Plus I keep a buffer zone around me.
 
Anthony said:
Motorcycle riding made my automobile driving much better, as now I EXPECT drivers to do stupid things, and anticipate them. Plus I keep a buffer zone around me.
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yeah.gif
 
Apropos to this thread, I'm supposed to drive downstate to my brother's house for the annual Christmas Eve family shindig tomorrow. About an hour ago, I checked the weather and found that they're predicting snow from early tomorrow afternoon through Tuesday morning.

Now mind you, snow in itself doesn't bother me. I lived in the Syracuse area for a few years in my youth, where snowfall is measured in feet; and we get rather impressive snow where I live now, as well. I've also taken the winter driving course for EMS a few times, so I'm pretty accustomed to driving in the snow. But in this case, I'm considering a combination of factors.

The way the storm's moving, it could involve a very long stretch of a good road that I usually use (NY-17 / I-86) on the return trip. I do have an alternate (I-87), but that would require a last leg of roughly 45 miles along a road that isn't horrible, but that wouldn't be my first choice of a road to be driving on during a snowstorm in the wee hours of the morning. It would also add about an hour to the trip.

Realistically, if I leave my brother's house at 23:00, my regular route would have me arriving home between 02:00 and 03:00 Tuesday morning. Because I'm an early riser, that would mean having been awake for at least 20 hours, and having been driving for at least seven of them. Because of all the traffic "funelling" into the NYC metro area, the best-case trip to my brother's house takes about four hours, but the best-case trip back home takes about three.

I can do 20 hours awake with no problem with the help of a couple of cups of strong joe. My regular days are 18 hours long, anyway, just because I don't need as much sleep as I did when I was younger. Six hours of sleep is plenty for me nowadays. I wake up after six hours, without an alarm, feeling raring to go.

But if I hit snow on the way back, that could extend the time; and if I have to use I-87, that adds about an hour. So that 20 hours awake could easily stretch to 22 or more. The combination of being that fatigued while driving in ice or snow would be beyond my "personal driving minimums," as it were.

And then there's the fact that I live on a dead-end mountain road in Nowhere (just a short walk from the Middle). Although the county does an excellent job on the roads here, some lesser-used roads don't always get plowed at night. I'm not sure whether this one does because I've only been in this house a few months and we haven't yet had any major snowstorms that would require night plowing. But because it's a dead-end road with only about half a dozen year-round residences, I'm guessing that it draws a low priority for night plowing.

If it doesn't get plowed, that could create an icy situation. It would make the last mile the most dangerous part of the trip. Because this is a mountain road, they do use salt on it. (They just use sand on the flatter roads because we're in the watershed.) But if the temp goes into the low 20's as predicted, the salt will become less effective, and the road could be icy. My little car and its driver can handle snow quite well, but ice is another story.

And then there's my driveway plowing guy, who may have other things to do on Christmas Eve. He has my okay to just go ahead and plow whenever the snowfall is more than six inches, but it will be Christmas Eve, and he has a family. So I could get all the way from Log Island to my 110-foot driveway, and then have to break out a shovel in the wee hours of the morning to get the last 110 feet. That would be a drag.

My solution is that I'll check the weather forecast again tomorrow morning. The way the storm is moving, the outlook could well change by then. If it shifts north a bit, I should be be fine. If it tracks the same, light snow (3 - 6 inches -- light by local standards). If it moves south, heavy snow.

If the outlook looks better in the morning, I'll call the county and ask if they plow this road at night. If so, then I'll make the trip, but keep a close watch on the weather while downstate, leaving earlier for the return trip if need be.

If the forecast is bad in the morning, I'll take the gifts for the little ones to my parents' house about 35 miles from here (the adults in my family no longer exchange gifts), let them take the the gifts with them downstate, and abort my mission. My parents plan on staying downstate for a couple of days, anyway. (I can't because of other commitments.)

The point to my story is that I've always been a cautious driver; but since I started flying, I've started to approach car trip planning very much like flight planning. I've become much more anal methodical about it, which can't help but be an improvement.

-Rich
 
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the fiancee, mothe, and all the females in my life had hate how i drive. they cant believe i share the skies in imc with airliners and other heavy aircraft. they all say i am constantly disoriented and clumsy. fml!


maybe i wasnt meant to be earth bound.
 
Really wanted to be flying the other day, but all I had was my car. So, I unlocked the telescoping wheel and pulled back when ascending a hill and pushed forward when descending. Making coordinated turns with the pedals was a bit more difficult, though. :D On the flip side, I've found that driving a boat actually helps with piloting--weather is a big factor, you need to adjust speed for the conditions, my boat has trim tabs that are used to balance the boat and get its nose down much like on a plane, and docking in a good xwind is similar to landing--crab in and straighten it out parallel to the dock at the last second. It really helps you visualize wake turbulence too... I went over a 5 ft. Wake from a cargo ship in the harbor and I now know that's something I never want to do in a 172! Also, try keeping a boat a steady 2ft from a massive jetty while waves push you toward it and your dad tries to get the anchor uncaught. That'll help if i ever go for a heli rating!
 
ebykowsky said:
:D On the flip side, I've found that driving a boat actually helps with piloting-
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I most definitely agree that boating and flying are more closely related to each other than any other form of transportation.

Here's a short list of similarities:
Flight plan/ Float plan
Fuel burn calculations
NOAA Charts
Radio communications
Customs interaction
Crab/yaw and trim
High maintenance
Hangar/Boat marina-barn
Money pit
Preflight/boat
CG with passenger loads/ max cap
Expensive fuel
Glass panel vs steam guages
Navigation lights
Terminology (port/starboard)
P-factor
Weather considerations
Coordinated turns
Right-of-way rules
 
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denverpilot said:
I've found that getting better at driving is good for you but freaks the idiots around you out, so it has to be exercised carefully. I dunno if it's the airplane flying or just having always taken vehicles truly off-road where inches do count or what, but I do fine in my trucks and formerly in my Jeeps. Towing, whatever... No big deal. Just operate the thing, and adjust for conditions. Kinda like the airplane.

Shooting a full sized truck into a mall parking spot perfectly at high-ish speeds will elicit screams of terror from soccer moms who have zero kinesthetic or natural distance measuring ability. That's always entertaining.

They will then proceed to act like you are the idiot, sometimes loudly, to which anyone standing nearby will succumb to their "must be the dumb white guy's fault if a lady with kids is yelling at him" and look on disapprovingly.

Meanwhile, you just want to get into the damn mall, which you hate going to anyway, get your item and get the hell out. No time for the mall drama queens.

Only way I could make It worse would be to drive a RED pickup truck, perhaps with a gun rack. Instant societal "you must be an idiot". Just ask TV. Maybe even worthy of a reality show. :)

Only way I could make it better would be to do it 5 or 10 MPH faster in a Prius. "Ooh that's a sporty little thing, isn't it? So good for the environment!"

Changing lanes evn mildly quickly in a full sized truck will send the masses scattering too. Especially with rear tinted windows. "Aiiiieeee! That maniac in the Yukon is dodging lanes, and because his windows are tinted I bet he can't see out!!" ROFL.

My favorite drivers to mess with are the Infinity SUV driving middle aged ladies who think parking lot rows are only wide enough for their vehicle going opposite directions (male BMW drivers often exhibit this too).

I can easily get past you with a couple of inches to spare between our mirrors, and not even slow down, if you're just going to sit there and stare like there's some kind of problem.

Maybe it comes from having the Infinity on a lease that doesn't have gap insurance, I don't know. They shake their heads and give disapproving looks and are still sitting there when I'm finished parking three rows away. Eh lady, if you got time to sit there staring at traffic in a busy parking lot, we will happily just go around you. Enjoy that quality time in leather-appointed luxury. We got **** to do here.

Use your newfound driving skill with caution. It scares the sheep. ;)
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Nate, I truly believe that we are cousins. Mine's a Suburban, urban assault vehicle. Love it.

All that, except in Dallas, it's all about the Lexuses (Lexi? Lexoids?), especially the RX suv models. Especially difficult to navigate successfully with phone plastered to ear.
 
I remember flying home through some pretty heavy IFR with moderate to heavy rain. After landing it started raining very heavy during the drive home. I found myself staring at the instrument panel of my truck looking for navigation assistance. There obviously was no help there and I had to remember to actually look outside to drive.
 
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