How long between "layoffs"

[Rob Schaffer]

Well, it's been a busy year at my home and I havn't been able to commit to a club or even fly as often as I definitely would have liked. Last three years, I was a 50hr/year pilot, which is where my budget floated for my flying. Enter a 3rd daughter last year and the need to renovate on the house this year to get my twin daughters into the 3rd floor as a bedroom, and my flying hours went down the crapper.

Three flights this year (all with CFI's), March 4th in a C172SP, May 12th in a Citabria, ..... and then a long summer of doing construction on my home. Yesterday, I was able to break away and get some time to fly once again and the weather finally cooperated (after 3 weeks of consecutive weather cancellations).

Surprisingly, it all came back rather quickly for being since March in the C172. In preparation though, I did review the checklists/ POH / and sat in front of a cockpit poster going thru the routine and location of items. New CFI, and away we climbed to the practice area. Slow flight, Clearing turns, Stalls, Steep turns right and then left right after one another, then engine out, and back to the airport for different types of TO/Landings. My GPS track was pretty good too.

Felt great to be back flying again and I hope to be more 'regular' now for the remainder of this year.

So how long have you had to layoff from flying and how was it when you returned?

 

[tonycondon]

i think my longest layoff has been ~month once or twice when i've spent most of that time travelling to see family over christmas time.

 

[steingar]

Yeah, I've been off for a month or two at most, usually due to wx. I suck when I get back in, too. It's a bit different when you own an airplane. Gotta fly it.

 

[Matthew]

Maybe 6-9 months, starting the day after my PP checkride. I had a medical deal crop up. Nothing major, just a pain to get all the paperwork back in order. I could have shortened the layoff, but I kept thinking "what's one more month?" I used that time to fill in that smoking hole of a savings account that I used for all my flight training. Then I went back out with my CFI, got to where I was teasonably proficient again, and got back in the game. I've had plenty of shorter layoffs since, mosty WX, MX and simply life/schedule related.

 

[John Baker]

I went over a year in my training, now it's just economics and finding the time. Lately I've only been able to get in the air about two times, sometimes three, a month.

John

 

[Bob Noel]

So how long have you had to layoff from flying and how was it when you returned?

My last flight was March 2010.... so it's 18 months and counting.

Do I seem extra grumpy?

 

[Maxmosbey]

I took twenty six years off, got current again, flew a couple more years, then lost my medical. Still deciding if that will be it, or if I will try again. The longer it goes, the more chance I won't go back. Getting my medical back will be expensive I think.

 

[tonycondon]

I took twenty six years off, got current again, flew a couple more years, then lost my medical. Still deciding if that will be it, or if I will try again. The longer it goes, the more chance I won't go back. Getting my medical back will be expensive I think.

as i demonstrate each summer, a medical is not a requirement to have a whole lot of fun in the air.

 

[denverpilot]

8 years once. Not going to repeat it.

 

[kimberlyanne546]

I am NOT trying to sound cocky here - but when do pilots decide they should hire a CFI instead of just fly alone to shake the rust off or find out if there is any rust? Why should I pay more?

My rental agreement does not require me to fly the little 152 or 172 every 90 days - in fact, there are no currency requirements like other flight schools have.

How will I know if I'm rusty or in need of a CFI? So far, my flights have been with non-pilot passengers or other pilots or alone. The longest I have gone without flying as PIC since the day I passed my checkride is 12 days - not even two weeks!

I have completed 6 flights since I passed the checkride on August 28th, 3 in the 152 and 3 in the 172 including a cross country of 191 miles.

 

[Matthew]

I am NOT trying to sound cocky here - but when do pilots decide they should hire a CFI instead of just fly alone to shake the rust off or find out if there is any rust?

Hopefully, you'll know it when you need it.

I do it once in a while - sometimes I'm just in a rut and need something fresh to work on, sometimes it's been a while since I've done any precision work and just want a critique, sometimes my schedule has been such that I don't really fly enough and often enough to feel on top of the game and want a few extra pointers. No big deal, I try to use different CFIs, I learn something new each time, and make another contact.

I need to do an annual rental checkout, so I typically add on a couple of extra workouts since I already have the plane and CFI.

 

[Rob Schaffer]

If more than 6 weeks, I'll take a CFI, agreement I made with my wife since we have three little ones at home. Not that I may need it, but why not if I have them put me under the hood for 15-20 minutes and track VOR or something. Make the time with them worth it to do something, otherwise, take another pilot friend with you. All personal preference and knowing your comfort zone and setting your personal minimums.

Legal and Current does not equal Safe and Proficient.

 

[Matthew]

Not that I may need it, but why not if I have them put me under the hood for 15-20 minutes and track VOR or something.
...
Legal and Current does not equal Safe and Proficient.

Hoodwork and unusual attitude recoveries are always something I want to work on. What I really need to brush up on is night proficiency - now that the days are getting shorter.

 

[denverpilot]

My rental agreement does not require me to fly the little 152 or 172 every 90 days - in fact, there are no currency requirements like other flight schools have.

I think you have your answer right there... you already know your rentals are odd-balls that don't require something many do...

Haven't flown in 90 days, grab a CFI... is a pretty good idea. Thus why *most* places have it.

 

[John Baker]

I am NOT trying to sound cocky here - but when do pilots decide they should hire a CFI instead of just fly alone to shake the rust off or find out if there is any rust? Why should I pay more?

My rental agreement does not require me to fly the little 152 or 172 every 90 days - in fact, there are no currency requirements like other flight schools have.

How will I know if I'm rusty or in need of a CFI? So far, my flights have been with non-pilot passengers or other pilots or alone. The longest I have gone without flying as PIC since the day I passed my checkride is 12 days - not even two weeks!

I have completed 6 flights since I passed the checkride on August 28th, 3 in the 152 and 3 in the 172 including a cross country of 191 miles.

When you feel uncomfortable about flying, that is when you should take either your CFI or another pilot along with you. This usually occurs after a longer period than your used to going without flying.

Learn to recognize when your being overly confident. It's the cocky ones who have a tendency to be squawking 7700 a little more than the conservative ones.

John

 

[Kaye]

Right now....and it's too long!

 

[kimberlyanne546]

http://youtu.be/KF5B2uU2JuY

 

[Henning]

Well, it's been a busy year at my home and I havn't been able to commit to a club or even fly as often as I definitely would have liked. Last three years, I was a 50hr/year pilot, which is where my budget floated for my flying. Enter a 3rd daughter last year and the need to renovate on the house this year to get my twin daughters into the 3rd floor as a bedroom, and my flying hours went down the crapper.

Three flights this year (all with CFI's), March 4th in a C172SP, May 12th in a Citabria, ..... and then a long summer of doing construction on my home. Yesterday, I was able to break away and get some time to fly once again and the weather finally cooperated (after 3 weeks of consecutive weather cancellations).

Surprisingly, it all came back rather quickly for being since March in the C172. In preparation though, I did review the checklists/ POH / and sat in front of a cockpit poster going thru the routine and location of items. New CFI, and away we climbed to the practice area. Slow flight, Clearing turns, Stalls, Steep turns right and then left right after one another, then engine out, and back to the airport for different types of TO/Landings. My GPS track was pretty good too.

Felt great to be back flying again and I hope to be more 'regular' now for the remainder of this year.

So how long have you had to layoff from flying and how was it when you returned?

There was nearly 4 years in which I flew maybe a dozen hours and 8 where I may have had 150. Flew nearly a 100 last year, that's almost 18,000 or about 2/3rds the way around the world....

 

[LDJones]

I flew pretty intensely after getting my license, flying several hundred hours in the first few years and adding a bunch of ratings. It tapered off as I worked on building careers and businesses, with one period of almost two years with no flying. But the rust came off pretty quickly upon returning to the air and managed a BFR and IPC successfully in just over a one hour flight after that hiatus. I still went out and did more practice after that to be sure I was completely up to speed, but never felt uncomfortable.

Biggest thing after a long break is figuring out what the FAA has been up to if you haven't been keeping up. But I've always kept FLYING and AOPA coming even when I wasn't flying and tried at least hit the highlights of watch issue.

 

[Henning]

I flew pretty intensely after getting my license, flying several hundred hours in the first few years and adding a bunch of ratings. It tapered off as I worked on building careers and businesses, with one period of almost two years with no flying. But the rust came off pretty quickly upon returning to the air and managed a BFR and IPC successfully in just over a one hour flight after that hiatus. I still went out and did more practice after that to be sure I was completely up to speed, but never felt uncomfortable.

Biggest thing after a long break is figuring out what the FAA has been up to if you haven't been keeping up. But I've always kept FLYING and AOPA coming even when I wasn't flying and tried at least hit the highlights of watch issue.

Yeah, I flew over 1000 in my first 3 years, most of it low level in the mountains doing oblique close up survey work. That contract was almost 700 hrs worth in one season... The Travel Air got a workout for that season but I couldn't ask for a better plane for the job, a turbo Travel Air.

 

[silver-eagle]

I am NOT trying to sound cocky here - but when do pilots decide they should hire a CFI instead of just fly alone to shake the rust off or find out if there is any rust? Why should I pay more?

My rental agreement does not require me to fly the little 152 or 172 every 90 days - in fact, there are no currency requirements like other flight schools have.

How will I know if I'm rusty or in need of a CFI? So far, my flights have been with non-pilot passengers or other pilots or alone. The longest I have gone without flying as PIC since the day I passed my checkride is 12 days - not even two weeks!

I have completed 6 flights since I passed the checkride on August 28th, 3 in the 152 and 3 in the 172 including a cross country of 191 miles.

If you participate in WINGS and try to get one stage a year, that's 3 hours a year. You also have your flight review to look forward to. But it's not a bad idea to get someone else to agree you really are the greatest pilot in the world. You might learn something new about yourself or your plane.
If you go for additional ratings or endorsements, you fly with a CFI anyway.

 

[Bobcat1]

How will I know if I'm rusty or in need of a CFI?

You'll know. You'll scare yourself once then you'll start looking for an instructor.
Happens to everybody. Don't worry about it.

 

[Bobcat1]

The longest layoff from flying I've had was 7 months back in 1974. I did have a 6 month layoff 11 years ago.

 

[Danos]

The longest gap in my logbook was about a year and two months durring my private training. My private took me almost 5 years all due to lack of funds, but I was still able to pull it off in about 65 hours out of Teterboro. My stick skilld didnt rust much which I think was due to obsessing over it durring the long periods that I wasnt able to fly. What i find is that the first thing to go for me is radio work. There was a long time where i wasnt flying IFR and my scan was still good but my radio work went out the window. Now that 99% of all the flying I do is IFR, my VFR radio protocol isnt so hot.

 

[astanley]

About 8 years. After grad school...