is flying relaxing for you?

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Monpilot

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Monpilot
my last flight was over labor day and i'm wanting to get up soon but life simply gets in the way sometimes....

however.....

I was dead tired on my xcountry both after landing when I got there and landing when I got home. what with thinking about fuel, density altitude, bumps in the air, steering clear of clouds, watching for aircraft, trying to reach FSS, keeping an ear out for my tail number from ATC during flight following, switching frequencies, scanning instruments, listening to weather on com2 at the same time i'm on com1, checking foreflight for emergency airports, etc etc etc..

i'm a low time pilot with less than 100 hours but so far it hasn't been relaxing. enjoyable, yes.. but I haven't landed ready to give a business presentation or other activity that i'd need to be fresh and gung ho about...

so, for you, at what point did flying become a relaxing hobby, or has it?
 
Nothing for me is as challenging, yet relaxing, as flying the airplane.

Pretty much always has been.
 
Take short flights in the late afternoon when the world gets real pretty under all that golden light. That's relaxing.

As for vfr cross country flights, I find nothing at all relaxing about them, especially here on the east coast. I file everywhere, even when cavu, for the sake of airspace transparency. Build the hours, get the IR.
 
I would posit that 'enjoyable' = 'relaxing'

My first hours when I was 17 were absolutely draining, intense, anxious and fantastic all at the same time.

My first hours after college were in a gliding club. That's what I did on weekends... all day, both days. Nothing more relaxing than floating around in a glider? Most of it was pulling ropes, running wings and hauling aircraft around by hand. The flying was hard work trying to stay up as long as possible while practicing various manuevers for the license. It was more relaxing than work.

People think of gliding as the ultimate in flying relaxation. I'll go to the Caribbean if I want a beach and a Corona. I took up racing which was all about getting off a low tow full of water, getting up to starting altitude then trying to beat 20 other pilots around a course without landing in a cow pen. It was never quiet because of the audio on the variometer which told you every second whether the air was going up or down and whether you were flying too fast or too slow. A condition that changed every second. That sound still makes my stomach turn. I never had more fun and I hope I was relaxed.

When i started cruising around in my Maule, I found landings and takeoffs fun and engaging but the cruising was a bore. Constant adjustments to keep it going straight and level or I could just play around but without purpose. Then I got my IR and found it challenging again.

Now I get really relaxed cruising along at 8k, in a plane I built, AP engaged, periodically updating ATC on my progress along my IFR clearance on a CAVU day. Just enough to do to keep me engaged. Very relaxing. Just add weather to make it challenging and relaxing.

That's how I relax.
 
The short answer ... yes. The long answer ... well yes too. I find the challenges of flying to be relaxing and mentally stimulating. It is in many ways different from what I do for a living, but requires a similar type of concentration. I think the reason I find it so relaxing is that is one of the few things that I do that I requires my complete and utmost attention. While flying I think of really nothing else but flying(which is probably why I do most of my flying solo) and I am able to empty my mind of the problems of my flying life. It is like ctrl alt del for me. It is for all intensive purposes my twice a week and occasionally three times a week therapy.
 
It depends on the flying you are doing. Cruising along on a CAVU day, absolutely. :yesnod: Trying to hold your position at night over a wildly gyrating fishing boat in 15kts gusting to 45 in the rain?? Not so much. :nonod:
 
I think flying can be relaxing, but being anxious is part of the learning process. I was more relaxed on an IFR flight plan, even with some weather thrown in, than I was flying VFR, up until I started flying more VFR and now it's very relaxing. :D
I think the more you fly the more relaxed you'll be, just don't get too relaxed.;)
 
For me, the actual flight isn't particularly relaxing (enjoyable, wonderful, but not relaxing). My relaxation comes afterward...putting the aircraft "to bed" and enjoying the afterglow (for lack of a better word) on the drive home and for the rest of the day.
 
I can't think of anything more relaxing than an early morning flight with my coffee and music around the Florida countryside.

RT
 
Very relaxing unless weather makes a CC decision making tuff.

I love flying, must have been a bird in another life.
 
Bob Noel said:
For me, the actual flight isn't particularly relaxing (enjoyable, wonderful, but not relaxing). My relaxation comes afterward...putting the aircraft "to bed" and enjoying the afterglow (for lack of a better word) on the drive home and for the rest of the day.
Click to expand...

The joy is cheating death is a powerful rush. I've heard about your landings. ;)

Kidding!


:rofl:
 
Take a flying vacation to Alaska. Best money and time you will ever spend flying. :yes:
 
Are you flying alone?
When I was at about 90 hours, last October, I flew from Houston (IWS) to New Smyrna Florida (EVB) with a stop at 82J. It took 3 and 3/4 hours to 82 j and another nearly 3 hours to EVB.
It was very enjoyable because I harped my wonderful wife with me and we enjoyed the views and each other.
But at times it was stressful keeping up with flight following near New Orleans and Pensacola.
Since then we have done many more cross countries, I won't say more relaxed but at least I recognize quicker when plane is drifting, ascending or climbing

What the others have said is true, just fly more short flights etc and get comfortable with the plane, view and sounds.
Lynn
 
Unbelievably relaxing. Some people do yoga. I go fly. Even in law school 34 years ago an hour of touch & goes was relaxation therapy.
 
Threefingeredjack said:
It depends on the flying you are doing. Cruising along on a CAVU day, absolutely. :yesnod: Trying to hold your position at night over a wildly gyrating fishing boat in 15kts gusting to 45 in the rain?? Not so much. :nonod:
Click to expand...

Yeah I can't quite relate to Thee Finger Jack but flying along on a nice sunny day is relaxing, getting iced up in IMC over a mountain range can be stressful. And pushing your fuel reserves is never a holiday party either.
 
Chip Sylverne said:
Take short flights in the late afternoon when the world gets real pretty under all that golden light. That's relaxing.

As for vfr cross country flights, I find nothing at all relaxing about them, especially here on the east coast. I file everywhere, even when cavu, for the sake of airspace transparency. Build the hours, get the IR.
Click to expand...

The IR is great. Lack of worry about airspace is a big plus. There's R space out in the middle of the state that I go around VFR. SEA center routes me through it when it isn't hot. Saves time. Don't have to worry about FF being dropped. Don't have to worry when viz drops because of smoke from fires in the area. The IR was worth the work.

Now, is flying relaxing? To quote a good friend of mine, "It depends". :D
 
Ghery said:
The IR is great. Lack of worry about airspace is a big plus. There's R space out in the middle of the state that I go around VFR. SEA center routes me through it when it isn't hot. Saves time. Don't have to worry about FF being dropped. Don't have to worry when viz drops because of smoke from fires in the area. The IR was worth the work.

Now, is flying relaxing? To quote a good friend of mine, "It depends". :D
Click to expand...

It all boils down to granny's underwear now doesn't it.
 
Depends. If I'm up doing something I HAVE to do it can be work (still beats driving) but if I'm only up for fun, or going someplace for fun absolutely.

Kind of like driving, getting stuck in traffic sucks, but a good machine and an open twisty road...
 
I guess once again I find myself in the minority. I find using ATC for either flight following or IF flight relaxing as much as I find flying without ATC direction, just in a different way. But then again I used to do calculus and biophysical chemistry for fun and relaxation in a prior life.
 
If it makes any sense, I find flying to be all-consuming while I am flying, and afterwards I am relaxed.

'Gimp
 
Flying his never been "relaxing" for me. But it allows me to use a different part of my brain. During flight training, I found my mind was in a totally different place than during the rest of my life. All the "flying" things in my head didn't allow room for anything else. After a while, I realized that was one of the things I liked best about flying. Now, My wife and I have an agreement... From the second we get in the car and head for the airport, we aren't allowed to talk about house projects, taxes, parents, kids, work, or anything except issues related to the flight or trip. Really. This has kept flying special for us... Not necessarily "relaxing", like laying on the couch, but special.
I will have to say that one flight, down the Baja at 1,000 ft, 1/4 mile offshore, in perfect weather, listening to smooth jazz verged on "relaxing".
 
I find flying relaxing. After a bad day of work it's the best. I said it to someone else and it made sense, "You can't take your ground issues up in the sky it's a different kind of stress up in the sky - but one I know about" So when my manager *rode my ass* about doing xyz and then I go to the airport and fly around for a bit by the time I land I forgot any sort of work issue (until the next morning) so flying for me is like why some people go for a run or go to the gym I don't lose weight my way.
 
Relaxing: Absolutely.

I have a mind that sometimes refuses to stop mulling things. I'll be sitting starting at the idiot box at night, and suddenly a problem I have at work will pop into my head and start working itself out.

As such, I've migrated to hobbies where they demand my absolute focus and attention while I'm doing them. Used to referee a lot of hockey games (not much of that down here in TN though) for that reason. Same thing with flying. On short final with a gusting crosswind, I need complete focus and attention on the task at hand. It frees my mind from the worries of the day in an incredibly effective way, and as such, relaxes me immensely.
 
The most relaxing aspect of flying for me is avoiding 3 hours of Friday night traffic in an old POS car.
 
Relaxing, as a low time pilot my biggest stress is planning a flight with pax. Not that I am going to be any less safe if it just me, something about the responsibility of having others depending on your decisions. Once I am in the air, even with pax, it is relaxing.

Flying a cc by myself is almost (I can't pick the perfect word): magical, spiritual, healing. Additionally, it is enjoyable, wonderful, perfect and fun.

Jim
 
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