Seriously rusty pilot looking to get back into it

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Mycroft17

Pre-Flight
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Feb 10, 2019
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KFMY
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Mycroft17
Last logged flight was over 20 years ago. Now I'm just hoping I can get an SI for a Class-3. Twenty years has taken a toll on the body...

Probably will be based out of KFMY if I get the medical. Any recommendations on FBOs, Clubs, etc in the area are appreciated.
 
There's always Sport Pilot and Light Sport Planes. No medical needed . . . .
 
Good luck! I hadn't flown in 9 years myself but an hour on the ground and .9 in the air and I was back in business. It was like riding a bike.
 
Welcome back! I went over 20 years. It comes back quick, could land smoothly on my second flight. On my third flight I took the radios and felt a bit overwhelmed at first but that went away quickly. With GPS, HSI, glass cockpits, flight computers and electronic flight bags, it's kind of trip to compare your last flights with your first flights back. Definitely a time machine moment..... Of course depending on the plane, you might not notice any difference, lol.
 
My last flights were with standard gauges and NAV/COMs and a yoke mount non-IFR GPS (Lowrance, I think).
 
Mycroft17 said:
Last logged flight was over 20 years ago. Now I'm just hoping I can get an SI for a Class-3. Twenty years has taken a toll on the body...

Probably will be based out of KFMY if I get the medical. Any recommendations on FBOs, Clubs, etc in the area are appreciated.
Click to expand...
Welcome back!

I don't know anything about basic med, but do you qualify? And, things on the yoke have gotten bigger, lighter, and do way cooler things :)
 
Eric Stoltz said:
I don't know anything about basic med, but do you qualify? And, things on the yoke have gotten bigger, lighter, and do way cooler things :)
Click to expand...

Unfortunately not. My last Class 3 was in 2002, and it would have had to be 2006 to qualify.
 
Mycroft17 said:
My last flights were with standard gauges and NAV/COMs and a yoke mount non-IFR GPS (Lowrance, I think).
Click to expand...

Take your time, the AOPA says 1 hour per year to get back. New airspace and lots of great new avionics tech. Engines, not so much. I was out 26 years until July 2017, took me at least 20 hours to get back into it and comfortable, which is important. Ready for my IFR check ride now. You may be able to come back in an hour, but most don't, make your own journey. Be sure you get advice before going the SI route, because if you fail, it may be permanent and rules out the sport pilot route. Research your SI before the exam, a couple AME docs frequent the medical forum here, good place to start. Welcome back.
 
I was inactive for some 30 years and after about 10 hours, I was very comfortable back in the cockpit with steam gages and ForeFlight.

Just recently back again after another 4 year intermittent (couple of flights a year with CFI’s) layoff and did my BFR a month ago. I took the Light Sport route so I didn’t try for an SI after consulting with Dr Bruce Chien. I highly recommend him http://www.aeromedicaldoc.com/

Cheers
 
Yup a vast majority is like trading a bike... yes you need to polish rust off but it’ll come back quicker than you think.... do some arm chair flying first... I took 4 years off, I get that’s not 20, but I went out and bought a tail dragger... landed her on my own first try- though needed a bit of help on the roll out but that was the tailwheel part- I touched her down just fine...I was shocked how natural it felt strapping the wings back on...

Welcome back- you can do it!
 
I took 30+ years off. When I came back it was like waking up from a 30+ year coma. Headsets, Ipad, Foreflight, and POA !!! What a difference 30+ years makes. And it took 8 hours of dual for me to make my second solo. Now I co-own a 172 and fly regularly.
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I wasn't that bad. There's a ten year hole in my logbook. Grab the AIM and Airplane Flying Handbook (both available online) and maybe a part 61/91 Far excerpt and study. Then find an instructor and go fly. Took me about three or four lessons to get back into the swing of things.
 
What kind of flying do you want to do?

I took 20+ years off signed off in about 7 hours basically a mini private pilot going through all of the basics again. The first three lessons were horrible. Then it clicked again. The airspace and knowledge stuff you can just spend a bunch of time on YouTube getting up to speed.

Make sure you can get the medical before you take it. If you fail you are done until you can pass it. There are a lot of very capable Light Sport planes out there. Hardest part might be finding an instructor in one.
 
I had a consult with an AME on Wednesday. Other than having to switch my diabetes medicine to something on the approved list, he didn't see any major issues with the medical. It will have to be an SI because of the diabetes, but that's pretty common. Saw my PCP yesterday, and am picking up the new prescription today. Need 30-60 days on the new meds to show stability before I can actually do the medical. The rest of it is statements from my PCP and so on.

Looked into the LSA some. Really would prefer to get a third class so I can do an Instrument refresher as well.

Thanks for the encouragement!
 
20 year hiatus for me... Joined a club but only flew about 20 hour a year because the airplane was 40 minutes from my house (on a good traffic day)... Flown that much in the first 2 months since I bought my Mooney and based it locally.

I didn't need a SI, but I did have some issues that required extra paperwork. It all took about 6 weeks IIRC... Got Basic Med for the first time this month. Easy Peazy! Good Luck, and welcome back.
 
It's going to be 30-40 minutes to the airport now. When I got my certificate back in the 90s, it was 10 minutes. :). When I moved in '98 it changed to 45-60 minutes, which is one of the big reasons I stopped flying. I probably should have found a club or something at the closer airport (20 minutes), but I got my scuba diving certificate in '98, and I could really only afford one expensive hobby at the time.
 
Well, I can now. I just couldn't then. We just did 17 days diving in Sulawesi, Indonesia in December.
 
I got my ppl in 1978 and lost it the next year at age 28 after being diagnosed with adult onset type 1 diabetes. I regained my class 3 medical with a SI and then went to Basic Med. It took almost 9 months to get the FAA to issue my class 3 so by the time I got it I only had 3 months left to use it and decided to go the Basic Med route. I was very rusty (39 years out of the cockpit) when I started lessons to requalify. The first few hours were a little rough. I originally got my license in a Cherokee. The flight school I went to used 172's which I found a little harder to fly than the Cherokee. One lesson I learned the hard way is that some flight schools will take advantage of you if they can get away with it. After about 30 hours of retraining (yes I know the rule of thumb is one hour for every year out of the cockpit) I felt I pretty well had the hang of it again. I kept asking my instructor to do the BFR and he kept saying "you're not quite ready." Long story short I found another CFI at the school next door and completed the BFR with no problem. Hang in there and you can make it happen:yes:
 
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