The 300 hour blahs

labbadabba said:
This is it, in a large way. I kinda don't want to admit to myself that I'm burned out on something I absolutely love and was a life-long dream to obtain. I've considered the Hutch trip quite a bit, especially now that my kids are old enough to enjoy it. (8 and 6) My older kiddo and I watched Apollo 13 recently and she thought the whole thing was pretty amazing (and terrifying).
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Most of the interior shots in that movie were done inside a rebuilt command and lunar module from parts at the Cosmosphere. Plus, the actual Odyssey is there (sometimes it's out on loan to other museums). If your kids liked the movie, they may like seeing the real thing.

There is a pretty poignant V2 display. When it was being refurbished, some panels were removed and inside they found signatures from some of the Jewish slave laborers used to assemble the thing.

The Liberty Bell 7 is there, too.

It's a great road trip for anyone. Plus, there's a steakhouse on the airport - haven't eaten there, so can't comment.

https://cosmo.org/

Apollo-13.jpg
 
labbadabba said:
The steakhouse is really quite tasty. I flew to KHUT a few times when time building.
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Make a family weekend of it. It's close enough that the time it takes to get to the airport, load everyone in, get to Hutch and get everyone unloaded, there is still time to see and do things long enough to fill up the remaining attention span of kids. Do the opposite the next day (visit something, then head back).

I flew down there with a group from OJC a long time ago. We must have had a dozen planes, so we staggered our takeoffs and routes to avoid hitting HUT at the same time. Problem is, well, that didn't work. We all ended up strung in a line like an OSH arrival. Making it even more fun was there was another group of about 6-7 planes coming up from somewhere in Oklahoma, not associated with us. Both our groups hit the airport at the same time. The tower controller was working with a Baron doing practice approaches, and then we all called in at once. I'm sure the controller dropped his McMuffin when that happened. I don't know if anyone had let tower know our group would be there, I think one of the organizers did, but I don't think the controller was ready. He was on the edge of losing situational awareness, but we all worked it out.

Good times.
 
Dave Arata said:
I too was boring quickly with flying and agreed to ferry a 150 from Oregon to Arizona a few weeks ago. That trip required three days to accomplish due weather and break downs. Needless to say, the flight didn't do too much to reinvigorate my desire to fly, so I signed up for tail wheel lessons. :)
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That is an adventure — a long VFR-only cross-country flight in a 150 sounds comparable to a long cross-country trip by canoe: it might be fun, but it won't be fast. On the bright side, you don't usually have to portage a 150.
 
As mentioned before, making the kids the priority is the right thing to do. "Dad" is a much more important title than "pilot". Not sure if you're asking overall how to get the flying bug back, or if you're asking what to do to restart the journey of becoming an airline pilot in your 40's as a single dad. My observation is that you would basically have to quit your job, become a CFI, and live like you were a starving student in college for a few years to get the hours. Then you get the crazy hours and days of a regional pilot. Does that fit with what you need to do with your family / kids? Only you can answer that.
 
labbadabba said:
I kinda don't want to admit to myself that I'm burned out on something I absolutely love and was a life-long dream to obtain.
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A time or two in 30 years I have found myself questioning my fire for flying, but it usually doesn't stick with me for that long. Just remember that it is okay to have valley moments. You can't stay on the mountain top all of the time. Often it just takes one trip to light the fire again, and remind us why we fell in love with aviation to begin with. I too believe the Hutch trip might be pretty good for you at this time, however I know they won't let you take the SR-71 that is on display in the museum for a spin. lol! I am sure you have probably heard the blackbird speed check story, but here is a link just in case.

https://partsolutions.com/supersonic-speed-check-tales-from-the-sr-71-blackbird/

I just texted an employee out at the Cosmosphere and he replied back that the Reno County Commission rescinded the Governor's mandatory mask mandate, and masks for visitors are now optional at the Cosmosphere, If that makes a difference to you. Usually the museum is not terribly crowded anyway. It's easy to stay in there for hours if your kids stay interested.

At those times when you get the blahs, just try to remember how lucky you are. Less than 1/4 of one percent of people in the U.S. are pilots. You can do something that 99+ percent of people in this country can only dream of.
 
Are you a custodial single parent? If so, you should put flying on the shelf for a while.

Otherwise, maybe you aren’t bored with flying as much as you’re bored with the 172. Get something faster and go farther. Or get a taildragger and never be bored flying again. Nothing like a J-3 for 20 minutes in the pattern at dusk. And nothing like a Bonanza or a Mooney to make half of the country into a weekend destination.
 
OneCharlieTango said:
Are you a custodial single parent? If so, you should put flying on the shelf for a while.

Otherwise, maybe you aren’t bored with flying as much as you’re bored with the 172. Get something faster and go farther. Or get a taildragger and never be bored flying again. Nothing like a J-3 for 20 minutes in the pattern at dusk. And nothing like a Bonanza or a Mooney to make half of the country into a weekend destination.
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50/50 joint custody but since I work from home, it's really more like 70/30. As someone suggested, at this point flying big iron isn't really attainable and that's okay. It would be nice to fly right seat in something big and fast some day just to do it.

As far as plane boredom, that really could be some of it. 90% of my time is in 172s. The other is in 182s or PA-28s. I did take one flight in an RV-7 which was eye opening lol.
 
Matthew said:
Most of the interior shots in that movie were done inside a rebuilt command and lunar module from parts at the Cosmosphere. Plus, the actual Odyssey is there (sometimes it's out on loan to other museums). If your kids liked the movie, they may like seeing the real thing.

There is a pretty poignant V2 display. When it was being refurbished, some panels were removed and inside they found signatures from some of the Jewish slave laborers used to assemble the thing.

The Liberty Bell 7 is there, too.

It's a great road trip for anyone. Plus, there's a steakhouse on the airport - haven't eaten there, so can't comment.

https://cosmo.org/

Apollo-13.jpg
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When I was there they had the flight ready Sputnik backup on display. A really cool place to visit.
 
Tarheelpilot said:
When I was there they had the flight ready Sputnik backup on display. A really cool place to visit.
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It is a surprise to find something like that world-class of a space museum in s/central KS. I read somewhere that it has more Soviet space items on display than any other museum outside of Russia.
 
labbadabba said:
As far as plane boredom, that really could be some of it. 90% of my time is in 172s. The other is in 182s or PA-28s. I did take one flight in an RV-7 which was eye opening lol.
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I have owned a Beech Sport for 25 years. Payed cash for it. Have flown it all over the country, it's slow but comfortable to fly. It really does not fit my mission needs but fulfils my passion for flying.

An accident in October 2020 took the vision in my right eye. With everything that has gone on since the accident my passion for flying seems in doubt. There are a lot of hoops to overcome and I'm not sure I'm up to it now, time will tell. I hope things work out for you, good luck and take care.
 
labbadabba said:
As far as plane boredom, that really could be some of it. 90% of my time is in 172s. The other is in 182s or PA-28s. I did take one flight in an RV-7 which was eye opening lol.
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With no offense to people who enjoy that kind of flying, if all I had to fly was 172s or PA-28s, I'd be bored with flying, too.

I drifted out of flying due to financial reasons when my kids were young, even though I hung on to the disassembled Taylorcraft in the garage. Later, I sold the T-Craft project and took up paramotoring when the kids were teenagers. That fit in with family life, because I could fly for an half hour or hour on the way home from work and still be home in time for dinner. Then more conventional ultralights, then "almost" ultralights, and up to the Hatz I'm flying now. It's not practical... but it's not boring, either.
 
Dana said:
With no offense to people who enjoy that kind of flying, if all I had to fly was 172s or PA-28s, I'd be bored with flying, too.

I drifted out of flying due to financial reasons when my kids were young, even though I hung on to the disassembled Taylorcraft in the garage. Later, I sold the T-Craft project and took up paramotoring when the kids were teenagers. That fit in with family life, because I could fly for an half hour or hour on the way home from work and still be home in time for dinner. Then more conventional ultralights, then "almost" ultralights, and up to the Hatz I'm flying now. It's not practical... but it's not boring, either.
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I get your point — I also dream of swapping my PA-28 for a little rag-and-tube taildragger when I retire — but the most-interesting parts of flying are external to the plane, whether navigating by pilotage following roads and rivers, participating in the complex dance of IFR operations with traffic you can't see (and, often, runways you don't see until seconds before landing), or just looking at the fall leaves. Regardless of what you're sitting in, you're in the sky, and that's pretty amazing.
 
I can kindof relate with the OP...as an off and on rusty pilot most of my adult life. When I was younger I sort of chased ratings and certifications.... finished private, started instrument, finished instrument tried for conventional gear and multi....planned on taking some upset aerbatics training but then I moved away...got rusty.... got recurrent, started commercial. It was kind of my way to have a purpose. Just going up alone wasn't as much fun...and without a purpose to drive me it was easy to focus energies into scuba diving and other things...and then after a few moves and a few cycles things got expensive... kids now so hard to justify the time and money....

Dana said:
...... Later, I sold the T-Craft project and took up paramotoring when the kids were teenagers. That fit in with family life, because I could fly for an half hour or hour on the way home from work and still be home in time for dinner. ....
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paramotoring is something I'm becoming curious about lately. Seems like it could be a way to get in some purely fun flying for much less money. With hangars impossible to come by around here & the cost of re-entry into GA quite steep in terms of both money and time, it seems like a neat way to have some flying fun...just wouldn't be so useful for going places with the family...regardless, I'm older now but still have a few more years left of being in good enough shape I think to do it.... I've been toying with the idea of finding a way to get a discovery flight on a trike or something.... I don't see folks doing here in my immediate area though so it too could be a solo activity....
 
David Megginson said:
I get your point — I also dream of swapping my PA-28 for a little rag-and-tube taildragger when I retire — but the most-interesting parts of flying are external to the plane, whether navigating by pilotage following roads and rivers, participating in the complex dance of IFR operations with traffic you can't see (and, often, runways you don't see until seconds before landing), or just looking at the fall leaves. Regardless of what you're sitting in, you're in the sky, and that's pretty amazing.
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A big draw to aviation for me is also outside of the airplane, it's the people. Our community tends to draw interesting goal-driven people with diverse interests. Our club Archer is in annual so I was out at FDK cleaning and waxing the belly and other stuff that I don't get to as often as I should. It was a rainy Sunday and this guys hangar was open. He just moved it in after two years of restoration work and was happy to talk about it! To say it was clean is an understatement - I thought the firewall was a mirror.

k0MGl9r.jpg
 
I got into the flying doldrums with a couple/few hundred hours too. In hindsight, I think it was the instrument training that sucked the life out of me.

But, what got it back was a year where I somehow ended up falling into a bunch of new flying opportunities. In the space of about a year, I got to fly my first aerobatics, tailwheel, skis, floats, and more. I also finished my instrument rating and did my first solo flights in actual and got to see some cool things that way.

The important thing is that I fell in love with flying again. Normally I'm a fairly aggressive driver, but after a flight, I'm so happy and chill that I just take it easy.

And I ended up coming full circle, back to going places. I still do fun flights now and then, but my primary use for aviation is to go places. Now I have an airplane that's good for that mission. But if I can ever manage to afford a second airplane, it's gonna be a purely fun plane. Something I can turn upside down, or land on water. I hope that the Lisa Akoya gets finished in time for me to buy one and have it be my retirement airplane. :)

Rgbeard said:
Forgive me, but I'm going to say it.

I believe you may have gotten into flying without a really good reason other than wanting to.
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Um... That's the best reason there is, and what got most of us started. It's what you discover AFTER you get into flying that keeps you going.
 
OneCharlieTango said:
No. It’s because raising children alone takes approximately 100% of available funds and 300% of available time.
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ha ha...my wife has her own business, I work full time...and with three kids one each in elementary, middle, and high school I would estimate that time percentage about right for us.... I can't imagine doing it alone! Most days when I leave work I feel like I'm going to a second job.... between the kids, getting dinner and other domestic chores, I can't keep up with house repairs and other stuff.....
 
schmookeeg said:
Sort of surprised to read this. Is the rationale because flying is a high-risk activity?
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I would think it's because the kids are going through a hard time and need close to 100% of any attention the custodial parent has left outside of work, etc., at least for a little while.
 
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