Types of flying you want no part of

[FloridaPilot]

"Types of flying you want no part of"

Other- I wouldn't fly a Helicopter (IMO) those people are crazy. If the engine quits or low RPM while flying you are pretty much a flying rock, and you know what flying rocks do!

 

[stratobee]

Single engine period. I occasionally do it when I absolutely have to, but it makes me nervous.

 

[TommyG]

Yep. Pretty much done 'em all. And some of the others as well.

I think 121 is probably the #1 thing I would avoid if at all possible. That and CFIing.

I agree on the 121. I do CFI part time, so that is enjoyable to me. Wouldn't want to do it full time. Been there done that.

 

[azure]

I chose "other" because I'd fly (and have flown all) any of your choices.

Yep. I can think of some things I'd definitely not do, like using a wingsuit. Probably skydiving too, but that is mostly because my ears wouldn't enjoy the pressure change. But neither of those were on the list.

 

[chartbundle]

But it's fun!

Well, at least if you have a problem you can pull the chute.

 

[mscard88]

Yep. I can think of some things I'd definitely not do, like using a wingsuit. Probably skydiving too, but that is mostly because my ears wouldn't enjoy the pressure change. But neither of those were on the list.

Definitely those two for sure!
Had an opportunity in Korea when a Combat PJ talked me into it. But then the day came to do it, and what happens? A guy breaks a leg jumping! See ya!

 

[Everskyward]

Yep. I can think of some things I'd definitely not do, like using a wingsuit. Probably skydiving too, but that is mostly because my ears wouldn't enjoy the pressure change. But neither of those were on the list.

Wingsuit, no. I did one tandem skydive. It was cool, but one of those things I only needed to do once.

I stood and watched people bungee jump into the Zambezi Gorge. I thought about it, for a split second...

 

[Mike Smith]

Wingsuit, no. I did one tandem skydive. It was cool, but one of those things I only needed to do once.

I stood and watched people bungee jump into the Zambezi Gorge. I thought about it, for a split second...

Me too, I agree with the complete quote.

 

[X3 Skier]

Never ever fly at night...............because my certificate prohibits it.

Cheers

 

[jordane93]

Well, at least if you have a problem you can pull the chute.

That's my solution for everything.

 

[bobmrg]

I'm not talking about the obvious stuff like not flying into thunderstorms. I'm talking about the things that many people do without hesitation, but you aren't so keen on yourself.

I've compiled a list of the top few that I've heard/read/seen over the years for the poll. For the purposes of the poll, in addition to "won't do" you can also substitute "things you really don't like to do but do anyway" or "types of flying that I'm not entirely comfortable with." You see where I'm coming from.

If you intend to be a professional (not necessarily airline) pilot you will do all of these things.

Bob Gardner

 

[RotorDude]

"Types of flying you want no part of"

Other- I wouldn't fly a Helicopter (IMO) those people are crazy. If the engine quits or low RPM while flying you are pretty much a flying rock, and you know what flying rocks do!

If the engine quits, you autorotate. Done properly, by a proficient pilot, you can land on a virtual postage stamp, with zero forward and downward speed at touchdown.
For me personally, autorotation practice (simulated engine out) is the best part of helicopter flying and perhaps the best part of aviation in general.

 

[VA Aviator]

ultralights. Uh uh. Nope. no way.

But ultralights - they look so damn flimsy and 2 strokes on a plane - nope. I love 2 stroke motorcycles. Dirt bikes should be 2T, but the effing EPA screwed that up. My street bike is a vintage RZ350 2T. Thats why I wont fly behind one. Id rather fly a near TBO Kinner than a 2T. I havent seized a Kinner, seized a few motorcycle 2T's though. Or fouled plugs in woods.

When I was a teen I had the opportunity to fly in a few "fat" ultralights (though the ones I flew in were registered as Experimental/Amateur Built)... and they were built just as you described... aluminum tubing... cherry max rivets... covered in sail cloth...2 smoke rotax... yeah. Then again, at that age and enthusiasm level you could probably have ratchet strapped some wings on a bulldozer with a propeller bolted to a B&S lawn mower engine and I would have been all over that s**t.

Now, at twice that age, I look at some of the E-LSAs (and some of the S-LSAs) cockeyed. Come to think of it, I'd probably be a little leery getting in some of the (tired, ratty old) certified aircraft I trained in then. Oh well, they were cheap, got the job done and I lived to tell about it...

 

[Fearless Tower]

About the only kind of flying that categorically does not appeal to me would be corporate flying for Abercrombie Fitch.

 

[Gucci Pilot]

I picked other for hot air balloons. Was in one that crashed into powerlines, caught fire, got 2nd degree burns...Never again.

Formation, have no desire to be that close to other aircraft if I don't have to.

Joe Cessna that wants to go try it and has no clue what he's doing...yeah I'll stay away from that. Someone that has had formal training, knows formation radio discipline, both aircraft have thoroughly briefed the flight, I'll do that any day of the week.

 

[Let'sgoflying!]

Some have a certain appeal, but I know I'm not going to ever try in this life.
Parachuteless skydiving (cardboard box, net, or midflight chute transfer; nope, none of those)
I have a friend beat up bad by a gyrocopter so I am a little down on them right now.
I think a dirigible would be most lethal; I'd like it for a half hour then be bored to death so I'd have to jump!

 

[ARFlyer]

I have no earthly interest in crop dusting. I don't think I'd be very good at it nor do I want to fly a plane that low and fast.

I've done everything else but long distances over water single engine. I've done long distance over water multi-engine. I won't lie it does make me slightly nervous, especially at night and/or with turbulence. It's completely irrational, but it still lingers at the back of my mind.

 

[Hank S]

Nothing on your choices is on my "I won't fly that" list . . . I've done all of them except overwater and experimental, only due to lack of options. I did fly NE over Lake Ontario from near Erie to Niagara, but I don't think I was ever out of gliding distance to land, so that won't count, right? Hey, it's not my fault,I got my license in WV and there's no big water anywhere near there. Same for my flights along the Outer Banks, definitely within gliding distance.

You only live once. What was the old commercial--go for all the gusto you can get! Just remember to,not be stupid while going for the gusto, and never try to fly near the edge of your envelope or the edge of the air . . .

 

[Tarheelpilot]

I enjoy crop dusting. Long overwater not so much. To say it makes me slightly nervous is a bit of an understatement. I took a king air e-90 from Texas to south Florida over the gulf one night many years ago. It is very dark out there and turbine engines sound funny in that environment. I don't think I could cross the pond. Hours of sitting there waiting for something to break... In the dark ... Over water. Pilots that do overwater trips are not paid enough.

 

[Zeldman]

I have always wanted to be a crop duster. Maybe after I retire, and if I can keep a medical.

I guess flying wild Alaska will have to suffice for now.

 

[unsafervguy]

Single engine. At night. Over water or mountains. Pick any two.

Jim

jim, if you pick single engine and over mountain, how do you get the 182 out of grass valley?

bob

 

[Everskyward]

I have always wanted to be a crop duster.

That's one thing I never wanted to do. Not so much because of the flying, but I wouldn't want to be around those chemicals all the time.


Says the person who worked in a darkroom for a number of years...

 

[Shawn]

I wouldn't fly a Helicopter (IMO) those people are crazy. If the engine quits or low RPM while flying you are pretty much a flying rock, and you know what flying rocks do!

 

[midcap]

Why are you guys worried about flying over water during the day?

I'd take that over trees, mountains, etc.

 

[RV10flyer]

No more NOE, Nap Of the Earth flying at night using NVG's.

 

[jesse]

None of that bothers me....an annoying reoccurring aviation dream involves me in IMC, iced up, at minimums, full power, unable to climb, altimeter unwinding, and no airport in sight. Wake up right when I realize I'm toast. That dream probably keeps me safer than anything else in airplanes.

 

[ronnieh]

If you intend to be a professional (not necessarily airline) pilot you will do all of these things.

Bob Gardner

This of course is correct. However, the question is not what have you done in the past but what do you not do now. At least that is the way I took it. Like most if not all on this board I flew single engines early on. I had no choice and even owned a couple. I checked the first choice because I no longer and have not in the past 30 years or so fly in single engine aircraft. This of course precludes all of the following choices. I might add if I had it to do over, I would again fly in SE aircraft and fly the same weather (well most of the same weather) in order to get to my goal. I just chose to remove the SE risk as early in my flying as I could.

 

[Tarheelpilot]

Why are you guys worried about flying over water during the day?

I'd take that over trees, mountains, etc.

For me it's not a rational bias against the operation. Obviously over water ops, especially turbine, are safer than crop dusting.

You do realize that all pilots are crazy. The craziness comes out a little different for each of us.

 

[SixPapaCharlie]

Crop Dusting over water. No Thank You

 

[Tarheelpilot]

Crop Dusting over water. No Thank You

It pays well from what I hear.

 

[Clark1961]

Crop Dusting over water. No Thank You

I've crop dusted many locations....oh, flying....never mind

 

[Let'sgoflying!]

I had to end my lengthy career as a chemtrail pilot. But I can't talk about why, of course.

 

[mscard88]

Crop Dusting over water. No Thank You

The fire guys/girls practice over water for their spray patterns to put fires out.

 

[mscard88]

I've crop dusted many locations....oh, flying....never mind

I always enjoy crop dusting at Wal Mart and then hang in the next aisle and listen for the screams of disgust! Smells like....victory!

 

[LDJones]

For me, the decision matrix is significantly more complex. I've flown /A single engine pistons at night, IFR, over water (well maybe not all three at the same time). I find there are some airplanes I just won't fly in, but that is a function of the airplane itself and how it's maintained.

I selected "Other" because the one thing I won't do is ferry flights in a piston single after the plane has been sitting a long time (i.e. a ferry flight after years of sitting). I've done a number of these flights in twins and will do them again, but I won't do them in singles. My reason is because I structure these flights to have minimal risk in the event of an engine failure for a twin (mainly by keeping the weight to a minimum), and my brain is tuned to twin flying. My single engine flying is minimal, so I'm just a safer twin pilot.

Many years ago a friend went and looked at a Cherokee 140 that had sat for quite awhile. After a thorough preflight he flew it around the patch a couple of times, then set off from central Michigan at night over Lake Michigan en route to North Dakota. I always thought that took some significantly enlarged gonads! He was a former F4 pilot in Vietnam so maybe it was no big deal.

 

[3 in the green]

I picked other for hot air balloons. Was in one that crashed into powerlines, caught fire, got 2nd degree burns...Never again.

Dang! See, that's what I'd rather avoid - thus my similar response.

 

[Anymouse]

I put "other". I've flown into sketchy backcountry strips, mountains, acro, etc.....but for some reason, I just refuse to go in a hot-air balloon.

I've flown in a balloon exactly once. It was a great ride, but I didn't bother landing with it.

 

[Everskyward]

This of course is correct. However, the question is not what have you done in the past but what do you not do now. At least that is the way I took it. Like most if not all on this board I flew single engines early on. I had no choice and even owned a couple. I checked the first choice because I no longer and have not in the past 30 years or so fly in single engine aircraft. This of course precludes all of the following choices. I might add if I had it to do over, I would again fly in SE aircraft and fly the same weather (well most of the same weather) in order to get to my goal. I just chose to remove the SE risk as early in my flying as I could.

I flew a lot of single engine early on, much of it over the mountains, some low level. Then I switched overnight to turbine twins and jets. I had a number of my co-workers tell me they would never fly over the mountains in a single. I got used to being required to be at a weight that the airplane would take off and meet all performance numbers on one engine. A number of years later I was offered a ride over the mountains in a single. I wondered if I would feel any differently about it having not done that in a long time. I didn't. It seemed as normal as it had in the past... even though his airplane didn't have quite the same climb rate as the one I had flown years ago.

 

[mscard88]

Many years ago a friend went and looked at a Cherokee 140 that had sat for quite awhile. After a thorough preflight he flew it around the patch a couple of times, then set off from central Michigan at night over Lake Michigan en route to North Dakota. I always thought that took some significantly enlarged gonads! He was a former F4 pilot in Vietnam so maybe it was no big deal.

What, you didn't ride along?

 

[midcap]

For me it's not a rational bias against the operation. Obviously over water ops, especially turbine, are safer than crop dusting.

You do realize that all pilots are crazy. The craziness comes out a little different for each of us.

I guess its the same reason I don't like flying over trees.