I'm trying to sort out a rough plan, although immediate goal is not to have a plan and just enjoy flying a few months. There are a few things I want to do before starting instrument - G1000 In's & Out's, become VERY proficient on. Plan is King Schools training plus instructor time. - Grass Strips - haven't actually done grass strips before. - Either King or Sporty's Risk training. - Weather training. I want to do my instrument, but don't know when I should start and how hard I should work on it. I really don't want to do the 2-3 lessons a week like I did for my private. Maybe just 1 lesson a week in a 61 program and that will give me another flight every week or two just to enjoy flying. Other things on my list, but also don't know when to plan on it - tail wheel - high performance/complex - multi-engine - sea plane - mountain - altitude - glider I don't think I have any interest or use right now for anything like commercial or CFI, but who knows. Let me hear a hundred different opinions and I don't expect any of them to be the same!
Not that I'm an expert or anything close but one thing told to me was the importance of "Energy Management" (altitude versus airspeed). A prime demonstration of this is performed by Bob Hoover in a twin (Shrike or Aero Commander?) with engines OFF, performing a full aerobatic routine. Through the whole routine he is trading altitude for speed and trading back again for altitude. Rolls, loops and one-wheel touch and go's. The concept is best learned in a glider. That will teach you the true essence (and dangers) of flying. True understanding and execution of energy management will save your life more than once during your flying career, especially while engaging in ALL of the other items on your list.. I would place glider at the top of your list and keep it there until you are proficient. BTW, CONGRATULATIONS!! Next to Ferraris, flying is a great way to blow huge amounts of cash.
They really pushed me to learn on the glass, but I fought back and limited only 4 hours to glass, including one solo. I thought it best to learn on the standard cockpit and then learn glass later. From my limited experience the safety advantage is traffic and radar. Not this year and probably not next, but I will own a plane someday and good chance it will be glass.
I just helped a client buy a Cessna 172 with a G1000 cockpit - great plane - very useful in these parts. I don't have a problem with them at all - there's just a lot more to flying - no "aviation" IMO.
I have flown sailplanes, I have flown in the mountains, and I have done some aerobatics. I think that the most rewarding was the sailplane experience and good spin training. Not in that order. The sailplane experience saved my bacon on a trip through the mountains when we flew the spine of the Cascades and the Sierra's in an airplane that wasn't designed for mountain flying. I used slope soaring and thermal lift to get myself out of several bad situation. Sailplanes are wonderful! They give you the essence of true flying and energy management that is SOOO important to know when flying anything. Get some sailplane experience, you'll love it!. Then simply enjoy flying for what it is. You are just starting. Switches
I overlooked the tailwheel requirement that is necessary now. Get that first so you can fly anything. When I was flying, that was all there was and it assumed no importance so get that first and then get some sailplane experience. Down there in Texas you should be able to find some good thermals and experience the magic of lift without the sound of an engine. MARVELOUS ! Switches
tail wheel is high on my list, problem is the FBO has a Bellanca Citabria and American Super Decathlon, but both require 150 hours. not sure how long before I have 150 hours. looking at my bank account post private pilot might be awhile. I could get the 10 hours or so of training required for tailwheel, but then I could only fly with instructor, that might be OK for the 1-2 years it takes to get 150 hours. I flew the SD for spin training and LOVED it. Not so much the spin training and heavy G's with some aerobatics, but I loved how sensitive the stick was, drove more like the challenge car. instructor showed me that on final you pretty much just have one finger on the stick making fine adjustments.
Couple of observations - flying the tailwheel aircraft, did you notice that you were flying right handed, instead of left handed? I used to be able to make most of those planes sing - right side up or inverted! But for my torn right shoulder rotator cuff, making manhandling much of anything a problem - including parallel parking the Mondial - I have basically retired. (Though I may try out a friend's T-6 and S2 here in a few weeks just for fun) Sitting in the middle of the plane, you are not having to deal with the "parallax" problem that most novice pilots experience in a side-by-side aircraft. Can you tell the difference? Goof Luck - Roy
Think I noticed the right hand, weird doing throttle on the left wall! Never really thought about the center perspective, but I have struggled with the side by side Skyhawk perspective.
I, too, would like to offer my congratulations and welcome you into the fraternity of pilots. As for follow on training, I'd like to offer to you the advice my primary instructor offered to me some 30 years ago after getting my private. "GO OUT AND ENJOY YOURSELF" Look, you worked your ass off to earn your license, go out and get in some flying time and experience. Relax. Take up your friends, wife, whomever. Just go out and fly and not have to concentrate on the lesson or the preparation for the checkride. Advanced ratings will be there for you whether a month from now or a year from now. I assure you that the instrument work will be more brutal than the private work. Experience and feeling comfortable in the cockpit will be your ally. I do recommend at sometime either upset training or a full aerobatics course. As it is frequently said, it will make you a better pilot. This way, if you should ever get caught in wake turbulance or a rotor from a thunderstorm or mountain wave, you'll know how to react and right the aircraft. As for mountain flying, please avail yourself of some local mountain flying training before travelling to mountainous areas. I fly in the Rockies and from having spent many years of search and rescue with CAP scraping "flatlanders" out of the rockpile, the thing you learn is to respect the rocks and the weather they generate. Although of lesser height, the same thing could be said for the more eastern mountain ranges. Again, Congratulations, best wishes, and best of luck in your future flying endeavors. Planeflyr
A belated CONGRATULATIONS Rob. Flying is great. Hope you are able to have as much fun with the third dimention as I. Keep your nose down in the turns and always fly safe. Seghetti
Thank you very much. I was scanning some Reno pics and came across your baby. Maybe I can be out there in a few years. Well, first of all as spectator, but maybe in a T-6 eventually.
T-6 wow. I had more fun in my SLUG (t-6) than any other machine ever flown. Something you should plan ahead for Rob. Get lots of Citabria time. Then 20 30 hours in a Stearman before adressing the Six. You will love it. The T-6 racers have a very good time at Reno. The Pratt & Whitney 600 hp momo is very reliable and there is rarely any drop outs due to eng stuff. Great fun. ss
I took my first flying lesson May 14, 2007. As of October I had my Private, Multi and Instrument ratings and bought a Cirrus. I say the best thing to do after your private is find a big twin (Aztec is what I used) and get instrument rated and your multi at the same time. By the way, you're also getting high performance and complex time at the same time too.
Holy cow, you really "flew" through it. How many times were you flying a week? Must have been 4-5 flights at least. How are you liking the Cirrus? Which one did you get?
It's funny. I remember reading all of your posts when you first started. You were a couple weeks ahead of me at the time so reading all your posts helped me be ready on what to expect. I got my private in 5 weeks. I think what made it easy is that I found a CFI that I could meet at 7am and we'd fly till 7pm. I also did my private at a non towered field. We'd meet in the morning and do touch and go's for 5 hours straight. My longest rating was my multi because I did it at PDK in Atlanta. I hate all of the bureaucracy of flying and flight training and that rating took longer than it should have because of all the BS I had to deal with. For my instrument I went back to my original CFI in Florida and we'd just fly for hours ad hours in IMC. Somehow it worked out that every time I did instrument training we were in IMC. I got my instrument in about 2 and half weeks. I got an SR22. It's an awesome plane but I already want a faster one. I want a single engine turbine. I think prices are gonna drop a lot on planes in the next couple years due to all the new tech so I'm kinda riding it out and watching what happens.
I really like the Meridien. I think it's the perfect plane for me. TBM even more so but they're a lot more money. With all the new avionics technology coming out and all the new VLJ's I gotta know what's gonna happen to the market before I spend that kind of money on a plane.
As a 13,000 hour airline pilot, Rob, this is NOT the way to go. There is NO WAY that training can ever take the place of good old experience. There are many dead professional types with fancy airplanes that stand as a testament to this sort of foolishness. Just because the airplane is capable does not mean that you as a low time pilot are! While I admire anyone that can get through all the ratings in a minimum amount of time, a pilot that does not make. Many times decisions that are made when you are under pressure to fly from family or friends, or under time constraints prove whether you are cut out to be a truly professional aviator (which has nothing to do with money). Rob, my best advice is the advice given by another Fchatter here - go out and enjoy yourself. Do not put yourself in any "I HAVE TO FLY" positions, make sure that your personal minimums are high enough so that you feel comfortable in the aircraft, and nibble at the edges of aviation. By doing this, you will gain the neccessary real world experience that you need to continue your trek in this aeronautical world. After you gain 200 hours or so of this type of fun flying go for the most important ticket of all - your instrument rating. Best of luck and welcome to the pilot fraternity! Mark Wyant
This is an older thread, but I agree with you. After my private I did get my tailwheel which I've really enjoyed. I also got HP/Complex so I can rent the Skylanes for XC's. I started my instrument early in the year and went through everything quickly, but have held (no pun ) at the point I need to take the written and final XC before checkride. All summer every 10-14 days we go up for 2-3 hours and try different approaches and things for practice. I have no desire to fly IFR by myself right now, so no motivation to finish off my ticket. The main goal of taking the instrument was to become a better pilot, which I have. So all summer I have basically been going above and beyond with my skills when I could have taken the written for my Instrument back in June. I will get tired of not finishing it up shortly, take the written, and then get my instrument. I plan to do Commercial this winter so next year when I do Multi I will get the Commercial Multi. Things are going well, I have about 180 hours and like the variety of the FBO's planes. Saturday I'm taking the Super Decathlon to a Commemorative Air Force show, during the next week I will have Instrument practice in a Skyhawk, and then in a couple weeks we're taking a Skylane Turbo to Big Bend (420 nm). Just having fun, as you say.
Good for you ! As an aside, I would go on and take the checkride. While you may not feel up to flying IFR by yourself right now, all of your flights need to be filed IFR and you need to work in the system. This will give you the comfort level that you need when you make that first IMC flight. Best time for that flight is coming up, in the fall when there is low scud in the mornings topping around 2500 feet and you can make multiple approaches in the soup down to 600 - 700 feet. It is very smooth and gives you some real time experience that is valuable. Of course, you can't do this without an instructor without your ticket so go on and finish it up and take your ride. Some time you will have to come fly with me out at Love. I have an Aerostar based there. Best Mark Image Unavailable, Please Login
