9 yrs out and headed back

J

jskibo

Done
Excuse the newness....

Its been 9 years since I flew last (most of it before that was at College and Navy Flying Club NAS Whidbey). I have come close to going back to flying several times, but my job, travel and relocation always got in the way. Heck I even bought a house with a 2 A/C hangar on a private strip (2OK2) and couldn't manage to get back in the air.

So here I am, 5 company moves later, sitting on the left coast (Much nicer than Saudi :) ) and finally the stars are aligning and I'm taking a Warrior up Saturday to knock off the rust, get my BFR out of the way and start where I left off (Instrument).

Hopefully it comes back quickly. I'd like to knock out the rest of my ratings and get the CFII / MEI before the end of next year.

Any advice for a rusty old flyer is welcome!
 
Props to your motivation for getting back in the air. It'll be refreshing to get back into flying. The longest I've gone without flying since I started was 6 months, on two occasions, and I thought that was long enough and was pretty excited when I started back.

Good luck on the training, have a good time and stay safe!
 
You will find that it will take 2-3 flights for it to come back and by the 5-6 flight it will be like you never left.

Good luck this weekend!
 
Good to hear you're gettin' back into it. I've taken a few breaks, but none as long as that. Enjoy it, it usually comes back pretty easily.
 
Went pretty well today. I was excited all week to get back, then a bit nervous this morning. KLGB is about the busiest I have flown out of.

Went over some basics on the ground, took off 25L, left at River for the Queen and the practice area. I had a nice departure, trimmed for 76 and held to 3000. I was +50 on the top of the climb, but got it back and trimmed up. Worked the local landmarks, then steep turns. A little rough left, then got the hang of it right. Next came the foggles and worked turns and descents for 30 min under the hood. Pointed out the southern landmarks to keep clear of SNA, then back to the pattern.

Not used to Jetblue running under me on the downwind (they were on the ILS for 30), tht will take some getting used to. Tower held me long on downwind, called my base and had a real nice approach. Glideslope perfect, but floated the damn thing a bit.

I need some more pattern work to personally feel comfortable and I missed one radio call, so I need to pay atention. Flying was great!! I missed it alot and glad I'm back.

Another flight or two and I'll be fine. Going to go ahead and start working that Instrument Rating now. Next flight Friday after work!

I forgot how much I love it in the air......
 
jskibo said:
Excuse the newness....

Its been 9 years since I flew last (most of it before that was at College and Navy Flying Club NAS Whidbey). I have come close to going back to flying several times, but my job, travel and relocation always got in the way. Heck I even bought a house with a 2 A/C hangar on a private strip (2OK2) and couldn't manage to get back in the air.

So here I am, 5 company moves later, sitting on the left coast (Much nicer than Saudi :) ) and finally the stars are aligning and I'm taking a Warrior up Saturday to knock off the rust, get my BFR out of the way and start where I left off (Instrument).

Hopefully it comes back quickly. I'd like to knock out the rest of my ratings and get the CFII / MEI before the end of next year.

Any advice for a rusty old flyer is welcome!
Click to expand...

I had a Private for about 20 years and all of about 85 hrs. I hadn't flown as as pilot in 10 years except for a coulple of hours where my dad threw the yoke over on his bonanza. I then did this stupid refresher course to get my vfr skill up to snuff and get the bfr done. Then it was instrument part 141 due to low x c time. Commercial was done by time building and making sure I met the requirements, and that I started my training to hit 250 hrs, ready to take the check ride, Took a lot of breaks in my training, went back home to spain after ever phase... Did a couple of jobs for flights schools doing project management/business development stuff and tought the hard JAA Navigation syllabus, until I saw the future clear. Got my Comm ME Inst rating and went straight to the regional when they were hiring such. I prepared for the interview, which for me was resume based on other accomplishments in life, and told "We'll see how you fly the sim".

My biggest advice is look down the road and what you need to knock out and be your own career manager. Know the part 61 regs real well. Look for ways to get cheap flight time to build your hours.
 
Left aviation for 5 years. Used Microsoft Flight Simulator to get the scan back. Flew with a friend in a Mooney. Then went to SimuFlight for a 2 day recurrent on Citation 500 series, Had not flown a plane, other than the Mooney in 5 years, and had not flown a Citation in 17 years and did great.
 
I'm having a great time with it and I have a great instructor.

I have been up every Friday and Saturday for the past couple of weeks and it has come back to me fairly quickly. I have no idea what KLGB looks like since I've been under foggles for most of the past 6 - 7 hours, but my headings / altitudes / airspeeds have been holding well.

Last Saturday I got a chance at an IFR departure, some practice area work (over the marine layer and under the hood) and an ILS and it went pretty smooth.

I'd like to wrap up the instrument before the end of the year and then knock out my Multi in the Seminole (so I get the complex as well).

Will be looking for time building opportunities as this progresses....

Overall I am so happy to be back in the air! I really missed it!!
 
Would you agree that it was easier than you thought it would be to get back in the cockpit after 9 years away?
 
JOEFRIDAY2 said:
Would you agree that it was easier than you thought it would be to get back in the cockpit after 9 years away?
Click to expand...


I was excited to go back for the weeks leading up to it, then as it got down to the last few days, I got nervous.....

I spent a few weeks reviewing the PPL material and also watching the DVD's and reviewing the Instrument material. The plan was to work my BFR in conjunction with my instrument training.

The first day went fairly well. I could hold heading and altitudes reasonably well. Steep turns and standard rate turns were fine and the first 40 min under the hood went well. What needed help were landings (flaring too early and floating) and getting back to feeling comfortable with the radio in a high traffic environment.

I have been flying twice a week and I'm about 15 hours into it now, and it has all come back. Hood work has been very good (in fact I have no idea what it looks like around SoCal as I'm always wearing foggles :cool: ). I have some actual IFR time too. I have been doing well on VOR, LDA and ILS approaches around SoCal. The comfort with the radio is back. I was out last night for night currency (beautiful night, no marine layer) and had no problems. I'm going to fly a X-Country on Saturday and my BFR will be done and I'll keep pressing on the Instrument (need another 11 hours of X-Country to hit minimums).

Overall a pleasent surprise that it came back as quickly as it did. It really is like riding a bike!

Plan now is to finish the Instrument and build time with some of the other students flying over there (or wherever I can get some cheap SEL time in SoCal) to hit commercial minimums, then get the Commercial and Multi. If all is going well I would like to get my CFI / CFII / MEI. My wife and son want to work on their PPL eventually (She wants to pass the BAR exam in July first) and there's some younger ones in the house I want to see if I can inspire as well.

Glad I made the choice to come back to flying!
 
Congrats on getting back up- best advice I could give is that there WILL be rust to knock off, so be patient with yourself. It'll come back after a few hops. :)
 
Well it took about 15 hours (a lot of it was instrument work time as well), but I flew LGB - SEE today and that wraps the flying up for my BFR, a little ground work on Friday and I'll have my BFR and be current again. What a great feeling!

Going to see if I can't finish up the Instrument by December now (or at least by Christmas).

Best decision I made was getting back in the air! ;)
 
Great story and a great inspiration to those that have stayed on the ground for years!

I've seen the same story repeated over and over. Out of flying for years then wondering if you still have what it takes to come back in.

Flying is like riding a bike. Once you have it--it never goes away.
 
What flight school are you training out of and would you recommend your instructor?

Thanks for the updates.
 
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