That funky smell in the sky today...

[beasly]

Was Beasly stinking it up after a 3 year hiatus in pursuit of his BFR*

Talk about stink.

p.u.


It was good to be in the air again, but the deterioration in my skill set is shocking and is going to take work to correct.

• Cockpit management skills gone.
• I spent 10 minutes looking for a misplaced checklist only to find it in my back pocket where I unconsciously put it out of habit from when I could actually fly a darn airplane.
• Maneuvers? Private pilot level--meh. My standards? pfftt.
• Flows that where second nature? gone--pffft--patoie.
• Where the heck to look--things like, 'Where is the rpm gauge again?'
• Where do I plug my headset in (seriously, that took 5 minutes to figure out--in an airplane that I soloed my first student in)
• Did I just dive for the runway on a simulated engine out? WTF????
• Am I supposed to be at 70 Kts or 75 Kts on final?
• Am I at GMT - 5 or GMT -4??
• Am I reading this TAF correctly?

Weather was perfect to for 27-09 X-wind practice too.

KORL 032353Z 22013G21KT 10SM CLR 27/14 A2981 RMK AO2 PK WND 20028/2329 SLP098 T02720144 10317 20272 53011
KORL 032253Z 22016G25KT 10SM CLR 29/13 A2980 RMK AO2 PK WND 21029/2213 SLP093 T02890133
KORL 032153Z 21016G25KT 10SM SCT070 29/14 A2978 RMK AO2 PK WND 19030/2116 SLP087 T02940139

The kind of cross-wind that I enjoy and I could not even manage my darn airspeed and approach correctly.

So, lessons learned.

• Just because I could, does not mean that I can--not even close.
• My assumption that I would spend 1 hour 'getting the rust out' and another hour 'being the professional I was 3 years ago' was wrong.
• Yeah, I should have chair-flown and re-memorized it all down cold.
• In talking to my friend/fellow CFI, he said that he puts an extra hour ground and flight for every year not in the air above and beyond the FAA regs.I see why.
• I will be hitting the books again. Bill Parcels used to say at the end of a football season, 'you don't pick up where you left off, you start over.' I definitely need to budget the time, set aside some other projects and do the work required to be a pilot again.
• at 950 hrs and about 600 dual given its a bit hard to lose the ego and do the work.
• aviation is till expensive

What's funny, though is that in career terms I have made a mental jump in my mind--this morning I was a computer programmer, this afternoon I am back in aviation (with the caveat that I cannot actually fly an airplane competently)

I will be stinking it up a bit later this week, so hold your noses; hopefully it won't be the nasty stuff I left in the sky today.

peace!

*yah, its named something stupid now, I know.

 

[A150K]

You planning to renew/reinstate your CFI as well?

 

[Crockrocket94]

I havent flown a single engine or piston in over 3 years so I can only imagine how I would be in one of those.

 

[Acadia]

This is actually a good reality check for me. I have not flown since 2007, and I plan to get current again and start flying a bit more consistently this year. I am betting I will be in for a bruising when I first jump back in.

 

[ProudPilot]

Yeah I just did my IPC last night in an FTD with an old colleague. It had been a year. Seeing as I have about 700 hours in that aircraft, I only held +/- 75' with a few 100' whoops here and there. Partial panel was ok, but not what it used to be. Disuse is a problem. Just realize it. My mins used to be 200 / 1/2 in mod turb. Now I can't see doing anything less than 800 / 1 smooth air and higher if bumpy. Personal minimums are flexible and should always be like that.