WacoFlyer

I just recieved my private pilot liscense last week but I have over 230hrs accumulated. i have been flying since i was 13, and I learned to fly in my dads 1977 Cessna 210M Centurion. Also I own a 1967 150H that im building hours in. (The pic of her is on the day I bought her). I posted a pic of my dads "bird" and my 'bird' below

Flyboy Dave

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[sm=thumbup.gif] WacoFlyer ....

....way to go !!! Stay after it, and you will be rewarded.

Chap

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Hello Guys,

I'm checking in and will post pictures soon. I have a 64 Mooney and a 77 Pitts S1. Got my ticket in 1978. Been flying models since 1968.

Chap

FormerCA.

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ATP/MEL SF340
COMM/INST/SEL
CFI/CFII/CFIME
11,000+ hours turbine
ALPA-15 years


Now doing the medical career thing.

rjbob

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This is great reading !

I've been flying model airplanes since 1960 and full scale since 1968. I've been an airplane fanatic my whole life.

I am fortunate to have over 10,000 hours in more that 100 types of fixed-wing aircraft. I survived being a bush pilot for 5 years out in western Alaska and have had great times towing gliders, flying and teaching aerobatics, and flying Piper twin turboprops for a small airline.

My "day job" for the last 12 years is as a life insurance agent. I have my own office and very flexible hours which allow me to have a wonderful sideline business. I have an aircraft ferrying business in which I relocate aircraft to/from Alaska. I've done anywhere from 15 to 25 aircraft per year for the last 6 years. The most difficult ferry job I've had was a Piper PA-17 Vagabond which required hand starting and flew slower than I cruise with my motorcycle. Floatplanes are also a little bit of a challenge because the flight has to be very well planned. The easiest flights are the twins which are usually well-equipped and generally faster.

I'm also a volunteer pilot for the aircraft museum here in Anchorage and I consider myself VERY lucky to be able to fly their Gull Wing Stinson.

As we're all having a great time flying, remember the FAA's motto:

"WE'RE not happy until YOU'RE not happy"

Cheers,
Bob Edison
ATP/MEL
Comm-inst/SEL&S
CFII-MEL

Dan767

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Started flying in 1974. Quit for a while due to lack of funds. (sound familiar?) Went to a Voc Tech to get A&P ratings in 1977. Borrowed money to get the rest of my ratings. Worked at Boeing to pay for the loan. Finally made it. Jets for the last 18yrs.(727, DC-8, 757,767) See my avatar...

Dan

The suns gone down, and everyone is in bed. Must be time to go flying! I have logged more night time than I care to think...

flier

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Started in supercubs, C-180, C-182, C-185, Beavers, C-310, T-34, all in Alaska.
Enrolled in Flight Tech. 1980 Eugene,Or. "soloed" same year, C-152 N714ND.
Passed Written for Priv. Comm. and Inst. never have the money to finish ticket.[&o]
Got married, got kids, got broke.........

Les Ward

Cessna 150, Cardinal, ( cheap to rent ) , and 172. Swizter 500 or so hours. Been a number of years though.
Learned to fly At Hawthorne Airport, where I got watch one of Jack Northrup,s wings take of on its maiden.
They took off with the wind and lowered the fence at the other end as they held up traffic.
Aloha , Les

Chris-B-chips

well i don't have my license yet because i am 12 but i have soloed in my dad's 182. i can fly the full circiut including landing and taking off without any assistance from my dad.

swill

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PP-ASEL as of 9/25/03!

Currently employed by Delta Air Lines, yep with only a Private Pilot license!

I work in Aircraft Performance Engineering (AKA Flight Operations Engineering). Started here as a co-op in 1995 and been full time since 1999. One nice bonus is riding up front with the pilots, on occasion. We do all the takeoff/landing analysis (airport & obstacle analysis, route analysis & flight planning systems, weight and balance, new aircraft studies, etc). I like it.

Will start seriously working on my Instrument ticket in a month or two.

- Scott

Jimmbbo

Learned to fly in 1969 - Flying club with C-150 for $6.00/hour wet, $5.00 for the instructor!!!!

Commercial, Instrument, CFI, A&P and degree in Aircraft Maintenance from San Jose State in the 70s
Worked as a wind tunnel research equipment design engineer at NASA-Ames till 1980.
MEL, CFII, MEI, ATP in 1981. Rotorcraft Helicopter in 1983 Gold Seal CFI in 1984
Flew EMB-110 Bandeirante, EMB-120 Brasillia and BAe-146 for WestAir/United Express in California for 10 years.

3500+ hours of instruction (still love it!), 9000 TT, 3000+ in jets (Much easier to fly than recips!!).

Flying MD80s for Allegiant Air (Company has ten MDs- 82/83/87) in Las Vegas since 1997 - Seniority number: 1!!

Cheers!

Jim

Pics 1 and 2 are our MD82/83
Pic 3 is an ILS approach in rain.
Pic 4 is the MD87 instrument panel in cruise abeam Elko, NV into Reno, NV.

gl3604l

I have been flying R/C for 30 yrs. Got my full scale ticket 10yrs. ago.
Alway dreamed about flying aerobatics in the real thing, so I was fortunate enough to be able and buy my own Super Decathlon. I have been flying it for 2 yrs. and love it! It is a great aerobatic trainer. I have found that my years of R/C flying are now paying off. Just like flying R/C but with
G forces now!

I also get to fly a friend's open cockpit Great Lakes Biplane in the summer months! One sweet airplane! Flying upside down in an open cockpit airplane is a real rush!
Nothing but FUN!

Dean

feihu-RCU

There are bold pilots and there are old pilots - I'm one of the old pilots, a retired ATP.
Civilian flight instructor
Army Primary flight instructor
In WWII, service pilot in Air Transport Command, CBI flying the Hump-got 2 air medals and the Distinguished Flying Cross
Captain for CATC, an Airline in China
Captain for Aloha Airlines
Professional Aerospace and Electrical engineer - NASA Dryden Flight Research Center
1937 - designed and built my first Free Flight model
2004 - just completed drawing and constr details for 36" Aerocommander for 280 elec power

Confucius say, "Instrument takeoff like toothpaste - easy to get out, but velly difficult to get back in !

feihu-RCU

Here are some photos -

recon

Hello, I am 17 and started my flying when I was 15. I know im slacking, I still dont have my ppl. Im close though, I have over 40 hours in a c-172. Im a little bit busy with my graduation year in highschool to finish my ppl, but I will have it in the first 2 weeks of summer vacation! That is my goal! Afterwards I am going to go to my local college for a 2 year aviation program and graduate with my commercial, ifr, twin, and night ratings. After that I will be looking for a job, possible get float training and fly floats for a while to build up my hours. I am in southern alberta, not many pilot jobs there, so probably move up north or to the coast. Here is a pic of me in the 172.

pete913

Not for quite awhile now, but I do have a few hours in Grumman cheetahs and tigers, as well as a citabria and a rearwin commonwealth. I got married, and that was the end of my flying career. PS, got divorced later as well, shoulda kept flying and forgot the marriage part lol.

Hossfly

My Hat's off to all you that did it the hard and expensive way. Met a bunch of you along my full scale days.
Been retired for 8 years and it seems 8 minutes. NO full scale anymore, just my models.
T-37, T-33, T-29, T-38, B-47, F-89, C-123, B-737, B727, DC-8, DC-10, not in any specific order except for military then civil.

Young fellows, this life time is one damn short trip. Make the best of it and enjoy. I made some poor choices back in the 35-45 years when I thought that no one makes it to 60. Well now, BTDT and 68 next month. That clock still ticks, faster each day. ENJOY

wingspan99

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Hi folks,
Here's a pic of my 76 Grumman Cheetah. I put about 170hrs on it since June 2003. I've been to Montauk, NY and Orlando FL in it. I can't wait for the fly-in season to start up again. I started flying lessons eight years ago, but never felt motivated to get the PPL since I didn't have my own plane. 30 days after I bought my own plane I took my checkride and have had a ton of fun. I started my instrument rating and completed the written exam. I'd like to finish it up in the Cheetah and then get a Bushby Mustang II to fly cross-country to Arizona and the west coast for a tour. I've enjoyed reading this fourm, it's amazing to me all the aviation experience some folks have, my measly 250hrs has felt like a lot of flying time. I've always considered air time sacred time, so I feel like I'm in heaven now. All my RC friends are surprised to see me show up at the model field after I bought my Cheetah, they figured I'd give up RC now that I "graduated" but I'm enjoying my RC planes and heli's more than ever.
Tom Andersen
Greensboro NC
PPL SEL
A&P

Taildragger726

Tooling along in South Florida !

G4guy

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I started flying in 1977 and flew everthing I could get my hands on. I ended up flying corporate for PPG Industries out of Pittsburgh Pa for the last 18 years.

skubydobdo

22 year old instrument rated flyer in sunny central Florida. Flying weather could not be better all year round!! Just bought my first rc plane a few days ago and can't wait to get it in the air. I hope two hundred hours in 172s and 182s will help me with this!

Jimmbbo

Welcome!! FS experience helps with the basic understanding of how things work, but I have found that being "outside" the airplane is a challenge, especially when the airplane is comin' atcha!

I hope you have found a good instructor to help you get started - makes the transition much easier and more fun!!

HTH

Jim

saddler

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Been flying FS since '97. Graduated from college with Comm. Aviation degree (Commercial ASMEL, CFI, CFII, MEI) and been flying for ACA (United Express soon to be Independence Air) for 2 years. Fly the big ones to pay for the small ones!

Ragwing

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I got my license just after my 17th birthday, I'm now 20 and have my instrument rating, commercial license and hp/complex/tail wheel endorsements. I'm taking the winter off for instruction but I plan on starting CFI training this spring. I mostly fly Cessna 150/152's and Piper Arrows.

Edit: The picture I have uploaded is a self portrait (hence the crummy framing) I took while ferrying an Ercoupe up from California to Pendleton Oregon. It was an all expenses paid trip (the new owner didn't have their license yet)--keep in mind ferrying is about the only job a Private Pilot can do. I made the trip in July '02, visibility was horrible due to smoke from wildfires-it was an adventure which I didn't appreciate so much at the time, but I would love to do again now. The aircraft was supposedly fresh out of annual when the owner purchased it--and it looked pretty good to me. But next year, at annual they found a crack in the center spar [:-], cost about as much to fix as the owner paid for the plane. Its flying again, and the owner still doesn't have their license so I look forward to flying it with them this summer--best of all, now I can legally get paid .

The ercoupe was fun, though a bit uncomfortable. I'm 6' 5" so when I sat in the thing, I couldn't close the canopy completely because my head was in the way (the canopy has two halves that slide shut above the pilot's/passenger's head). It made flights even at 6000' kinda chilly, and it looked like I had stuck my finger in a light socket when I was done.

Derek

SALMONBUG

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this has been my office for 10 years before my cmpany went to banqueroute