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Do you like flying alone?


tradford

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I suppose, like most everyone, I cherished the moment that my CFI cut me loose to conquer the skies on my own. But now that my flying is relegated to an hour or so of buzzing around the area every couple of weeks - usually alone - I've decided that having someone in the left seat really adds to the experience. Especially when it's my buddy Brad (with fixed-wing rating) who loves the helicopter experience and is actually able to help with radio, second set of eyes for situational awareness etc., not to mention relieving some of the financial burden.

 

Just yesterday - took an R22 up to the north Georgia mountains for a scenic cruise over lakes, rivers - even an occasional waterfall. Even flew over some guy in a Mariner flying 50' off the water of Lake Lanier. I guess you can do that with pontoons. Landed for some gas at a little regional airport up in the Blue Ridge, since W&B wouldn't let us carry both our arses and enough fuel for the round trip.

 

It's way different than flying with someone who's only doing it to humor me. Yep, it's better with someone who's digging it as much as me - or at least someone who's having as much fun as you can have without having access to any controls. I'll be remembering that flight for a while.

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Good question.

 

Funnily enough, I equally enjoy both solo flying and pax. But they are entirely different aviation experiences. If you are lucky enough to have a happy chappy beside you, the flight is a pleasure. Just yesterday I thoroughly enjoyed myself, discovering a fellow sufferer from a rare but highly embarrassing disease I suffer from. I wonder if it's genetic. Or related in some way to negative I.Q. What happens is, I tend to gesticulate excitedly, whilst illustrating some wild old story about Russian hookers or sumthin', and then knock over people's beer glasses. Coffee cups, all that sort of stuff. Fair game. I've done it all my life. People that know me will (sigh) and then warn you to quietly move drinking vessels out of my reach. The fine lady at our base knows me for years, and she will tell you not to let me anywhere near the coffee maker either. Anyway, it turned out this charming gentleman suffers from the same affliction. Except he had introduced a whole new dimension. Really? I said. tell us. He looked kinda sheepish, but then he explained that he was a Senior Medic, and he was often sitting around with other office people. Lots of keyboards, computers, important papers. Now he likes mixer cups. What? Mixer cups. You mix up fruit drinks, with yoghurt and energy drinks, and milk, and all sorts of high protein stuff. Then you shake it extremely vigorously, and drink the resulting concoction. For your health. Unless you don't. Put it this way, he said, if you don't screw the lid on tight enough,, then you spend the next hour apologizing profusely to the foreman, and everybody else, and cleaning health food out of keyboards and computers, off the ceiling, and out of people's ears...

(He was very quiet while I laughed my ass off..,)

Once I had finished laughing (and once I had re-acquired straight & level), I asked him what we should NAME this disease. Seeing as I now knew there were at least TWO sufferers in this world, I guessed there had to be more. Right? So him being a Medic and all that, what did he think we should call it? This worthy gentleman took thirty seconds of deep thought, and then his face lit up:

"CPDL"

:huh: What!?

"CPDL!"

What does that mean?

"Compulsive Public Dexterity Loss" !!

 

Brilliant mind. Just like that. No wonder he was a Medic. Awesome.

 

So you see the joy of flying passengers. As for solo... Back in the eighties, I used to take an old biplane all over Europe. Non-radio. I couldn't afford one. Wonderful fun. Non-radio into major airports. Get a slot time, and watch for the green flares. ATC (mostly) loved it. I did, anyway.

 

Long hours, all on my owney-oh, having the time of my life. Communing with Nature, and reflecting that Julius Cesar, Alexander the Great, Pontius Pilate and Guy Fawkes all thought they were hot shits, but NONE of them could FLY.

 

Would I do it all again? Including the bumps? Hell, yes. Flying is wonderful, WITH or WITHOUT passengers.

 

Unless there are cats about. :rolleyes:

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Wow, what a tough, multifacted question!

 

I do like flying alone. Flying, like motorcycle riding is for me an intensely personal solo activity that I do not always appreciate sharing with anyone else. There are certain things in life like that - things that can be group activities but that we sometimes just enjoy doing by ourself: Driving on long trips; playing the guitar; singing in the shower...

 

On the other hand, I like having non-pilot passengers along. I like witnessing and sharing the unbridled pleasure...the thrill they get from the experience that few people get to enjoy. So there's that...

 

But I also love flying with other pilots. I'm good enough now that I'm not self-conscious that I'll screw up. I know it'll happen and am pretty confident I'll correct such screwups before we crash. But in a former job I was "SIC" on a Beech King Air 200. (It's a single-pilot plane but the boss would not fly a fixed-wing without two turbine engines and two pilots.) That was quite fun, being part of a two-man crew. Having someone else up there who knows what's going on makes the experience a lot more enjoyable, like me and our pilot Chris Erickson playing, "I Saw Her Standing There" on our guitars this past summer.

 

But lately I've come to value flying while someone *else* is on the controls. I've flown with so many great and talented pilots! Like my friend Mikey, who I'm always writing about. Awesome pilot...just awesome. And my friend Brandon - damn, you should fly with this kid! He has more talent in his hands than is humanly possible. I ride along with him and I'm just in awe. He humbles me. Because he doesn't seem to have to put much effort into what takes me a LOT of energy and determination to do smoothly.

 

You all know I do cherry-drying in old Sikorskys. We had a girl flying for us this past summer. Her name is Lauren. She's a CFI in L.A. in her "normal life." Last summer (2013) she was an SIC, but this year she came back and was a PIC for us. Early in the season, before the contracts officially began we had a rainstorm and all the farmers panicked. The orchard I was assigned to urgently asked if we could come up and dry their cherries - the ships weren't on-station yet. So yeah we had one available. With Lauren needing more PIC time, she and I blasted-off in an S-55 like we were Avbug's soon-to-be-future-ex-wife heading for the hills.

 

Young pilots are often intimidated by me because of, 1) my flight time, and 2) my "presence" in the cockpit, meaning I can be quite strict on what I want and what I don't want. I didn't get to 11,000 hours by being complacent about things. And I'm not the most tactful or politically-correct pilot on the planet.

 

Anyway, Lauren and I flew three or four hours together that day. In that time she did nothing "wrong." She did a couple of things in a way I might perhaps have done differently. But I had no complaints about her flying none at all. The whole flight went perfectly! Damn, even my own flights don't always go perfectly. I was impressed. I didn't tell her that though. As I climbed out I did say that I was glad she didn't make me airsick, and that the farmer probably won't cancel his contract with us.

 

So, long story short:

1) Yes, I like flying alone.

2) Yes, I like flying with passengers.

3) Yes, I like flying with other pilots.

4) Mostly I like riding along and watching someone else fly.

 

I guess I could've just said that and spared you all the extraneous bullsh*t.

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I like to do a lot of things alone. Working out, driving my Cobra, listening to music, surfing helicopter forums - but I definitely like companionship when I'm flying. Having someone else changing radio frequencies and screwing with the GPS allows me to enjoy flying the little beast. Even if I had a solo machine, I'd want to hang with other soloists.

 

Maybe I'll grow out of it.

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I like flying with Otto. He's a German pilot. He is great at basic airwork.

My tiny, non-Teutonic mind is enjoying wondering how some might define or describe "basic airwork"...?

 

Coffee, sofa, doughnuts, TV, I-phone, play on the Net.... occasionally go for a tootle around the sky?

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My tiny, non-Teutonic mind is enjoying wondering how some might define or describe "basic airwork"...?

 

Coffee, sofa, doughnuts, TV, I-phone, play on the Net.... occasionally go for a tootle around the sky?

"Otto" pilot ? You've never heard of him ? His basic airwork is almost automatic. He holds heading, altitude, airspeed like he was built for it. Those Germans really know their engineering.

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I don't have an opinion either way regarding flying alone- it's always single pilot when I go. Even with both EMS crew members on board, I am single pilot in that I don't do anything I couldn't do alone. (The company sees that a little different and restricts what I can do alone.)

 

I do enjoy sharing the experience if it's a pleasant experience for the other party, and if it's also novel it's a special pleasure, but that's more a social thing than professional...

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I like having Roger Buis fly with me- he's the best Otto pilot I know!

 

OttotheAct_zpsec6685fb.jpgRoger_Buis__cockpit_zps514d6a7d.jpg

 

http://www.otto-airshow.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Main.Home

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I like to do a lot of things alone. Working out, driving my Cobra, listening to music, surfing helicopter forums - but I definitely like companionship when I'm flying. Having someone else changing radio frequencies and screwing with the GPS allows me to enjoy flying the little beast. Even if I had a solo machine, I'd want to hang with other soloists.

 

Maybe I'll grow out of it.

 

Bring 6BC down to Ft Rucker and I'll go fly with ya. :)

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Since leaving the air force 32 years ago, I have usually been single pilot, though with up to 12 others in the aircraft with me, it is hardly "flying alone."

 

Have done plenty of empty runs in the S76 to collect the pax, and I don't mind either way if I am solo or accompanied.

 

Sometimes, the management insisted on having 2 pilots on board (when carrying British Royalty or the Governor General) "for added safety", but I reckon it detracted from safety because we spent a lot of time talking about the good 'ol days instead of having a sterile cockpit. Still got them all on the ground safely - I once had to make a stop at a country airport to allow a hung-over prince to buy a greasy burger at the airport cafe. You should have seen the perfect double-take when the girl behind the counter realised who she was serving!

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Funny, I'm an introvert at heart, but I truly find solo flights boring. I far more enjoy company be it tourists, med crew, riders, family, friends or rated colleagues...it's a totally different experience depending on who is on board. I feel like an empty seat (especially the front!!) is wasted space. Flying gives me so much, I'm always eager for any opportunity to share my enthusiasm with a curious party!

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When I want to fly with somebody...usually wife and grandkids...I stick to trikes with a BRS. I consider this to be the safest option for them. Otherwise...I prefer solo. I percieve helicopters and gyros, and most FW to be less safe.

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The Mosquito was the reason I even took up helicopter flying. I started under the premise that all I needed was ten hours so I could hover on my own. When I realized how hard it was and how little I could do at 10 hours - I decided to go ahead and go for the golden ring. I'm still a bit enamored by the Helicycle, but I haven't seen on hit the market that I would want. Same for the Mosquito. Nor do I have the patience to build one from scratch.

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The Mosquito was the reason I even took up helicopter flying. I started under the premise that all I needed was ten hours so I could hover on my own. When I realized how hard it was and how little I could do at 10 hours - I decided to go ahead and go for the golden ring. I'm still a bit enamored by the Helicycle, but I haven't seen on hit the market that I would want. Same for the Mosquito. Nor do I have the patience to build one from scratch.

I absolutely love my turbine Mosquito...the most fun aircraft I've ever owned/flown...and I've flown every type aircraft except a blimp and tilt rotor.

 

I'm trying to shift some weight around to avoid the need for nose ballast. I'd like a different aux fuel tank with more forward weight. The turbine is more tail heavy than the other models.

 

It's WAAAAY more fun than the R44, R22, Rotorway and 269/300 I've flown. Haven't flown an HC yet...and was shopping for one before I found my Mosquito.

 

The flat angle of the wind screen at eye level distorts your view a little but you get used to it. I still haven't decided on the type of collective friction device yet.

 

My wife is still hassling me abut getting a single-place. I probably will need to replace it with an Apollo AG-1 (tandem) gyro, or Zenon clone (side-by-side) gyro.

 

I might consider selling mine...even though I'll hate myself if I do. Let me know if you want to see it. You can fly it (it's really easy...I'm ruined)...but a crash is as good as a sale ;-)

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I absolutely love my turbine Mosquito...the most fun aircraft I've ever owned/flown...and I've flown every type aircraft except a blimp...

A local Zeppelin was offering pilots a chance to fly once, about $3,000 bucks for just a half hour of stick time! I guess helium's expensive? From what I've read about becoming a blimp pilot I think I'd have better odds convincing Matt Groening to draw me in piloting the Duff blimp on the Simpsons, then flying one in real life, for hire that is.

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