What do y'all do during a long stretch of bad weather?

calberto

calberto

Pre-takeoff checklist
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Calberto
I've barely gone flying the past few weeks, because of bad weather here in Ohio. How do you guys fill the empty flying void when you can't fly?

I've got an indoor rc helicopter, but that doesn't satisfy much.
 
Joshuajayg said:
What he said. I like reading manuals. My wife thinks im crazy but maintenance manuals, operator manuals, flight manuals, they're all great.
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Not sure if I could do that! Haha
 
I've got 3 boys under the age of 5, so........yeah, that. Truthfully, I don't have a lot of time for flying anyway, so it's not like a big chunk of my life is missing when the weather closes in for a while. It does suck when my small flying window gets crapped on, though.
 
Its really been continuously that bad, for weeks?
What kind of weather?

I knew a guy who was so sick of the dark winter gloom, he grabbed the family and a picnic, and they took the plane on top for an hour to get some Vitamin D.
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
Its really been continuously that bad, for weeks?
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Depends on your availability to fly. If I was still renting, last Saturday I would have had to scrub my Saturday morning flight (I'm in Illinois). Clouds finally got out of the way around 3pm so I hopped in my Archer and went. The midwest has had some cloud cover lately. I may not get anything in this week due to a combination of family commitments and weather.
 
Sit here and realize I probably won't get to fly until after my next annual :(
 
eman1200 said:
for realz? I have a lot of fun flying VFR but I keep thinking I should just buckle down and get my IR.
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You should. I love flying in general, but IFR, esp. approaches to low minimums, ranks very high on my list.
But I should also note that cross-country soaring (which requires good VMC) is in the same league fun-wise, and a lot more challenging.
 
eman1200 said:
for realz? I have a lot of fun flying VFR but I keep thinking I should just buckle down and get my IR.
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I still need to finish mine up, but I really like having the freedom of VFR to generally just do what I want when I want. It's more free than IFR.
 
Fly IFR ,or watch some u tube videos of different aircraft.
 
Change my plane's oil and filter; wipe off bugs and grime; sweep out hangar. If I can't fly the plane, I just like being around it.
 
Joshuajayg said:
That's the #1 reason I wanted my IFR ticket. I've dreamed of floating in top of the clouds when everyone else is under the dreary weather.

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I knew this would be Queenstown. Used to go there every year for snow boarding for about 8 years in a row before moving to the States
 
Fly the other plane, boots on, heats on.

Put my plane away, let the insurance lapse, wake her up for the ice runway in NH, the oddbal nice day, and again when the solid turns to liquid.


Personally I've always found flying that's done in VFR, generaly much more fun.
 
Xplane 10 with tracking of real weather (or adjust weather to your preference.) Works well for those weeks when other priorities keeps you from getting to the airport also.
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
Its really been continuously that bad, for weeks?
What kind of weather?

I knew a guy who was so sick of the dark winter gloom, he grabbed the family and a picnic, and they took the plane on top for an hour to get some Vitamin D.
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I fly champs and 172s out of a grass field when I'm home from school for the summer. Grass field has been mud for quite a while.

I did get out once to ferry a plane out last week. Mostly been IFR though. I'm rated, but not of the planes around me are IFR rated!
 
Joshuajayg said:
That's the #1 reason I wanted my IFR ticket. I've dreamed of floating in top of the clouds when everyone else is under the dreary weather.

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That...is...the ...most...beautiful....flying.....video...EVER!

I shorted out my keyboard drooling on it. Thanks for sharing!
 
Joshuajayg said:
That's the #1 reason I wanted my IFR ticket. I've dreamed of floating in top of the clouds when everyone else is under the dreary weather.

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You don't need IFR for that. There were a couple\three good holes they could have dropped down through.
 
That...is...the ...most...beautiful....flying.....video...EVER!
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I agree! I've never heard such great music on an approach!

That must be one of those RNP approaches. Rocks No longer Position-identified?
 
ETres said:
Change my plane's oil and filter; wipe off bugs and grime; sweep out hangar. If I can't fly the plane, I just like being around it.
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That almost sums it up for me too. I enjoy hanging out at the hangar even if I can't go flying. If I can't fly I also like to pull out WingX and create some flight plan routes that I can use when the weather is good again.
 
calberto said:
I fly champs and 172s out of a grass field when I'm home from school for the summer. Grass field has been mud for quite a while.

I did get out once to ferry a plane out last week. Mostly been IFR though. I'm rated, but not of the planes around me are IFR rated!
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Champs + grass fields are the reason for 1 miles clear of clouds
 
mkosmo said:
I still need to finish mine up, but I really like having the freedom of VFR to generally just do what I want when I want. It's more free than IFR.
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There aren't any rules that say instrument pilots must always fly IFR, even within a single flight.
 
eman1200 said:
for realz? I have a lot of fun flying VFR but I keep thinking I should just buckle down and get my IR.
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I find IFR flying more fun, but it's also different. The instrument rating is about getting somewhere, VFR flying is just about being in the sky. Obviously you can get places VFR, but when you get into instruments, it's really about getting from A to B. Since getting from A to B is what I do, it works for me. I also enjoy the mental game, the planning, and challenge of shooting an approach in bad weather.

There are also days when I'd just like to have a little STOL airplane to go count cows at 100 AGL.
 
Ted DuPuis said:
I find IFR flying more fun, but it's also different. The instrument rating is about getting somewhere, VFR flying is just about being in the sky. Obviously you can get places VFR, but when you get into instruments, it's really about getting from A to B. Since getting from A to B is what I do, it works for me. I also enjoy the mental game, the planning, and challenge of shooting an approach in bad weather.

There are also days when I'd just like to have a little STOL airplane to go count cows at 100 AGL.
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A-B wise my fastest times have been when I did it VFR
 
James331 said:
A-B wise my fastest times have been when I did it VFR
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My fastest times are also Vfr
However,
My slowest times a-b were before I got my instrument rating because I had to wait for the overcast to clear or just drive
 
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