Getting current again

evapilotaz said:
Ok myself and instructor did T & G at 3 different Class D airports with lots of Radio work last Saturday. I did mess up calling a tower by a different name. We did a total of 7 T & G and 1 Full stop landings. Per instructor my landings a pattern work has much improved. Flight maneuvers are getting better. Right now I'm at 6.9hr dual instruction since getting current again after 10 years of not flying. I figure I need another 3 hours before sign off but my instructor hasn't indicated otherwise. He is not setting me up for any expectations on the number of hours.

Well anyway I will just keep plugging along and some day I will post "I'm current again?
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I was 52 when I got back into it. I flew with an instructor to go on business trips for a year before I turned to my regular instructor and said "please sign me off for a bfr." He simply said "ok, you're more than ready." Took me a few more months to feel confident to get checked off on instruments.
 
Thanks the comments. I wish I could fly more than once a weekend but with family and life work its not possible. Anyway I hope my CFI will sign me off by the end of may so I can do my flying for fun instead of working on procedures and such.
 
Instructor Said all flight maneuvers are looking good. My check lists and radio skills have much improved. I was having some difficulties landing though. Lots Wind and heat makes a bumpy approach. Anyway my instructor said he may sign me off next weekend. Even if he sign me off I still want to build more hours before flying with passengers.

Currently 7.2hr instructor Dual after 10 years without flying.

Wish me luck.
 
I wish this nervousness would go away. I'm flying tomorrow and I already have butterflies. I guess over time nervousness will go away. I hope tomorrow I will be signed off by the instructor.
 
I am 48 and in the same boat after 20+ years out I am currently at a little less than 6 hours back in. We are basically doing an extremely short private pilot training. Lesson one just get used to the airplane, lesson 2 stalls, steep turns and xwind landings, lesson three simulated instrument, lesson 4 controlled airspace, lesson 5 clean up my awful landings. Instructor says he is about ready to sign me off I just need to do some ground work so he knows I know the new stuff and I am not worried about that at all.

I also have a list of things I want him to go over with me again or things we didn't do that I want to review. So hoping an hour on the ground and 1-2 in the air and I will be good to go.

The first two flights were awful just so much that I "just did" back then I had to think about now it was so discouraging. But now things are starting to click again. I still am not comfortable like I was but I will get there (and so will you). I have to remind myself I have made about 15-20 landings since coming back I had made hundreds before of course they are not going to be as good. For some people it may be like riding a bike for others like me not as much but it is coming back to me.

In any case welcome back.
 
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I'm 4 hours into my BFR after 20 years. You're not alone. Don't worry and keep it up
 
I'm about ready to give up flying after this weekend.

My instructor told me to fly to this airport. So I broke out the sectional and flew to the airport and discovered how poorly my Non Towered airport skills are. To make a long story short I blew it. Radio communications and pattern procedures was poor for a non towered airport. I couldn't get my act together. Over the years I pretty much forgotten everything about Non towered airport procedures.

I just don't know if I want to continue this.
 
It is the country mouse city mouse thing. I like non-towered airports. Easy peasy. I cut my teeth in the country airports my home airport at the time was 2600' and less than 30' wide (it's bigger now). I only went to controlled airspace when I had to.

For me going to a towered airport gets me nervous that I am going to do something wrong. I have gone over it time and time again in my head and still manage to mess up when I get there and don't seem to catch the radio calls when they are talking to me.

When you fly into a controlled airport you can kind of guess what they are going to do with you when you know what runway they are using and where you are coming from but really you never know. With uncontrolled you just let people know where you are and enter on the downwind and fly your pattern same way every time for the most part. Seems so much easier to me.

Of course both have people who will let you know when you screw up. :D
 
I decided to take a 3 week break from this so my next lesson is 5/24. I think I was pressuring myself so much getting this done in a set amount of hours it was stressing me out. I'm going to try to relax and not worry so much.
 
Sounds good.

Flying requires lots of work and study, but the journey should be fun! Good luck in a couple weeks and enjoy it :)
 
evapilotaz said:
I'm about ready to give up flying after this weekend.

My instructor told me to fly to this airport. So I broke out the sectional and flew to the airport and discovered how poorly my Non Towered airport skills are. To make a long story short I blew it. Radio communications and pattern procedures was poor for a non towered airport. I couldn't get my act together. Over the years I pretty much forgotten everything about Non towered airport procedures.

I just don't know if I want to continue this.
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Looks to me like you're being way too hard on yourself and stressing yourself out. If you feel like you're lacking the book knowledge, maybe study up a little in the meantime, but a lot of this is experience and "finger memory". You can read about communications & pattern work & t-o's / landings all you want but only practicing it will make you better. Just relax, the more you stress out over this the harder you're making it for yourself. Good luck!
 
I agree was being to hard on myself and stressing that it was hurting my flight performance. No I have not been signed off. Right now I have 10.8 hours into my flight review. I am very closed to being signed off per CFI. I just need a little more consistency in my pattern and landing work. Also I took a 3 week break to get me some time to relax and chair fly the procedures.

I have changed my attitude towards this. I stopped worrying about how long its taking me and try to relax alot more. I know I can safely fly the airplane but I lack in confidence but I'm getting more confident as we go along.

Also when I do get signed off I want to atleast log additional 10-15 hours before I take PAX up.
 
A good rule of thumb is about an hour of flight for each year you took off. Sounds like you are right on track.


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Yea I heard about that rule but Maybe I thought I could do it less. Anyway how long it takes is no longer a concern. If it takes me 20 hours that's ok.
 
I took about 7 months off only 152 now starting in a 172 about 4 lessons in no sign off yet hopefully soon


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18 years for me. Started again May 1 and have 7.1 in a 7GCBC. Yeah, what the heck, I'll add a tailwheel endorsement too.

I remember that waaaay behind a C152 feeling I had when I started my PP back in '92. Yep, had that feeling all over again. That's pretty much worn off and now it's more about landing a tailwheel than flying an airplane.

Glass panels? Glass airplanes? Cool.

I told the CFI before I began that I don't care how many hours it takes.

Oh, and now I want a 7GCBC.
 
Good Luck, I'm sure it will all come back to you, have fun!
 
Yippee Im current again after 10 years of not flying. It took 3 months and 11.1 hours to get current again. CFI and I went out and did pattern work today. All my landings were spot on but of course not perfect. There is always room for improvement. He signed me off because I was consistant with holding airspeed, pattern work, approaches and Radio work. He said in my last 3 lessons if Im consistant with my flying he would sign me off. Well today it Happend. I couldnt believe it! My CFI said "Im good to go" and I said "when you think I'm ready" He said "you are ready"

So here was when things started clicking for me. I was frustrated with myself, I was stressed and uptight on every flight. I was putting pressure on myself to complete the Flight review in a set amount of hours. I put all that aside and told myself relax this suppose to be fun. Who care how long it takes. Get rid of the death grip on the yoke. Thanks to another thread. I learned to use the trim better in all phases of flight with the last 3 lessons. Trim is the Key. I finally figured out I can trim the plane to fly hands off. Thanks to another thread. Another key thing with me on my approach to landings is control airspeed with pitch and altitude with throttle. My CFI drilled this over and over again and it finally sinked in. I also did a lot of chair flying by watching YouTube and listing to ATC online. Youtube is good for something.

So what got me wanting to fly again after 10 years you may ask. The fact is aviation is an addiction to me. I love everything that flys. I fly RC airplanes but still had the desire to get into the cockpit. Going by a GA airport everyday to and from work doesnt help.

So I'm scheduled next Sunday for the first flight without my CFI. I'm nervous but Im qualified. It would be like my first solo again but without my CFI watching.
I'm not going to fly with PAX for a while. I think the best kind of flying is flying solo without any distractions from PAX. I want to get more hours under me.

I'm reliving the dream. Thanks for reading.
 
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Congrats!

Do you have any pilot friends? Consider taking one with. Having an experienced pilot in the other seat as a second set of eyes and ears makes me feel more at ease when I'm feeling a bit rusty.
 
fiveoboy01 said:
Congrats!

Do you have any pilot friends? Consider taking one with. Having an experienced pilot in the other seat as a second set of eyes and ears makes me feel more at ease when I'm feeling a bit rusty.
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No pilots friends. I want to fly solo for a while to even build my confidence even more. Btw my cfi said call him up if I feel uncomfortable with anything.

Thanks
 
Ok yesterday I flew solo for the first time after getting current. I was nervous at first and I kept telling myself just do what you have been doing with the instructor. After I took off I settled in and relaxed. Did a 50 mile cross country to another airport did a couple of full T & G and full Stop landing. I relaxed after about 20 minutes and took off for the home airport. I'm going to do some more flight Solo for a while before taking PAX up.
 
Ok I'm a real pilot again. I just bought a new Head Set so I no longer borrows the schools.

Anyway I fly on Saturday. Going to go Solo again. Man I'm nervous already and I fly Saturday. I hope these nerves go away soon.
 
First, go to www.faa.gov and click on Advisory Circulars over on the left. When you see the list of ACs, scroll down to the 90 series...air traffic and operating rules. Click on that. AC 90-42F, Traffic Advisories at Airports without Operating Control Towers, is the 24th item down (they are not in numerical order). That is your source document for talking on the radio at uncontrolled airports.

Then read AIM 4-3-1, where it says that you can use any words you want in order to get the message across. There are no phraseology police waiting to violate you for saying something "wrong" because there is no wrong.

Bob Gardner
 
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