I do not know what I want to do in aviation as a hobby. Is this bad?

[N918KT]

Hey all. If you know me on this forum and on other aviation forums, you may noticed that I tend to jump from one goal to another goal. Ever since I wanted to get involved in aviation as a hobby, I had tons of ideas of what I wanted to try in aviation. But I never really had a set goal of what I really wanted to do in aviation as a hobby.

These are the 2 goals I wanted to achieve in aviation above all else. These are the ones that I kept in mind hoping to acheive someday.

1. Get a sport pilot license someday

2. If the AOPA/EAA medical exemption goes through, and if I have enough money for it, go for private pilot license because of the lack of sport pilot schools and LSAs in my area.

These other goals are just a phase I was going through or thought about a little bit at one time or another

1. Learn to fly Part 103 ultralights

2. Learn to fly a paraglider or hang glider

3. Learn to fly a glider/sailplane because I watched a lot of Youtube videos of a pilot flying a glider/sailplane and they look very fun

4. Build a experimental amateur built airplane that meets LSA rule to get my sport pilot license in because of the lack of sport pilot schools in the area.

5. Learn to fly a sport pilot eligible classic taildragger like a Piper Vagabond to get my sport pilot license in, since I like flying low and slow and with simple instruments

6. Fly with just a CFI on board all the time

7. Give up on flight training and go back to flying in a PC flight simulator


So the point is that I always knew that I wanted to be involved in aviation both as a career and as a hobby, but as a hobby, I never really had a set fixed goal of what I wanted to achieve in aviation. Is that bad? Pilots, Student Pilots, and Aviation Enthusiasts, did you have the same problem as me of not really sure what you wanted to do in aviation as a hobby?

 

[Skylane81E]

I will help,

Cross out 6&7

There that should help!

 

[tangopapa]

Hey all. If you know me on this forum and on other aviation forums, you may noticed that I tend to jump from one goal to another goal. Ever since I wanted to get involved in aviation as a hobby, I had tons of ideas of what I wanted to try in aviation. But I never really had a set goal of what I really wanted to do in aviation as a hobby.

These are the 2 goals I wanted to achieve in aviation above all else. These are the ones that I kept in mind hoping to acheive someday.

1. Get a sport pilot license someday

2. If the AOPA/EAA medical exemption goes through, and if I have enough money for it, go for private pilot license because of the lack of sport pilot schools and LSAs in my area.

These other goals are just a phase I was going through or thought about a little bit at one time or another

1. Learn to fly Part 103 ultralights

2. Learn to fly a paraglider or hang glider

3. Learn to fly a glider/sailplane because I watched a lot of Youtube videos of a pilot flying a glider/sailplane and they look very fun

4. Build a experimental amateur built airplane that meets LSA rule to get my sport pilot license in because of the lack of sport pilot schools in the area.

5. Learn to fly a sport pilot eligible classic taildragger like a Piper Vagabond to get my sport pilot license in, since I like flying low and slow and with simple instruments

6. Fly with just a CFI on board all the time

7. Give up on flight training and go back to flying in a PC flight simulator


So the point is that I always knew that I wanted to be involved in aviation both as a career and as a hobby, but as a hobby, I never really had a set fixed goal of what I wanted to achieve in aviation. Is that bad? Pilots, Student Pilots, and Aviation Enthusiasts, did you have the same problem as me of not really sure what you wanted to do in aviation as a hobby?

I think you are making this more complicated than it needs to be.

I've wanted to be a pilot since I was a little kid. Finally, in the last year, I began taking lessons. (I'm 30 now) I'm hoping to have my ticket in May. (private pilot) After that, I want to get a tailwheel endorsement and a glider rating add-on, eventually will add instrument rating.
I don't particularly have much of an interest in ultralights but that's just me.

I do think you should focus on one goal, and then proceed with the others. Identify what you are most passionate about and pursue that.

 

[tangopapa]

I will help,

Cross out 6&7

There that should help!

Yeah, I forgot to mention that. Totally agree.
Why would those even be options??

 

[ja_user]

#4 has nothing to do with flying. If you want to build a plane, go ahead. A lot of people like it, but if you actually complete it, don't expect to have time to fly at the same time as building. You can like building, flying or in rare cases both

 

[Ken Ibold]

If your goal was to be a bus driver, er airline pilot, my answer would be different. Since you are looking at it as a hobby, I offer the following:

Flying is a journey. Treat it as such. Do not be concerned about where you will end up, because the joy of flying yourself, both literally and figuratively, is that you have the power to control your course. Recreational flying has many paths that have worked for some but will leave you cold. As your skills and experience mount, you will find new avenues of discovery.

Hopefully you will one day look back on your flying and it won't matter that you've spent $389,000 building 2,000 hours in your logbook. You will know within your bones that it was worth every dime and every second, and that you wouldn't trade any of it for the world.

 

[ProspectingCFI]

Yeah, flying is a journey...

 

[tangopapa]

If your goal was to be a bus driver, er airline pilot, my answer would be different. Since you are looking at it as a hobby, I offer the following:

Flying is a journey. Treat it as such. Do not be concerned about where you will end up, because the joy of flying yourself, both literally and figuratively, is that you have the power to control your course. Recreational flying has many paths that have worked for some but will leave you cold. As your skills and experience mount, you will find new avenues of discovery.

Hopefully you will one day look back on your flying and it won't matter that you've spent $389,000 building 2,000 hours in your logbook. You will know within your bones that it was worth every dime and every second, and that you wouldn't trade any of it for the world.

Ken, well put. So much so that I just bought your book on Amazon.

 

[Sac Arrow]

Replace #4 with build an RC model (maybe fly it too.) You have enough time and money to do that as a fun hobby. Neither would that be associated with the rest of your goals, though.

Actually I played around with RC planes for a bit, but I already had my PPL. Never did get any formal instruction in flying them. Managed fine, with the exception of errant light poles and power lines.

 

[Old Geek]

It might help to know where you are with your training. Knowledge test? Soloed? How many hours?

 

[jbarrass]

If your goal was to be a bus driver, er airline pilot, my answer would be different. Since you are looking at it as a hobby, I offer the following:

Flying is a journey. Treat it as such. Do not be concerned about where you will end up, because the joy of flying yourself, both literally and figuratively, is that you have the power to control your course. Recreational flying has many paths that have worked for some but will leave you cold. As your skills and experience mount, you will find new avenues of discovery.

Hopefully you will one day look back on your flying and it won't matter that you've spent $389,000 building 2,000 hours in your logbook. You will know within your bones that it was worth every dime and every second, and that you wouldn't trade any of it for the world.

This is really great advice for the OP, and in fact, most of the rest of us too.....

 

[LifeInverted]

Why not start with number one? Your flight training and aviation experience will open up so many doors to you along the way that you never could have imagined. You may even discover a love for something you didn't even list...

 

[N918KT]

If your goal was to be a bus driver, er airline pilot, my answer would be different. Since you are looking at it as a hobby, I offer the following:

Flying is a journey. Treat it as such. Do not be concerned about where you will end up, because the joy of flying yourself, both literally and figuratively, is that you have the power to control your course. Recreational flying has many paths that have worked for some but will leave you cold. As your skills and experience mount, you will find new avenues of discovery.

Hopefully you will one day look back on your flying and it won't matter that you've spent $389,000 building 2,000 hours in your logbook. You will know within your bones that it was worth every dime and every second, and that you wouldn't trade any of it for the world.

Thanks for the advice everyone so far. Ken, I think that your advice is great advice. Even though I am taking lessons still from time to time, and I don't know what I really want to do in aviation, I do still enjoy every lesson, and yes the money I spend for flight lessons is worth it.

 

[John221us]

Replace #4 with build an RC model (maybe fly it too.) You have enough time and money to do that as a fun hobby. Neither would that be associated with the rest of your goals, though.

Actually I played around with RC planes for a bit, but I already had my PPL. Never did get any formal instruction in flying them. Managed fine, with the exception of errant light poles and power lines.

When my son was young, I bought him one of the cheap glider type with an electric motor RC planes. After a couple of crashes and some scotch tape repairs, he departed the pattern, so to speak, and quickly went out of range. We never saw that plane again. That was my last experience with RC planes.

 

[Threefingeredjack]

Ken nailed it. I have nothing much to offer you as I cannot comprehend anyone being ambivalent about flight as I have been driven to fly since I was a small boy; but I would ask this question: What emotion do you remember most from your lessons? Something calls you back to the sky, if it is simply the feeling of leaving the ground and getting a new perspective on your world I would submit that is plenty. You may be over thinking the issue.

 

[N918KT]

Ken nailed it. I have nothing much to offer you as I cannot comprehend anyone being ambivalent about flight as I have been driven to fly since I was a small boy; but I would ask this question: What emotion do you remember most from your lessons? Something calls you back to the sky, if it is simply the feeling of leaving the ground and getting a new perspective on your world I would submit that is plenty. You may be over thinking the issue.

I always feel nervous a little before a lesson like most student pilots, but as I went through the flight lesson, I feel okay, and after the lesson, I feel happy and great. Some of the things I remembered the most are that there are some landings where my CFI in the plane let me do some landings by myself. I was so concentrated with landing the plane that I can't tell whether my CFI was helping me or not (and my CFI did help me for some landings but I don't think all of them). That was a good feeling. I also for the first time and only once so far, practiced a few soft field landings on a grass runway, and I will never forget that lesson. I was nervous at first doing a takeoff and landing on a grass runway, but in the end, that was very fun and it was something very new that I learned for the first time in a while.

I always know that I have some kind of intimate bond with aviation and I don't think that bond will ever go away.

 

[alfadog]

1. Get a sport pilot license someday

Nothing wrong with any of those but you don't even express your first one as what I would call a goal; you express it as a vague desire.

What is up with that? If that is indicative of the amount of drive you are willing or able to expend on aviation, I fear that those "goals" will remain vague desires.

You need to ramp it up, son.