I Sold my Plane Today

Mooney Fan

Mooney Fan

Cleared for Takeoff
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Joined
Sep 17, 2017
Messages
1,184
Location
Indian Mound, TN
Display Name
Mooney Fan
Home Airfield
KHVC
But even worse, I'm hanging up my wings. We all make our last flight at some point in time. Until then, we whistle past the "Pilot" Graveyard if albeit only virtually.

I'm 66 with some medical issues that have finally come home to roost. I've been looking at that yellow handle all striped in black and hoped to pull it at the very last second.

Times up

The buyer was 22 years old freshly graduated from ....wait..let me hold my nose, Mississippi St. 5th generation farmer out in west TN. I put him in the left seat and after not flying Cherokees in 5 years, we went through some air work. A few touch and goes and off he went.

Just like that, the credits roll.

I enjoyed the Daily Picture Thread and posted there over the years. This morning was no different. I was at the airport by 0500 and took in the sights.

Its only a short 1 hour flight with a 15kt headwind lol...... Who cares, Its my final PIC flight to pick the buyer up in Union City.

The guys signed an F4 painting I have hanging on the wall and I'll leave it here

"May your future tailwinds exceed your previous headwinds"

Oh, and step on the ball!

-MF

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Stay in touch. We'll go grab lunch one of these days!
 
Mooney Fan said:
But even worse, I'm hanging up my wings. We all make our last flight at some point in time. Until then, we whistle past the "Pilot" Graveyard if albeit only virtually.

I'm 66 with some medical issues that have finally come home to roost. I've been looking at that yellow handle all striped in black and hoped to pull it at the very last second.

Times up

The buyer was 22 years old freshly graduated from ....wait..let me hold my nose, Mississippi St. 5th generation farmer out in west TN. I put him in the left seat and after not flying Cherokees in 5 years, we went through some air work. A few touch and goes and off he went.

Just like that, the credits roll.

I enjoyed the Daily Picture Thread and posted there over the years. This morning was no different. I was at the airport by 0500 and took in the sights.

Its only a short 1 hour flight with a 15kt headwind lol...... Who cares, Its my final PIC flight to pick the buyer up in Union City.

The guys signed an F4 painting I have hanging on the wall and I'll leave it here

"May you future tailwinds exceed your previous headwinds"

Oh, and step on the ball!

-MF

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I'm sorry to hear medical issues have gotten in the way of flying; that'll come for most if not all of us. Hope you racked up some fantastic flying memories while you had it. On the bright side, that sounds like as good a sendoff as any, with a heck of a nice looking morning sunrise.
 
Sold mine to buy a house a dozen years back; was too busy to fly in the meantime. After retiring and attacking some health issues I started flying again. Now health issues rear their ugly head once more. At my age (more than the OP's, my profile pic is many decades old) this is my last go, if things turn out to be serious.
But then again, I need to go fishing more, and I'll have time. Still going flying tomorrow, though the temp is supposed to hit 97°F.
Good luck in the future.
 
I, too, have hung up my headset. No longer eligible for medical, and decided I did not want to fly with Basic Med.

650 hours in an Archer, all VFR. It was a lot of fun, but I decided that age 80 it was time.

So keep me entertained with your tales of exciting aviation here on POA, and Fly Safe! And don’t forget to enjoy every minute of your favorite pastime.

73s to you all. -Skip
 
Congratulations on a successful and (presumably) safe flying career. It's the ending we all hope for, even if bittersweet at the actual occurrence of it.
 
What a lovely day for your last PIC flight!

I'm debating if the juice is worth the squeeze myself.
 
Congratulations for quitting on your own terms.

I did the same, in 2 steps. Resigned from the flying club to let a more active pilot join. Flew with other friends until 89.

The Geezer is ground bound now.

I concentrate on what I can still do, but brag about the fun I had both flying, and sailing up to 89.

Keep active, mentally and physically! :):):)
 
@Mooney Fan One the one hand, congratulations on a successful flying career. On the other hand, sorry to hear that the date was not necessarily your choosing.

schmookeeg said:
At my home field, the gate keycode uses your 2-digit year of birth as a PIN.

The "5" is nearly completely worn off. Other numbers seem pristine. I always get bummed out when I notice it.
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Maybe that person born in 2005 is really very lax about washing the ghost pepper salsa off one of his fingers.
 
Blue skies and tailwinds. Better to have loved and lost... and all that. A very tough call I'm sure, but one I hope to get the chance to make myself one day if I'm lucky enough to live that long. Happy trails!
 
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Sounds like many years of good flying. But all things keep changing, and we go on to other things. You hit the gold standard in that you controlled when that happened and did it on your terms. I'll aim to meet your example.
 
Every pilot gets into a plane one day for their last flight. Some know it will be their last flight, and some don't.

It's better to know... I guess. I still can't wrap my head around it. Congratulations on knowing!
 
Thank you for writing a very touching anecdote. I hope that you find something to help fill the void
 
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this bittersweet day. I hope the recall of your flying days will be like your photos of your morning departure; beautiful and memorable.
 
Good luck to you in future endeavors. At 68, I know the time will come.

I have a friend who is 12 years older. He has his plane up for sale, but still flies it, but not very often. He has flown for damn near 70 years. I don’t think he wants to get out of the game, but I hope he does. He is not flying much and I worry about him. I keep assuring him he should sell and move on. He needs to be more aggressive in trying to sell, it is a VL-3.
 
I feel the pain…..

I recently decided it was time to sell our Commander. It was not easy watching her fly off with another pilot left seat. I enjoyed 1600+ hours and 34 states visited with my bride right seat. I will still fly, either a club or rental but it still stings a little when I unlock the hangar door and it’s empty. I have no regrets, ownership was a fun adventure.
 
I have sold my "last" airplane 3 times. Each time after the sale in 3-4 months the empty feeling begins and there is another airplane that fills the void. Each step down results in less complexity, fewer seats, fewer avionics and now with a stick and rudder airplane just for the joy of flying. Soloed in 1966 and flying ever since and suspect the insurance companies will mandate when my "last" sale really occurs.
 
Rcmutz said:
Good luck to you in future endeavors. At 68, I know the time will come.

I have a friend who is 12 years older. He has his plane up for sale, but still flies it, but not very often. He has flown for damn near 70 years. I don’t think he wants to get out of the game, but I hope he does. He is not flying much and I worry about him. I keep assuring him he should sell and move on. He needs to be more aggressive in trying to sell, it is a VL-3.
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what model vl3?
 
I’m very sorry your flying days are over, but I hope it will give you more time for motorcycling.

In any case, please stick around on POA. And even if you can’t be PIC anymore, you can still enjoy flying with others.
 
Sniff… sniff… dam Mississippi allergies…

I read the title and was gonna give ya a hard time… but… sniff sniff (allergies), that was pretty touching!!

Ever get to Columbus I’ll safety pilot for ya! Honestly, that goes for anyone here.
 
I vividly remember my 86 year old Father's last flight flying his C-182 in Florida, the day before I flew it up north and prepared it for sale.

It was a very sad memory seeing him on the ramp intently watching, and realizing that a long, important and enjoyable chapter of his life (and mine) had unceremoniously closed as his plane taxied away.

He too knew when it was time...
 
Stemme said:
I have sold my "last" airplane 3 times. Each time after the sale in 3-4 months the empty feeling begins and there is another airplane that fills the void. Each step down results in less complexity, fewer seats, fewer avionics and now with a stick and rudder airplane just for the joy of flying. Soloed in 1966 and flying ever since and suspect the insurance companies will mandate when my "last" sale really occurs.
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This was my 4th plane in 8 years ‍
 
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