Is This The Airplane Busy Season?

kimberlyanne546

kimberlyanne546

Final Approach
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Kimberly
By the time I got my certificate last year, and flew a little, it was already September / October.

Then the winter came (though just barely).

I would have a few places to go, monthly meetings, maybe a flight or two.

Now I just can't keep up with all that is going on in the area.

When is the "busy season" for aviation? It seems they are jam packing all the activities into only a few months out of the year.

Last weekend, I went on my first Angel Flight mission - which meant I had to cancel a fly-in that same day (an Angel Flight lunch). I turned down another fly-in which a pilot invited me to, on Sunday, so I could fix my brakes, and I think the weekend before that there was a "plane wash" at Oakland. We had flown to a grass strip and discovered it was their monthly open house that weekend.

This week just started, and on Tuesday night (yesterday) I met pilots from a Meetup group at a bar / restaurant overlooking the taxiways and approach for SFO! Tonight, Wednesday, I'm off to the monthly meeting of my local airport to discuss Young Eagles and Flour Bombing and Poker Runs. On Friday, there is a pre-airshow show in San Carlos, and this weekend is Father's Day which means I had to turn down another Angel Flight.

This is insane. I can't keep up.

When are you the most busy in aviation during your year?
 
All year around. I don't do organized events. I just fly to get from point A to point B, mostly personal and some business.
 
I'm guessing spring and fall might be busier than summer or winter since most of us don't have air conditioning and cold destinations (beach, camping, outdoor dining, etc) aren't as exciting with a parka. Plus summer = t-storms and winter = icing.
 
AirDC said:
I'm guessing spring and fall might be busier than summer or winter since most of us don't have air conditioning and cold destinations (beach, camping, outdoor dining, etc) aren't as exciting with a parka. Plus summer = t-storms and winter = icing.
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It is pretty mild here, with some exceptions (roughly 70's through 90's in the summer). If you climb for cooler air, it is bearable but warm.
 
I tend to fly more when I don't have to shovel snow from in front of the hangar, yes. ;)
 
denverpilot said:
I tend to fly more when I don't have to shovel snow from in front of the hangar, yes. ;)
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We tend to fly less during October, early Spring and mid Winter. We don't shovel snow, but attach floats to the aircraft. October seems to be the rainiest month. While early Spring and mid Winter are our "swirling wind" :lightning: months.

Oh the side effects of having an airport in Tornado Alley and in a swamp. :rolleyes2:
 
I fly for only one reason, to fly. All of the other pilot activities takes time away from flying, or it takes time away from other important activities, so I don't do it.

All 12 months are flying months for me. The only time that flying activities gets busy for me is when the annual is due. The annual consumes about 4 days of my time.
 
This is turning into the anti-pilot-meeting thread LOL. I would love to "just fly" but since that is out of the question I add on these non PIC events to "be flying in spirit" all year long. I might be getting a small raise at work which should help me to get out there and fly more.
 
Yes.

Why yes it is.
 
how many fly-ins do you see scheduled in December?
 
I fly year round, but during the winter the number of overnight trips drops off dramatically. The window necessary for trip completion usually exceeds the amount of time I can comfortably take off. I suspect that would be less the case in California.
 
Yes. Maybe not in your area, but in my neck of the woods, it is mainly June through September, with some ramping up in April and May, and tapering off in October.
 
I try to fly at least once a week, year round. I will definately catch a fly-in event, if it fits in my schedule. There is definately more flying in the summer and fall, if just because of the longer days and mini-vacations.
 
skidoo said:
Yes. Maybe not in your area, but in my neck of the woods, it is mainly June through September, with some ramping up in April and May, and tapering off in October.
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Likewise up here in the soggy corner.

Summer was on a Thursday last year and I had to work. :mad:

From October through March, whenever there's enough of a break in the weather, we go up for an hour or so to scrape the rust off the cylinders. Sometimes that might only be once in two or three weeks. For light GA in this area even IFR is difficult in the winter, because ceilings are below the ridges, the freezing level is often lower than the MEAs, and the western slope of the Cascades is a notorious ice-making area.

In addition, in the dead of winter Seattle has about an hour and twenty minutes less daylight each day compared to Los Angeles, and the constant cloud cover makes it seem even darker.

So naturally, when the weather starts to improve in mid-spring (subject to the usual June-uary gloom), everybody is chomping at the bit to get airborne.

But when the weather is nice up here in late spring and summer ... ohhhh myyyy! :yesnod:
 
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I think a fair share of the blame goes to darkness as much as cold/other winter conditions. Not enough daylight hours and most pilots prefer day.
 
Personally, I find myself flying a lot more October - April than I do May - September. But I live on the Gulf coast, and when it's 106 on the tarmac and 140 in the cockpit after you finish off that $100 hamburger, that takes some of the fun out of the trip!

The plane and I both fly better when the temp outside is in the 40-80F range....
 
Went flying today and UNICOM was busy! Even my own airport was busy, it was fun and challenging. :D
 
The busy season is much too short here. Winter flying is fun too, though.
 
I'd say right now is busy around here. Took a flight to Rhode Island and back on Sunday and there were tons of planes on the common UNICOM frequency for many non-towered airports( Westerly- were I went-, Plymouth and Block Island to name a few.). Also when I left the entire fleet of rentals was out and when I returned I was the only plane on the ramp as the rest were out flying. Certainly, this was not the case back in the Winter time when often only 1 other plane in the fleet was flying when I left the ramp.
 
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