A question for pilots?

[xgener]

I am in my mid fifties. I know my reaction timing to stuff isn't what it was 30 years ago. I am in good shape, I run 20 plus miles a week plus weight training. I do this so I can chase sheep. My question is, I really want to try and learn to fly, and is it realistic. What I mean by that is not just showing up and handing over ten grand for school but is it really doable. I have no problem with the mechanical part or the book learning. I have had the head phones when you guys (being in cessnas and supercubs are talking to the tower) and that seems intimadating. I guess I am asking what makes a good pilot, and is it worth a late life goal? or should I just pay (I am an Alaska resident so everything is cheap to hunt comparably to non residents). And learning to fly is more than hunting, it is something as fifty year old man that makes me still feel like a twenty year old with goals but more experience than a twenty year old. Just using this forum for some intelligent advice that takes all that jumble I just laid into account. (I can I afford the the money to try and get my private) I just asking to make sure I can justify doing it...... and it is worth it.

 

[Bambistew]

Have you talked to any bush pilots? Most of those guys love talking about their planes. A few of the guys I fly with are pushing 70. The young guys scare me the most, to be honest.

I'd love to have a plane, but it never penciled out for me. For me it's way easier to just pay a guy to drop me off. That way I don't have to worry about a plane sitting on the landing strip getting eaten by a bear or blown away when I'm 10 miles away from it chasing sheep. Sure would make for some fun moose hunting and fishing trips.

I have hard enough time using all the toys we have. I am jealous of the guys that have planes.

I wouldn't let age hold you back!

 

[xgener]

I love the response. thank you! For me its not about owning a plane, it is about a late old man crisis! I want to learn to fly. I want something to shoot for. Another goal. And what would of worry me now, never would of thirty years ago. I have got about twenty years left. I love hunting but hate killing. Weird eh? I just want a new challenge and that to me is the talk between the tower and pilot, I am comfortable with else. And I do want to hunt goats on Kodiak now that I am a resident. (side note, but more of an excuse to wander around Kodiak with a rifle in hand)

 

[Stocker]

The neighbor I grew up flying with was in his 80’s when he quit. I’d hate to guess how many hours I spent as a kid and young teen flying around with him. He taught my dad to fly. I don’t have my license, but I learned everything I know about flying from him. He was a wild man, made his living as a crop duster, crashed 7-8 planes and 1 helicopter in his life including one of my dads when he was in his 70’s. Most were when he was crop dusting in the heat of the summer. I’d hate to guess how many times when he was out flying he’d buzz people on the road or an unsuspecting farmer in a tractor, even skimming a cab or 2 with the landing gear.

I never hesitated and my parents never worried about me going up with him because he never panicked. He always flew the plane no matter what was going on did what he needed to do to get it on the ground in a way that people could walk away from. I’m not a pilot, but I would say the best ones I’ve been around number 1 never put themselves in an impossible spot. Always knew where they were going and left themselves an out. Number 2 they never panicked, always were under control and flew the airplane like it was an extension of them no matter the circumstance.

Reaction time is great, but knowing where you are going, what to expect, and mentally preparing for it seemed to me to be the most important things.

 

[tarheel]

Go for it! I learned to fly in my mid fifties, chose a taildragger to learn in because I figured if I learned in a more difficult type the others would be a breeze. I got tired of renting so bought into a nice 172 with a fresh motor figuring my wife would be more inclined to ride with me than in the tandem Citabria. Shoulda known better, as she was a white knuckle flier even in a trip7. I eventually lost my medical and sold my share of the 172 but never lost my love of taildraggers so I occasionally fly with a friend who owns an RV-4 and he likes the way I fly so I fly it from the back with a little rudder input from him.

I'll be 82 in a few months and still have the reflexes, though not everyone is so fortunate, so you or your instructor will determine if you need to pursue your dream.

 

[Straight Arrow]

Having flown helicopters as an Army aviator for twenty years, it is clear to me that the key to being a competent and accomplished pilot is flight time and experience(s). If you are to become engaged in flying, don't just do it every other week. Learn, practice, enjoy the flying often, continuously improving and with goals. Mountain flying requires savvy and skills, some of which can be learned flying with those whose competency is proven.
Now 80, I feel physically and mentally able to fly, but focus on hiking and doing that which keeps me able to hunt elk with physical fitness (albeit a bit slower). Plus aviation is expensive these days.
In "mid fifties" your age should not be a constraint. Go for it if you have the time, the money and the motivation required.

 

[Salmonchaser]

As you well know Alaska is unique when it comes to flying. I’m with Bambi stew on this one. We contracted all our flying for 20 years. 185 on floats and tires; 206 on floats and beavers floats and tires. Only had one guy scare the shit out of me. Had one say something like I’m never landing here again. Those were young guys. The best was a Vietnam vet who started flying just after he got home, still flying until about 2016 or 18. Kind of guy who half way to our destination would point out the window and say “see that fuzz on the horizon, not suppose to be there today. I’m going to take you to no tellum 2. I won’t be able to pick you up at No tellum 1. Sure as hell that night we would hear some one else made it into no tellum 1 for what turned into an all night fishing trip.
I think wisdom and maturity trump handspeed, if you have the natural aptitude to fly a bush plane. It certainly is not for everyone. You have seen what it takes, go get your hours in, if that works out go buy a cub or a 185.