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Your 2022 flying year, how many hours, and aspirations for 2023?

36h20 block time. 36 flights. Seven of 2 hours or more. All in Bolkow 208C Junior. All in N Scotland. Just 3 land-away airfields.
The best weather coincided with 2 spells when my car was u/s, pre-booked with spares delay, and individual days when I had long- booked medical checks. Wind has been the problem for pleasure flying in the hills.
Thanks to holding time for commercial jets that’s almost twice my engine tach time.
Hoping to fly much more in 2023. Hoping to get her night authorised.
Hoping to sell shares.

Maoraigh
EGPE, United Kingdom

About 125 hours in 2022. Combination of trips between UK, Croatia, Greece and Switzerland in PA46 Jetprop and lots of local flights around the Cotswolds in a 1943 J3 cub. Was my first full year of Jetprop ownership and am starting to feel more comfortable with the boundaries and capabilities of this amazing type – shortfield takeoff (450 m take off roll even at MTOW), fuel planning for max range flights (just under 4.0 hours = 900 nm still air), sea level to FL250 in 17 mins.

For 2023 I really want to get to some new countries – Spain (outside the main AENA airports if possible), Portugal, Belgium, Germany, Norway are high on the list. As I have mentioned on this thread in the past, as I get older I tend to stick with the countries whose aviation systems I sort of understand and shy away from those I don’t. Gotta break the habit!

Also, France has become a ‘fly-over’ country for me as I cannot stand the PN 48 hour crap when coming from the UK. Sure I can arrange for the douanes to visit me at a specified time so I can clear into the EU and on to say Son Bonet , but then I feel embarassed when the weather changes and I have to cancel. There must be somewhere down the western half of France where I could do customs and immigration on short notice??

Last Edited by Buckerfan at 05 Jan 09:52
Upper Harford private strip UK, near EGBJ, United Kingdom

2022: 48 hours. All nearby; farthest was Calais or Llanbedr. The high point was taking the kids to Bembridge, with a ride at the top of a double decker bus to visit the zoo. Got a UK PPL via paperwork exercise.

2023: hope to fly to a few more places, and add an IR(R) to the new licence.

Just realised I’ve not posted on this since December 2018. The 2019 plan to get a French microlight licence didn’t work out. 2020 not much happened. 2021 I became an owner (Arrow IV), a massive positive move.

EGHO-LFQF-KCLW, United Kingdom

Buckerfan wrote:

There must be somewhere down the western half of France where I could do customs and immigration on short notice??

LFBD but they want 200 Euro + Tax … avoid Biarritz in a N reg aircraft esp from the UK unless you want the full welcoming treatment (vac inside of the plane for drugs / breathalyzer / etc etc !

I feel a bit like the proverbial 12h-a-year-pilot. In September I almost lost the privilege to take passengers an now I’m again only three weeks away from that. Yet my logbook shows 49 hours in 2022. For 2023 I’m planning to do the trips which I hadn’t done in 2022 due to weather or airplane availability.

EDQH, Germany

Capitaine wrote:

2021 I became an owner (Arrow IV), a massive positive move.

Affirm. I almost quit flying in 2020 for obvious reasons. I knew about lots of aspects of costs. It needs a lot of dedication. Work, small kids, family, house, doesn’t fit well in this world. And then my wife said “when do we do that if not now?”. What a kick in the butt! And then things went north very quickly…despite all the circumstances flying is now one of the centers of our family planning.

Last annual I installed the new LED lights together with my father and my eldest son.

Now in the meantime my eldest is short of obtaining his gliders license, waiting for his practical exam. My second just about on christmas filed his request to start to fly (gliders). And my 5 y/o keeps asking penetrantly when we’ll get next time to Norderney. In all the time that I have the Comanche I only ONCE flew alone for some landing training, besides the technical flights after maintenance. And the steed is often just crowded

Despite my IR lessons we’ve got plans this year for obvious flights to Spain, but top on the list is a flight to Greece to maybe go sailing. And so much more ideas. We’re also discussing whether we’d be able to attend this years’ fly-to-ski, however fixed dates are really tough to plan with so many variables like we have…nothing would be possible without owning a plane.

Germany

2013: 145 hrs
2014: 187
2015: 179
2016: 160
2017: 120
2018: 138
2019: 122
2020: 103
2021: 130
2022: 126

I am hoping for a fly to ski meetup like we did in Jan 2022. I would like to combine this with something else in that area. If anyone is interested in Aosta / Cervinia, let me know.

Aero Friedrichshafen will run again in April 2023 so we can have a “German meet-up” there as usual. I look forward to meeting a load of the usual people

The TB20 continues to do exactly what I need, mostly with the 1990s avionics My son flies it as much as I do; probably more! That’s great.

The main challenge is as every year: keep flying interesting. The social aspect has become more difficult, with most of the group of regulars, who used to do UK and France, having packed up flying, or just disappeared. In fact a large % of pilots who “went places” seems to have vanished. I think the most experienced ones, being the oldest, got fed up with a lot of stuff during the covid years and retired.

Difficulties with France continue with so many destinations being 24/48hr PN so most people just don’t bother anymore. I think this is a big loss to UK GA and to a number of French airports whose revenue has shrunk.

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom

In 2022: 330h total of wich GA:0 +57h simulator.
I did change company, and aircraft and instead of flying lowcost short haul i will fly whatever they can fit in the queen around the northern hemisphere (for now that the area of operations)

After a 3year break (house, kids, etc) i became a member of the aeroclub again. My first flight to get my SEP current again is planned for Wednesday. Unfortunately, someone exited a runway not at the correct manner so i’m not sure the airplane will be available.

Plans for 2023: renew my SEP, take our son up on his first flight (almost 3y old) and take my wife to some fun places

EBZW, Belgium

It’s been another dud year. But plane is getting picked up this month and after some training, an IPC and and the interior going in, hoping to fly a lot more this year!

I was going to sell her, but now that I’ve missed the peak market, I’ve decided to keep her and fly as much as I can afford. I probably won’t ever get another chance to own an aircraft of this caliber if I was a buyer today, so might as well enjoy it.

Less than previous year, about 80 perhaps, but that was made up for by more quality flying than before (more “bush”, more aerobatics, more competition flying). Also got myself a new aircraft, together with a pilot friend who also has a 600m airfield and hangar (ENMO). And a 1/10 share in a Super Decathlon for aerobatics together with other aerobatics dudes in the area The Super Decathlon is also relatively OK for short field, but a 737 in comparison with the Savannah

This year, I hope the whether is better than last year, which was the worse ever, or I will have to get a heli license or IFR do get some flying done

The elephant is the circulation
ENVA ENOP ENMO, Norway
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