This past year, 120 hours. 50 hours in my flying boat, mostly bimbling, and a bit of commuting, the rest, test flying, a little Cessna 207, Caravan, and DHC-3 Otter floatplanes, and 60 really enjoyable hours in the RED A03 Diesel Beaver, including crossing most of Canada in it in May. One of those small, but memorable pleasures, was landing it at a small airport in Alberta for fuel, and the elderly mechanic enthusiastically walking out the hangar door toward me, saying (to everyone) “It’s here! It’s here!!!”. He was an old Beaver mechanic, and he’d been following the development of the new engine installation in various articles and internet posts, and I presented it to him in person. He spent the better part of an hour climbing all over it with a huge smile on his face. I accidentally made his day with my random fuel stop. Small pleasures…..
What an amazing story!
Peter wrote:
What an amazing story!
and one hell of a picture 
Dan wrote:
and one hell of a picture
I flew formation on that photo run for an hour and a half. The (very professional) photographer was in the back seat of a 172 with the right door off for all that time, freezing his fingertips (at was March). In the latter part of the run, the photo pilot called me, and said “we’re just going to hang back a little, [the photographer] has to delete so photos to open up some memory card space….”. He’d taken 1300 photos during that period. I was happy to hang back, to give me neck a rest, it was tense from eyes on the lead photo plane all that time!
After doubting about pursuing flying as a hobby for many years (my first inquiries date from 2015), I finally decided to take the plunge in 2022. My main concerns were (and remain) of a financial nature; but I’m currently at a point where flying ~50hours PA is financially sustainable. I started EASA PPL theory classes at my local DTO in Sept 2022, which I found – somewhat unexpectedly – fairly interesting and engaging. The latter was in large part due to the highly experienced tutor who shares many GA anecdotes which were acquired over a long career of FI. My first training flight was logged in March 2023, at the same DTO, with the tutor as my FI and flying two well-loved but also well-maintained (at least to my untrained eye) DR40s. I got my class 2 EASA medical issued in April and flew my first solo on July 13th, logging 14’ PIC with 1 landing . Going up solo in the cockpit for the first time was definitely my flying #1 in 2023.
Other highlights include my first XC navigation flight – with dead reckoning navigation (using a plain paper map) and a FI who could probably fly the route by hearth – and also my first landing at a different airport. In total I tallied 25 training hours in 2023; with 109 landings over 27 flights with 64’ of PIC time. I had hoped to fly more, but preparations for the EASA PPL exams took up a big chunk of my time in H2 2023. Fortunately I passed the exams in December. In hindsight I probably spent too much time preparing for the exams, but at least I only had to visit the CAA examination center once. Also the detrimental weather in December meant three flight cancellations.
Finally, I am also thankful for having discovered EuroGA. I enjoy reading perspectives from (much) more experienced pilots and the forums are a lot more relevant to my flying than a lot of airline pilots posts over on r/flying. I particularly enjoy @Dan’s report on flying his home-built to the US (I’m still in the process of reading it). Very inspirational and an aspiration for one day, perhaps!
For 2024 I hope to finish my SEPL class rating. I’m looking forward to my first solo XC flight. Once I have my rating (hoping before the summer, but that will likely be too optimistic), I plan to take (just) my partner on a domestic XC flight and hopefully on a short stint abroad. Maybe to one of the channel islands or somewhere south if in need of warmer weather. But those I consider ‘stretch’ goals; my main focus for 2024 is finishing my SEPL rating. I hope longer XC flights will build hours faster than the shorter local flights I’ve been mostly flying so far.
This year, or rather last year now, started off slow as both my group aeroplane and our club aeroplane were both out on annual, in the case of my group Archer it had been out since July due to a prop strike against a still attached tow bar when trying to start the engine. We do have a nice newly overhauled zero-timed engine though! Archer and Robin were back online early April.
Managed to do ~50 hours including 20 hours of instructing my PPL student (my first to go solo so that was a huge moment this year!) and some local flying around Scotland (got sun burned whilst eating lunch in Glenforsa back in May) as well as a weekend trip to Ostend (stayed in Ghent) and a long weekend trip to to Trier via Kortrijk and Koblenz. These trips to Belgium and Germany were in my friends C172 for which I’m also on the insurance so shared the flying. Also, flew three hours in a brand new SR20 G6 which I really enjoyed, I can see how the G1000 makes a huge difference to situational awareness, been spoilt now.
Then disaster, I had an incident with my wife’s horse which resulted in a fracture of the greater tuberosity with a small articular surface partial thickness tear over the distal supraspinatus tendon. For those who aren’t doctors (i.e. me), its a rotator cuff injury on my right shoulder so not the end of the world. This means I’m officially unfit but should be back in the air once my physio signs me off, I undertake a medical flight test and finally a visit to my AME (my medical needs revalidating in February in any case).
In the mean-time, whilst ground-bound and after years of “Will I? Won’t I?”, I took the plunge and enrolled onto a CB-IR theory course with Bristol Ground School. I did obtain an FAA CPL/IR many years ago but don’t have the 50 hours PIC IFR so decided to go down the exam route, how hard can they be? I did enrol with my eyes wide open having passed the EASA CPL exams back in 2019 (for the purpose of obtaining an FI).
2024?
Well, I have my first three CB-IR exams on 18th January and am aiming to have the other four passed by May by which time I’ll be flying again.
As soon as I’m up and flying again I’ll renew my IMC/IR(R) with our resident FE (its expired a fair while ago) and outside of ATO training with the same instructor / examiner as he can teach the full IR prior to attending an ATO to finish off the course/skills test.
A friend and I have a two week European trip planned for August in the C172, we’re planning it VFR as neither of us have a full IR but if I do have the full IR by the time we go then that’ll be a huge bonus.
That’ll do for my personal flying plans but I also have a couple of students I’m hoping to bring back under my wing and hopefully we’ll have a couple of additional PPLs in the club.
Towards the winter I’ll be in need of attending an Instructor Seminar.
FlyingHog wrote:
I’m currently at a point where flying ~50hours PA is financially sustainable.
50 hrs is substantially more than most PPLs fly every year, so with that budget you will do fine!
57 hours logged in the Bolkow Junior in 2023.
Only over the Scottish Highlands. Only 4 airfields used. Last flight was on 2/12. I’d hoped to fly in late December but a chest infection prevented that, so I didn’t make 60 hours.
First eye cataract operation on 5/12 has made a great difference. Second eye due this month.
Permit is now valid till January 2025, so hoping for some decent VFR weather, without strong winds, in 2024. 2023 was a poor weather year in my area.
Jujupilote wrote:
Plans for 2023 are to move to another part of France so flying won’t be a priority.
Only flew 4h42m this year. Suffered several cancellations, the last even today. Overall I have very little time to fly.
Plan for 2024 is to renew my SEP.
First eye cataract operation on 5/12 has made a great difference. Second eye due this month.
Very good to hear @Maoraigh ! Wonderful to see that you are still keeping it up. In aircraft manufacturing speak, you are the ‘fleet leader’ here. Well, maybe not in flight hours, but likely in years
