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Your 2019 flying year, how many hours, and aspirations for 2020?

Goals for 2019:
more international trips, crossing the Alps
getting the IR
find more capable and more available aircraft arround Prague suitable for longer trips within reasonable cost
continue dreaming about owning Extra EA-400, have flown it once, amazing plane

Reality of 2019:
Only 28 hours flown due to unavailability of the club’s C172. A to B trips except one hour with FI for PPL revalidation. Did cross the Alps. IR on hold as no IFR plane within reach. Got very close to getting that Extra 400 but the project is stalling now.

Goals for 2020:
get the IR
find suitable IFR capable plane
get close to 100 hours (50h IR, 50h trips)

Last Edited by Destinatus at 29 Dec 00:54
Prague
Czech Republic
  • 2019: Got my PPL and did nearly 100h this year, 40h as PIC Cross Country.
  • 2020 Goals: Get FAA PPL, IR, ME and at least SIC for a turbine.
Germany

2017 – EASA PPL in Sept to Dec – 55 hr

2018 – 250 hrs in SR22T with EASA and FAA IR achieved.

2019 – 275 hrs in SR22T. Set a goal of doing Southern Europe and getting down to South Africa. Achieved Southern Europe but not Africa. However launched Airtime. This meant I had a few coast to coast trips in the US as an alternative.

2020 – Plan – Similar hours with FAA CPL done before March and new series of Airtime launched in September. Will plan on flying down to Cape Town in December.

The sky is the limit
EGKB, United Kingdom

Haven’t counted, but about 150 h. Lots of instructions, some aerobatics, glider towing. None longer journeys, but had a fun little week when commuting everyday with an ancient PA-28 to tow gliders in 30 degrees (which eventually destroyed the engine in the tow plane, now fixed). A couple of club trips, which was fun.

For 2020: more fun! Gotta get that might rating and eventually get my own airplane in the air.

The elephant is the circulation
ENVA ENOP ENMO, Norway

I managed my most ever, just a bit shy of 200. I competed my FI and 30 hours instructing toward unrestricting. Most of this in fixed wing, 30 or so in Gazelle helicopter.

Touring wise, not so much. The usual 15 or so Le Touquet trips, an Oostende, Made it to Germany once and flew an RV8 back from Denmark. The most memorable trips were VFR battles against the weather from sussex to Newtownards and back, and another from Perth dodging thunder.

2020 I need to get unrestricted, the main challenge being the solo sign off requirement. I want to try and find the time to do a bit more of Europe, perhaps an early year Spain run, and get into some RV8 aerobatics. And need to find some more unusual places to land the helicopter!

EGKL, United Kingdom

2019 has been a bit of a mixed year:

On the negative side I fell just short of 100hrs minimum goal for flying in Europe (due to some not so good weather earlier this year and AOG for prop overhaul since November).

On the positive side I can add almost 20 hrs. of bush plane and float flying in Alaska to that.

Germany

Only 29 hours this year because of less time and money dedicated to flying, and less perfect weather than 2018.
The biggest joy by far this year is to have met a girl who enjoys flying visiting places by plane.

No overnight trips this year :( but 3 day trips and 2 dinner trips. Took 9 non-pilots flying.
I was able to compensate with a few trips that I took as copilot. A lot of fun (Ouessant and Flying legends), despite no time logged.

I bet too much on one big trip (the Venice fly-in). Next year, I will plan more smaller trips, to mitigate weather cancellations.

My objectives for 2020 are :

  • 30 hours total
  • 2-3 overnight trips would be nice
  • continue to enjoy a little night VFR
  • continue show GA to new people
  • if possible, start some tailwheel training
LFOU, France

I think anybody who manages to squeeze 100hrs out of a year, doing just private flying, is doing really well, considering what is involved in managing flying and a fairly normal life.

That’s why I think the EuroGA meet-ups are really important. The feedback from people who make them is overwhelmingly positive. The social aspect of flying is really crucial because if you keep clocking up 100hrs a year then – unless you keep doing the same run – you will soon cover a huge range of airports (I am probably around 200 now, after 20 years, despite having done Le Touquet 10,000 times ) and flying outside Europe is too much hassle and expense for too little return, for most.

My 2019 numbers are well down partly because of the CAA’s new “100% bust the bastard pilots” policy A lot of simple intra-UK VFR flights I used to do regularly are not safe anymore, if using a transponder. I suspect this will work its way through to many others, over time.

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom

@peter it’s sad to hear you are not doing so many VFR flights. What do you use for VFR flying? Since having SkyDemon I have found VFR flying a lot less stressful. (It’s also now has airways charts and GeoReferenced IFR plates from some AIPs (not France).

Alex
Shoreham (EGKA) White Waltham (EGLM), United Kingdom

Having airspace warning is not the main issue. I have EasyVFR which is a very similar product to SD. But neither will do airspace warnings on the aircraft intercom (not without a lot of messing around, connecting tablet audio to the aircraft intercom).

The problem is that, around the London TMA, and other places, it takes only a moment’s distraction to nip some airspace. Also you have a very close proximity between the base of CAS and the tops of various ATZs, and ATZ busts are being heavily enforced. All this has been done in that loooong busts thread. And with me running a forum which has been pretty well the only place where discussion of the new policy has not been squashed (by resident CAA/NATS staff, posting under nicknames, and a certain CAA person applying pressure) I would get hit with the maximum possible.

IFR is no problem; I have Jepp terminal charts, etc. Also VFR outside the UK is no problem because they don’t bust pilots like they now do in the UK.

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom
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