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Your 2017 flying year, how many hours, and aspirations for 2018?

denopa wrote:

I also need to do some serious thinking about my plane and typical flight profile. I really love the Mirage, it’s fast, versatile and very reliable (yes, yes), but my kids are growing up at an incredible rate and I can’t realistically plan to continue going to the south of France direct. So I either need something that will carry more or a better climber to make those stops less time consuming.

Sounds like a TBM is in your future.

EGTK Oxford

My 2017 aviation activity summary:
Total flying time: 106H56m.
Total Flying time as Pilot in Command (PIC): 102H56m.
Total Flying time PIC on my airliner (Arrow IV): 101H10m.
Day time landings: 52
Night time landings: 17
Airports visited: 21 in 14 countries
Finland
Poland
Romania
Hungary
Greece
Cyprus
Macedonia
Croatia
Slovenia
Austria
Czech Republic
France
Spain
Portugal

1 aircraft certification (complex) and night rating.

For 2018
Finalize ATPL theory, instruments and same amount of hours crossing Europe.

Last Edited by lmsl1967 at 31 Dec 17:31
LPSR, Portugal

2017: about 160 hours, not counting 63 rotary, as I’m not sure that can be described as “flying” in any God-fearing sense of the word.

2018: one day at a time. Maybe fly a little. Our main runway has grassed over nicely now, so here’s an open invitation: if you fly a microlight, a taildragger, a Cessna (or similar), by all means come and visit. No landing fee for SEPs, but twice that for twins (sorry Timothy, those are the rules). With fair warning, you should at least get a cup of tea.

Glenswinton, SW Scotland, United Kingdom

Jacko wrote:

a Cessna

Not sure that’s going to work….

EGTK Oxford

:)

Glenswinton, SW Scotland, United Kingdom

In 2017 my flight time was just above 50 hours — which is my target. Slightly more than half of that was IFR. 18 airports in four countries visited. Furthest distance away from home base was 800 NM.

Just for fun, I made a breakdown of my different kinds of flying:

“Burger runs”: 6%
“Proper” travel with a purpose: 38%
Pure practice flights and PC: 7%
Voluntary air corps exercises: 20%
Voluntary air corps missions: 9%
EASA “introductory flights”: 4%
Ferry/positioning flights for my club: 15%

ESKC (Uppsala/Sundbro), Sweden

2017 was my worst flying year for decades in terms of hours, only managed about 5 hours. Lost my SEP rating as a consequence, but there was simply no time available at all to go flying. I spent most of time I was not at work with my daughter and my wife trying to make things go forward there. No regrets, but there was a time when I honestly thought that i would simply give up, hence my plane ended up on planecheck for a while. It is gone from there now though.

we also had a problem with the airplane which now leads to it being in maintenance for start up problems. It appears that the shower of sparks box as well as the ignition lock was out of action, possibly also one magneto off timing, we shall see. But it was something we were fighting all year round and as an intermittent fault nobody could find the real source so far.

2018 the goals are clear. First do my check flight to get my SEP back, then go on and revalidate my IR finally. Lea will be two this year so she should be able to come flying with me soon as well. Goal is about 50 hours.

LSZH(work) LSZF (GA base), Switzerland

74.1 hours. Not bad considering the plane was down for maintenance and avionics upgrades from mid-May through the end of July (prime VFR flying time).
Visited:
Milos, Crete, Syros, Mykonos, Sicily, Puglia, Venice, Croatia, Serbia, Macedonia, Hungary, Austria, Germany (I have probably the best traveled Rallye in Europe)
Goal in 2018 is to complete my FAA IR and figure out how to get an EASA IR. I will either upgrade the plane or sell it and buy a better tourer (candidates are a mogas 182 or TB 20).

Tököl LHTL

For 2018: 126 hours, down about 40 from normal, mostly due to the need to rebuild the engine on my Malibu Mirage. This took an unexpectedly long 4 months.

Highlights were two long trips from the UK to Ibiza, and another to Rome (which involved the most beautiful crossings of the Alps in both directions. Sort of a highlight was losing GPS and much of my avionics in/under a massive thunderstorm along the Jura and still managing to keep my cool. Regained VFR with some help from ATC and diverted to Pontarlier for a hilarious evening (home of Absinthe). Another was discovering that I could make very efficient flying day trips to London via Denham and the District Line (“tube”). Sometimes the simplest things can give a great deal of pleasure.

I read a number of posts above in which people talked about one day wanting to fly across the Alps.

I learned to fly in Switzerland in my 40s, and flying through the valleys and over the passes in very small aircraft became second nature. Flying across the the Alps should not be seen as a major hurdle. There are a number of passes which can be traversed under 10,000 ft – Grand St Bernard, Simplon, Gotthard. Get the very good ICAO SWISS VFR chart. Geneva or Zurich Info will tell you which military areas are active. Just pick nice high pressure weather, with low winds and read up a bit on mountain flying. It is wonderful.

For 2018: more long trips across Europe and possibly a trip across the N Atlantic.

Upper Harford private strip UK, near EGBJ, United Kingdom

I didn’t post last year, but 18 months ago I had posted my bucket list:

- IR ME extension
At the last moment the FE canceled the test because I had a UK license and he didn’t wish to do the paperwork. Should be for 2018.
- taking my foreign FAA IR written test to get a full piggyback licence so that I can rent an N reg twin (there are many of them in Europe)
- difference training on various twins (Cessna 310/340, 337, Baron) until I find the one I like, I’m already current on DA42
Postponed until I get my IR ME extension.
- finish my FI course
Done!
- get a full SPL (with cross country extension)
Not planned yet
- get a PPL(H)
Should be for 2018
- as soon that it’s possible without setting up an ATO setting up my own flight school (So that my weekend sorties can be useful to someone)
Canceled. Instead I plan to spend a day a week teaching at a real ATO on my C172.
- getting my BPL
Not planned yet
- extending my microlight French licence to gyros, flexwings, and paragliders.
I had a lot of fun doing an introductory flexwing flight. Flexwing extension planned for 2018
- built a hangar and start a collection of aircrafts
If a collection starts at the second item, I should start the collection this year with a R44 added to my 172.
And that’s it for my 2018 objectives.
My last long term objective is to stop speaking English like Hercule Poirot, but it won’t be for 2018

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