Thread: Please Introduce Yourself Here

Waving and giving a shout out to all the new members here. Pull up a chair and make yourselves at home. Glad you joined. Bust some scams, visit the chat forums and enjoy yourselves!

Originally Posted by A Life Aloft

Waving and giving a shout out to all the new members here. Pull up a chair and make yourselves at home. Glad you joined. Bust some scams, visit the chat forums and enjoy yourselves!

With your ID and signature, I'm curious...are the letters"cfiismel" familiar to you?

Originally Posted by laidback

With your ID and signature, I'm curious...are the letters"cfiismel" familiar to you?

As in ratings/certs related to aviation? Why yes, you could say that. lol As are PPL, CFI, CFII, CPL, MEI, ATP, AMEL.

Originally Posted by A Life Aloft

As in ratings/certs related to aviation? Why yes, you could say that. lol As are PPL, CFI, CFII, CPL, MEI, ATP, AMEL.

I thought so. Somewhere back in the dim, dark past I carried that rating, but as happens with most of us that get older, now I have the memories...!

Originally Posted by laidback

I thought so. Somewhere back in the dim, dark past I carried that rating, but as happens with most of us that get older, now I have the memories...!

You are never to old to fly privately. (unless you are just really jacked up medically, but that's a whole other subject) What I mean, is that you can always get a re-cert, take some lessons, rent a plane, go on some fly alongs, or join a flying club where the members would be more than happy to take you along and let you fly and still enjoy the experience. Flying clubs are the best for that reason. They are full of very friendly, social people with many activities and the opportunities to fly in all sorts of GA's. Pilots on that level are always looking for someone to fly with. This is a great much less expensive alternative and might be worth checking out. You know this already, I am sure. Flying is flying and it's just as wonderful fly a Stearman or Champ as it is to fly a 747. You might look at areas near you that have fly in meet ups and events. That's another great place to hook up with ac owners, get some rides/hand flying at cruise and at least have a great day watching them land and getting up close to a boat load of planes. You deserve to have those views from aloft again in your life. You had them once, you can have them in some way again. I always encourage anyone who once had the passion, the love and the joy of flight to rekindle that still smoldering ember and do whatever they can to fly again. That desire never really leaves you. Don't tell me you don't look up everytime you hear any aircraft overhead. When I finally retire from commercial, I intend to continue flying, til they drag me from the cockpit kicking and screaming. Maybe I'll be that old guy at some little FBO spinning tales of those days gone by and reciting from Fate Is The Hunter. lol Maybe you could still teach again??? I know plenty of CFI's who are no spring chickens, believe me. The wealth of knowledge and experience that they have is much more vaulable than some puppy with a few hundred hours under his belt.

Originally Posted by A Life Aloft

You are never to old to fly privately. (unless you are just really jacked up medically, but that's a whole other subject) What I mean, is that you can always get a re-cert, take some lessons, rent a plane, go on some fly alongs, or join a flying club where the members would be more than happy to take you along and let you fly and still enjoy the experience. Flying clubs are the best for that reason. They are full of very friendly, social people with many activities and the opportunities to fly in all sorts of GA's. Pilots on that level are always looking for someone to fly with. This is a great much less expensive alternative and might be worth checking out. You know this already, I am sure. Flying is flying and it's just as wonderful fly a Stearman or Champ as it is to fly a 747. You might look at areas near you that have fly in meet ups and events. That's another great place to hook up with ac owners, get some rides/hand flying at cruise and at least have a great day watching them land and getting up close to a boat load of planes. You deserve to have those views from aloft again in your life. You had them once, you can have them in some way again. I always encourage anyone who once had the passion, the love and the joy of flight to rekindle that still smoldering ember and do whatever they can to fly again. That desire never really leaves you. Don't tell me you don't look up everytime you hear any aircraft overhead. When I finally retire from commercial, I intend to continue flying, til they drag me from the cockpit kicking and screaming. Maybe I'll be that old guy at some little FBO spinning tales of those days gone by and reciting from Fate Is The Hunter. lol Maybe you could still teach again??? I know plenty of CFI's who are no spring chickens, believe me. The wealth of knowledge and experience that they have is much more vaulable than some puppy with a few hundred hours under his belt.

I could teach ground school. I am on O2 24/7 and am not sure what the current medical requirements are. I never carried an ATR (or ATP) but some of my students went on to drive for the airlines. The other option open to me is ultra-light as aircraft or pilot need not be licensed in some areas.

Originally Posted by laidback

I could teach ground school. I am on O2 24/7 and am not sure what the current medical requirements are. I never carried an ATR (or ATP) but some of my students went on to drive for the airlines. The other option open to me is ultra-light as aircraft or pilot need not be licensed in some areas.

I am very sorry to hear of your (I am assuming) lung issues. Sorry I didn't respond sooner, but I had to work and just got home. You don't need any medical currently (even third class) for gliders or hot air balloons or sport ultra lights.

I will tell you that there is a strong movement going on currently to remove the need for the issuance of a third class medical and replace it with a driver’s license for private-use aircraft under 6,000 lbs. There is a petition circulating around on a national level which is gaining some legs and will be presented to the FAA and that group is looking for AOPA to support this. Whether they do or not remains to be seen. The petition has already been presented (the wording of it) to DOT. As I understand it, the objective is to force a full re-evaluation of the need for a 3rd class medical for private aircraft under 6,000 lbs through an open public Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM). An NPRM could potentially bring the existing regulation under further oversight and accountability, which may not have existed when it was originally written, such as Regulatory Flexibility review and Economic impact. It will be interesting to see what happens.

I still like the idea of joining a flying club, not only for the social activities, but there are certainly many pilots who would be more than happy to take you flying with them and I am sure let you fly at cruise at the very least. Hell, I would do that myself. There are some good GA forums on the net and I know you could also find some GA owners near you who be be interested in having you along for a ride as well.

I hope somehow this will happen for you. Especially glad to see another pilot here. Memories are important. Most people never get to live out their dreams at all. You have had the views and the experience that is rare among the general population and that counts for something, believe me.