Scudrunners

Found this blog post:
[url=http://airfactsjournal.com/2013/11/have ... adventure/]
http://airfactsjournal.com/2013/11/have ... adventure/[/url]

I recall back when I was learning to fly I had a number of friends going through a college program out in Abbottsford, every flight they had was scripted and planned.

I use to jump in the Fleet Canuck with one of them and quickly call my dad,  Hey im going out near harrison lake maybe tippella most likely end up in Chilliwack for a burger if you don't hear from me in a few hours wait one more and then activate SAR. After all the Canuck only had about 3.5 hours worth of gas and away we would go!

Flying was fun I never knew exactly where I would end up on each flight,  I got to know every nook and cranny of south western BC.
I honestly hated talking on the radio so controlled airports where too much trouble to bother with and they where usually boring.

My favorite trek was taking off out of Delta Airpark heading east then curve up over Surrey towards the north shore where I would have to talk to the harbour boys and girls and head past downtown Vancouver then north up towards Squamish Whistler Pemberton where I would usually stop and check out the gliders. After that I would then head down Lillooet lake ending up over Harrison lake and then snake my way around the east practice area and Langley heading for blacky spit then sneak over mudbay for the ever impressive overhead break of the Canuck to land at the airpark.

Flying was always about adventure and I couldn't wait to head north and could have cared less about IFR or shinny bars on my shoulders. Every once and awhile these days we will get an empty leg and be able to cancel IFR and take my time heading down a valley somewhere cool, I think I might have justified buying my own bug smasher soon.

Have pilots lost their sense of adventure?

Hard to say.
I'm part of the EAA down here, and it's mostly full of old dudes. However there are a few of us in our 30's that actively fly. (General Aviation)

When I mention to folks (airline types) that I have a Stinson and fly it often, I usually get "That's awesome wish I could, but...." 

So I think there is passion, however I also think there is a lack of dedicated $$ in order to hop around in a bug smasher.

And yes, Scud you need a taildragger.

Yeh, another new poster!

How's things going Nark?

If you are ever in this area you know where I live.  :)

Chuck.

I have all the adventure in aviation
that I can possibly stand!

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As my father once told me, it's a
great life if you don't weaken.

Things are going pretty good!

Not so much lost their sense of adventure as lost the capacity to pay the rising costs of rental/fuel/ownership, etc :(

If we can find a way to make flying more affordable it would be one of the best things we as a group could do.

My suggestion is to form small groups that get together and build their own airplane.

That way they would gain a very good understanding of the airplane before they start to fly it.

Then when the airplane is finished find an experienced pilot to check them out on it.

Less bureaucracy and less cost to own that way.

Renting from FTUs kills some of the adventure. Rules -- requiring you to file flight plans, fixed return times so the aircraft is available for the next guy etc etc.  Recently got out of that, now have access to an aircraft that I can book for the day (even for a 1 hour each way flight), if anyone asks where I am going it is only out of interest. Cost is similar, but love the freedom.

I remember the looks I got as a new PPL when I booked my first flight with a license and told them I was going on a Toronto City tour - appears everyone else was scared of CYYZ Terminal...  or the time I booked a FTU rental to go to Pelee Island with the wife for a picnic. (didn't make it due to un-forecast low cloud just past London. Nice lunch at CYXU though).

Now I can look at my to-do list and some of them are now achievable :)

I hear ya about renting from FTU, got chatting with a friend he needs a few hours to get his ATPL signed off here in YYC. The hoops he had to jump through where ridiculous.

If he wanted to head out to the hills he required a 2 hour "mountain checkout" this was a guy who flew in BC and the Yukon for hire.

I really think to bring the fun back old school flying clubs are needed again with basic 172 and Cherokee. All the schemes I see are with brand new Cirrus aircraft for a easy buy in of 50K plus monthly dues that make country club members blush.

Either that or pilots need to get together with 4 or so others and buy their own plane so they can take those week long trips all over this country. 

[quote]renting from FTU ... the hoops he had to jump through were ridiculous[/quote]

The BS that comes out of FTU's is insane.

I had a PPL tailwheel student, after getting
dual from me (ie being hammered on) in
the Maule and the Pitts, was told by an FTU
that he would have to do the entire PPL
flight test guide to rent a 172 from them
"because the insurance says so".

Horsesh1t.  No insurance policy says that.

The coward chickensh1t CFI - who wants to
milk the renters - made that crap up and
refuses to take responsibility for the position
and blames the insurance company.  What
a horse's @ss.

If you can't tell in a 15 minute flight if
someone can fly a 172 (or not), it's YOU
that has the problem, not the PPL.

I've been an instructor and been doing
checkouts for 25 years now - not as many
as a FTU CFI - but I just have the guy take
off, climb to 3000 AGL, set up for slow
flight, see if he knows how to use the
rudder pedals (generally no) then a stall,
see if he picks the falling wing up with the
aileron (generally yes) then back to the
airport for a normal circuit.

What I want to see: on final can he put it
on the runway centerline, on glidepath,
controlling the airspeed accurately?

And if so, the next circuit the engine
fails on downwind abeam the numbers,
and he'd better make the runway, power
off. 

We take off again, I fail the engine at
500 AGL, I see what he does.

He gets the engine back, we land, we
are done.

The entire PPL flight test guide, my @ss.