Logbook Facts – A Meme of Sorts

June 21st, 2006 •

I was looking through my logbook and thought it would be fun to pull out some, er, interesting facts:

• Number of Airports Visited – 29
  
• Most Visited Airport – Ramona, 11 times
• Furthest Away Airport – Fresno Chandler, 269nm
• Longest Runway – Palm Springs, 10001 feet
• Shortest Runway – Fallbrook, 2160 feet
• Lowest Elevation Runway – Brawley, -129ft

A Flying Funk

June 16th, 2006 • 2 comments

So right now I’m not current for anything and I’m beginning to ask myself whether I am going to fly again at all. I can’t quite put my finger on why I’m not flying. I’m booking planes but then cancelling them, always with some excuse such as the wind, or a sqawk in the plane that I don’t much like. Mostly I think there are two issues combining with each other. First, is money. The almost three months I was without a job hurt my pocket and I didn’t fly hardly at all during that time, and the new job pays less and I still struggle to commit dollars to flying. Second, is confidence. I find that when I don’t fly for a time I get less confident about getting back in the plane. Its not a fear, I know I can do all the things I need to do without harming anyone but somehow when I get near the plane something in the back of my mind tells me to find an excuse.

Its been over 90 days since my last flight and I am definitely in that “don’t make me go up there” frame of mind. The antidote is to just get in the plane, fly around and come back. Then the money side kicks in and says if all I can afford right now is currency flights, never any “pleasure” flights, then whats the point? And as I go back and forth on the arguments, more days tick by making me more unwilling to get back in a plane etc etc

I’d like to think this isn’t the end of my flying as I do love to fly but it sure seems like I’m going to wake up one day and discover its been a year or more since I last sat in the left seat.