Hello folks, I enjoy this forum and am happy to now be a member!

I am a student pilot, working toward my LSA Certification. I am 45 years old and am thrilled to finally be pursuing a dream of flying. I am already completely smitten with the sport. I count the hours until my lesson and cannot read enough about aviation to keep me satisfied! Videos, movies, anything about flying, I am in!

Anyway, as I think about my goals, which, understandably are evolving- I wondering what my next steps ought to be? I am currently learning from a good instructor who is teaching me on a low wing Czech Sportcruiser that is loaded with avionics, AP, the works. It is a great plane with tri landing gear. You could get used to having all that info at your fingertips. Too much?

I suspect that in the end I might be more into cross country flying and seeking out grass strips, hitting the islands and someday going west to fly the canyons, which looks so epic. A have a few questions, and would love the feedback from any of you who are willing to share your opinions with me.

1. After I get my certification…what do I do next?
a. Rent this plane and just keep practicing?
b. Do item A…and go get more training, tail wheel, aerobatics intro etc?
2. For the sort of flying I described, what sort of plane and training should I focus on?
a. High Wing?
b. Tail-wheel or is nose gear ok as well?

Anything more than a LSA Certification is not doable to me, due to a condition which would make it tough for me to get a medical certification. I have the capital to buy a plane someday, but there is so much I do not know...heck I am not even sure what I do not know, so that decision, I think is best made after some experience.

Thank you in advance!
Don

Congratulations and welcome to the forum. It sounds to me like you have a pretty good perspective on this always evolving passion that we all share.

I would say do whatever you need to do to just keep flying! Renting works to fill that gap for sure! If possible hang out with aviators and stick close to a mentor who can guide you through understanding the ins and outs of airplane ownership and help you make go no-go decisions based on weather, experience and equipment.

And your idea of getting more instruction is never a bad one. A good (backcountry) pilot is about the person behind the stick not where the little wheel is located (tri gear vs tailwheel). Investing in your skills and abilities will help you decide what equipment you should end up with too.

Sounds like you're in a pretty sweet place in life! Enjoy every minute of it!

CW

find someone that will teach you in a tailwheel. Your stick and rudder skills will jump after the first flight. Then rent and have fun until you know what you want. The cool thing about aviation is that it always gets cheaper.....

What happened to the "just get a maule" guy.

Tim

Don,

Welcome to the forum and to the ranks. Reinforcements are the best!

My .02 for once you have a license: beg, borrow or steal a plane, and take a trip in it. Like a couple weeks. You'll know how to take off, navigate and land- just use those skills to string together a bunch of new destinations, experiences, and connections with other fliers. You'll see a lot of different, possibly new-to-you facets of aviation, bank a lot of knowledge that will serve you well down the road, and gain that experience you seek much sooner than probably by any other means available.

Tailwinds,

-DP

Where you located. Would be glad to take you up in an old 182.

Tim

Add a glider rating.

Errors in stick and rudder and ground handling stand out and energy maintenance is something you can never forget.

If acrobatics turns out to interest you, gliders provide a way without a medical certificate.

Gliders have none of the LSA airspace restrictions.

Motor gliders can tour as fast as the LSA speed limit, can go higher to avoid turbulence and are heavier than a LSA and will handle it better.

A motor glider's wingspan and composite fuselage is not anybody's first choice to take into a back country strip, but there is an awful lot of flying you can do and country you can see before that is the only thing left for you to do. There are a fair amount of public strips out here that a motor glider can easily get into that have spectacular scenery (Bridgeport,Ca. for one).

Couldnt agree more about the Gliders. I started in gliders and it taught me more about flying thank anything else has. I do competition aerobatics in a MDM fox (i should point out here i Don't do WELL in competition aerobatics but i do enjoy it!) but it has taught me more stick and rudder control, and efficient flying thank any other aircraft I have sat my arse in.

There is apparently a world champ glider aerobatics instructor in Arizona that my mate goes over and trains with twice a year. I have no idea where in the states you are, but that might be an idea for you first adventure.

other than that fly as many different aircraft as you can, and get as many different experiences as possible. that will help you to decide what direction you want to go as no plane does it all. when I first started flying there was no way I would have been caught dead in an ultralight. Now I think your mad if you don't fly them! all because the Savannah I was flying would kick over I was told to take the drifter, now I clock up near a thousand hours a year in them and its not enough!

And if you haven't joined AOPA and EAA, do so.

And if you haven't written your representatives to co-sponsor and support the General Aviation Pilot protection act, do so. (The act would get rid of the 3rd class medical requirement and open up more opportunities for you - an important one being instrument flying)

rjb wrote:And if you haven't joined AOPA and EAA, do so.

And if you haven't written your representatives to co-sponsor and support the General Aviation Pilot protection act, do so. (The act would get rid of the 3rd class medical requirement and open up more opportunities for you - an important one being instrument flying)

Done! I sent a copy to all of my local folks. Thanks, this is a sound idea!

qmdv wrote:Where you located. Would be glad to take you up in an old 182.

Tim

Tim, thank you for the offer, I am South Florida. I think we are far from one another!

denalipilot wrote:Don,

Welcome to the forum and to the ranks. Reinforcements are the best!

My .02 for once you have a license: beg, borrow or steal a plane, and take a trip in it. Like a couple weeks. You'll know how to take off, navigate and land- just use those skills to string together a bunch of new destinations, experiences, and connections with other fliers. You'll see a lot of different, possibly new-to-you facets of aviation, bank a lot of knowledge that will serve you well down the road, and gain that experience you seek much sooner than probably by any other means available.

Tailwinds,

-DP

Awesome feedback DP, thank you, I will do just this! Sounds like a hoot and what a learning experience.

clippwagon wrote:Congratulations and welcome to the forum. It sounds to me like you have a pretty good perspective on this always evolving passion that we all share.

I would say do whatever you need to do to just keep flying! Renting works to fill that gap for sure! If possible hang out with aviators and stick close to a mentor who can guide you through understanding the ins and outs of airplane ownership and help you make go no-go decisions based on weather, experience and equipment.

And your idea of getting more instruction is never a bad one. A good (backcountry) pilot is about the person behind the stick not where the little wheel is located (tri gear vs tailwheel). Investing in your skills and abilities will help you decide what equipment you should end up with too.

Sounds like you're in a pretty sweet place in life! Enjoy every minute of it!

CW

Thank you CW! I intend to take your advice, I do not think I could stop now if I wanted to!

DrifterDriver wrote:Couldnt agree more about the Gliders. I started in gliders and it taught me more about flying thank anything else has. I do competition aerobatics in a MDM fox (i should point out here i Don't do WELL in competition aerobatics but i do enjoy it!) but it has taught me more stick and rudder control, and efficient flying thank any other aircraft I have sat my arse in.

There is apparently a world champ glider aerobatics instructor in Arizona that my mate goes over and trains with twice a year. I have no idea where in the states you are, but that might be an idea for you first adventure.

other than that fly as many different aircraft as you can, and get as many different experiences as possible. that will help you to decide what direction you want to go as no plane does it all. when I first started flying there was no way I would have been caught dead in an ultralight. Now I think your mad if you don't fly them! all because the Savannah I was flying would kick over I was told to take the drifter, now I clock up near a thousand hours a year in them and its not enough!

I will definitely look into this, Glider must be the coolest thing ever.

there not exactly practical, but by god is it one hell of an experience!

Believe it or not, IMHO the glider training is probably among the best back country training you can get. Even though it is a totally different airplane, flight regime, etc.. The reason is that becoming competent in a glider involves becoming competent in micro-meteorology, in spot landings, in orographic lift and sink, and in several other disciplines relevant to back country flying.

There are of course a whole lot of other things that you will not learn in a sailplane, taking off from a 300 foot strip at 9000 density altitude with a cut up bleeding moose in the back of a Cessna 140 and all that.

But the glider stuff will give you an unparallelled educational foundation on which to build those more exotic skills.

And find a grouchy, crabby, gray haired, old crusty instructor with a million hours, and start flying in an old fabric covered tailwheel airplane if you can. Those instructors are unfortunately getting harder to find, get that experience while you can. There are a few of those crotchety old codgers on this forum.

Those old airplanes have lessons to teach you that no other airplane can teach. Not the least lesson of which is that discretion is the better part of valor, and for some reason only a ratty-looking 65HP fabric tailwheel airplane will give you that lesson in the right setting.

Another highly important experience for a beginner is to start hanging out on the wrong side of the tracks at the airport. Drive or walk around the local airports on the weekends, and pass up the newer and younger looking flight schools. Go to the OTHER section of the airport, and look for the smaller hangars where everyone is sitting around in folding chairs and telling BS stories. There are at least one or two such "Weekend Board of Directors" groups at most airports. They're the guys who always know everything going on at the airport, official and unofficial. They're the guys who have rare airplane parts, or know who can solve what problems and who not to talk to, etc. The local aviation good old boy network. !WARNING!: Beer may be present.

Headoutdaplane wrote:find someone that will teach you in a tailwheel. Your stick and rudder skills will jump after the first flight. Then rent and have fun until you know what you want. The cool thing about aviation is that it always gets cheaper.....

Ha! Right!
I am very interested in tailwheel, everyone tells me you will be a better flyer if you spend time with them.

EZFlap wrote:Believe it or not, IMHO the glider training is probably among the best back country training you can get. Even though it is a totally different airplane, flight regime, etc.. The reason is that becoming competent in a glider involves becoming competent in micro-meteorology, in spot landings, in orographic lift and sink, and in several other disciplines relevant to back country flying.

There are of course a whole lot of other things that you will not learn in a sailplane, taking off from a 300 foot strip at 9000 density altitude with a cut up bleeding moose in the back of a Cessna 140 and all that.

But the glider stuff will give you an unparallelled educational foundation on which to build those more exotic skills.

And find a grouchy, crabby, gray haired, old crusty instructor with a million hours, and start flying in an old fabric covered tailwheel airplane if you can. Those instructors are unfortunately getting harder to find, get that experience while you can. There are a few of those crotchety old codgers on this forum.

Those old airplanes have lessons to teach you that no other airplane can teach. Not the least lesson of which is that discretion is the better part of valor, and for some reason only a ratty-looking 65HP fabric tailwheel airplane will give you that lesson in the right setting.

Another highly important experience for a beginner is to start hanging out on the wrong side of the tracks at the airport. Drive or walk around the local airports on the weekends, and pass up the newer and younger looking flight schools. Go to the OTHER section of the airport, and look for the smaller hangars where everyone is sitting around in folding chairs and telling BS stories. There are at least one or two such "Weekend Board of Directors" groups at most airports. They're the guys who always know everything going on at the airport, official and unofficial. They're the guys who have rare airplane parts, or know who can solve what problems and who not to talk to, etc. The local aviation good old boy network. !WARNING!: Beer may be present.

This sounds like great advice and might be a real story teller to boot!

Congratulations’ You’ve opened a door to many exciting adventures. I too am a new pilot (100 + hrs) and am just now leaving my training areas for more challenging, back country strips. The experience is exhilarating.
As a rookie myself, my suggestion to you is take your time and learn as much as you can from experienced instructors and other pilots. For me, I have also read as much as I can on my own. On my bed stand I always have three books ;

“Stick and Rudder” by Wolfgang langeweische
“Brian’s Flying Book” by Brian Lansburgh
“Contact Flying” by Jim Dulin

Every time I reread one of these books I find something that makes more sense to me as I build my time and proficiency.

Jim

so more fantastic reading by sparky

http://www.mountainflying.com/