I'm generally by nature NOT a crasher: dirt bikes, aircraft, 4x4 trucks, skiing, skateboards etc...I take the safe route. I almost lost a $300K/yr job because I'm scared of seeing human blood! Although, I have responded to many who were in need of help but, not something I get my rocks off doing.

Being wimpy is cool with me. Maybe I should start a site: wimpy.aero which discusses the beauty of being freeeking afraid of half of general aviation!

Zero aircraft have been damaged thus far. And my insurance is amazingly low cost! Thank you Avemco!

I think we can all agree that to get better, we have to push the envelope a little, backcountry or otherwise. If for instance we choose not to fly any day that the crosswind component exceeds 10 knots, we'll never learn that the airplane can indeed handle a 30 knot direct crosswind and the pilot can be trained to do it. If for another instance we never land at any airport with a runway less than 4000' long, we'll never learn that our airplane can indeed safely land and take off from a 1500' airstrip and the pilot can be trained to do it.

I think that there are pilots who may have thousands of hours but have no more skills than a basic freshly minted commercial pilot, and maybe not even that. They are the ones who fly only in the best of weather, using their button pushing skills rather than their stick and rudder skills, off of runways that are more than a mile long and 100' wide. They are the ones who never get any better as pilots, because they don't try to, and they don't want to. They are just as likely to have an accident because of their ineptitude when something happens to put them into an unusual situation. I doubt that anyone here fits in that category.

I've never felt that my 2 accidents constituted any sort of badge of honor. Especially my first one should be a badge of shame because it was all my fault, although my second was a bit honorable because it was totally mechanically caused and yet I landed safely without doing any airframe damage. I would just as soon that I'd never had any accidents, and I hope that I'll never have any more. I don't want the downtime, the annoyance with insurance, the annoyance with the FAA, the potential of having my airplane "totaled" by the insurer because I can't buy enough coverage for her worth to me--and at the risk of being accused of anthropomorphising my airplane, I don't want to hurt her, either.

On another forum, someone asked some time ago if perhaps Christians were more likely to take chances flying than non-Christians, on the theory that they felt more protected by their faith. My response was that I certainly don't take any more chances, because I don't want to be helped out of some smoking hole by Jesus, and to have to answer His question, "Cary, what in the world were you thinking?!?!"

Cary

8GCBC wrote:Zero aircraft have been damaged thus far. And my insurance is amazingly low cost! Thank you Avemco!

If you do suffer a crash (not through gross negligence or mismanagement on your own part), it is possible for your insurance to go back to the original rate in as little as a couple of years - provided there are no other claims on your books before or after that time.

Battson wrote:

8GCBC wrote:Zero aircraft have been damaged thus far. And my insurance is amazingly low cost! Thank you Avemco!

If you do suffer a crash (not through gross negligence or mismanagement on your own part), it is possible for your insurance to go back to the original rate in as little as a couple of years - provided there are no other claims on your books before or after that time.

Absolutely. Underwriters have been very forgiving on other issues with me. But, it helps even further to have no claims.

My experience on insurance was quite different.

After having Not In Motion storm damage to our tied-down aircraft...
Insurance claim was filed, damaged fixed and at the next renewal:
Only the current underwriter would give a quote for insurance coverage...no others would quote due to the recent claim.
Let's just say, it was quite a bit higher than previous year's premium. We were told this was the usual custom on having a claim...
Not a huge surprise...

What was shocking, was that when we went to renew another aircraft insurance...
We were told the increase (the premium was significantly higher), was due to our claim on another airframe within 5 years!
We were informed that our rates would be based on having an insurance claim for the next 5 years, whether or not it was the same
airframe or the same insured names on the policy.

This was non-commercial, personal-owned aircraft. Aircraft owned for 15 years, no other claims, 2 different underwriters insuring.

ok, dirt bike bad analogy

My first accident was bad judgement (low time pilot 700 hours). I was lucky that it did not kill myself or my uncle and swore it would not happen again because of bad judgement.

Then I got into off airport flying and it changed my life, for the better I might add.

You are not going to get better unless you push past some comfort issues doing this kind of flying. There is more risk period. Anyone that thinks you can be seriously good at doing this kind of flying without extra risk is probably not really doing the kind of off airport operations I am talking about. One side not here, I did not have insurance and so every landing I did I was 99.9% sure I could pull it off. I did this kind of flying for more then 10 years without incident. Bushwacker never bent a landing gear, never bent a prop and never came home with duct tape holding her together. That is not to say I did not have some oh shit moments that I said to myself I won't do that again.

I wrecked Bushwacker in 2014 with no insurance I might add (so no one's premiums are going up because of me). It was a day that started out like any other. The wind was blowing a little at Iliamna Airport (I think 15) and I was flying to a off airport strip 25 miles away. It was blowing much harder at 1000 ft agl (40-50mph) en-route but I still did not think there was a problem. I set up for my landing and at the time I was thinking if it does not get better I am going to bag it and turn around. As I descended and got closer to the ground the air smoothed out and I thought no problem. About 10-15 feet off the ground the airplane was hit with a gust that rolled the airplane on knife edge and at that point it was all over. I went to full power but could not fly out of it and eventually chopped the power because I knew it was going to end badly if I continued to try and fly out of it. I got lucky and broke the left gear leg and prop and screwed up both wing tips but the airplane would be flyable with a few parts. That night the wind continued to get stronger and picked the airplane up and slammed it upside down 100 ft from where it had come to rest. I parted the airplane out in the field and brought all the parts home. I asked myself many times what I should have done different and the only thing I know for a fact that would be different today is I would have all the stuff I need to secure the airplane to the earth were ever I go.

If you are flying airport to airport I believe it is a lot easier to say you should never have an accident.

As for mechanical failure I have had one of those also so don't believe that all the modern goodies are going to save you there. I had a fuel line fitting break at the engine on a Wilga that I was flying for a lodge. With only a few hours in the airplane it came as a big surprise and at 100 ft agl there is not much time to think about were you are going to land. I credit all my hours flying off airport with good reactions at that moment. I landed the float equipped airplane on the tundra and it was a non event other then the spruce tree that I could not avoid with the right front float.

Can I fly the rest of my life and never have another accident? I would like to think so but this world is in 3d with lots of decisions to be made by someone human and reliance on something mechanical. That is why I wear a helmet these days. I would rather put my family in my airplane then anyone else's that fly's here on this site. So that is one vote for Greg!

Spdcrazy wrote:My pops flew for many years .... if he could pass his medical, I know he would be flying with me.

So what's stopping him from flying with you now? No medical required for right (or rear) seat time!

I've got an "older" friend who built and flew many airplanes, but hasn't had a medical in years. I'm planning to take him up for a flight as soon as I can work out the logistics. I know he will have a ball.

And the knowledge and experience doesn't go away with the paper.

Great topic.

I think these threads are very helpful to many people.

I have never hurt an airplane in 1,700+ hours, but I don't do nearly the cool things many people here do.

With that said I've been saved (Divine intervention I'm sure) twice from my own human frailty.

ONCE: I was landing at a 1,000 foot strip with tall sagebrush and tumbleweeks on the threshold. I was aiming to land on the first 20 feet or so of the strip and I found that there was a short post sticking up in the brush and I hit it with my right main tire. Made a lound sound and scared me good but not a mark on the plane, and the post is no longer vertical...

That could have turned out bad.

LESSON: You don't have to land on the first 20 feet if you have more than twice as much 'runway' as you need to stop, even without significant braking. Now I aim to touch down about 100 feet doen the 'runway'.

ANOTHER: In the pattern with a Bonanza at night after a long cross country. The PCL at my home field was Tango Uniform and I circled a bunch of times unable to get it to turn on with the Unicom.

So flew to a nearby airport, with runway lights. Lowered the gear, prop and mixture forward.... What did I forget?

Gas on fullest tank.

Base leg a quick sputter, then a quick anal spasm, then a switch to the fullest tank. All was well but I should not have had the problem in the fisrt place.

LESSON: Gumps meand GUMPS.

JP256 wrote:

Spdcrazy wrote:My pops flew for many years .... if he could pass his medical, I know he would be flying with me.

So what's stopping him from flying with you now? No medical required for right (or rear) seat time!

I've got an "older" friend who built and flew many airplanes, but hasn't had a medical in years. I'm planning to take him up for a flight as soon as I can work out the logistics. I know he will have a ball.

I got a few more flights left before I can solo, yet have m PPL. working on it but I'm getting married in AK in 3 weeks, so flight time is slow at the moment.

no problem for him flying right seat, just don't get down to see him often enough. he lives off grid, and they frown upon taking my rental off airport