Old codger "wisdom"

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jb642DA
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Re: Old codger "wisdom"

Post by jb642DA »

CBeak wrote: Sat Apr 20, 2019 2:24 pm Have to agree. I’m getting to be an older human @55 but still a newer pilot of 13 years. Always wanted to fly, but it took me a long time to acquire the time and treasure necessary to do so. My least favorite are the guys who have 15,000 hours in various planes, and truly can fly, but talk and behave as if no other human being should be permitted to fly, or will ever approach their own level of piloting expertise. And they never miss an opportunity to work it into a conversation, no matter what the actual topic may be.
That being said, I miss my friend, customer, and CFI who died a few years ago, still a sharp and active pilot, at age 94. He was a retired United Captain and flew because he loved to fly. His life story was fascinating in itself. Best of all, he wanted to share that love of flying with anybody he could. Flight reviews with him were the best. Right before he died, he was starting to teach me celestial navigation that helped him get around the Pacific in WWII. Every time we climbed into an airplane, he’d turn to me and say “Flying is supposed to be fun. If we go up and aren’t having fun, we’re coming back down.
I'm sorry for your experience CBeak!

As one of those "...least favorite...... guys...." (with a fair amount of time above your 15,000 hour number) I find your post "interesting". By the way, I'm a 61+ year old who has been flying for 46 years (Sorry to say, I guess I fit into the Old codger "wisdom" group :cry: )

I hope you don't know many "...guys who have 15,000 hours in various planes, and truly can fly, but talk and behave as if no other human being should be permitted to fly, or will ever approach their own level of piloting expertise".

Hopefully, the one's you know are an exception to the rest of us.

I agree with your friend's "Flying is supposed to be fun. If we go up and aren’t having fun, we’re coming back down (not always possible though, right ??)".

I love (for the most part) flying with new guys, along with "not so new guys" - we can all learn something from the "other guy or gal", whether a "new" pilot or "old"! Please don't throw all of "us" into the SAME pile!

As far as I know, most old (experienced) pilots want "...to share that love of flying with anybody... " we can (as you said about your old CFI)!

That being said, as in all of life - there are JERKS out there!
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CBeak
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Re: Old codger "wisdom"

Post by CBeak »

MOST of the old guys I know are great. One of them helped get me started and even helped me get my first airplane. You are probably like those guys, John. But I’ve run across a few very curmudgeonly codgers, and their disdain for other pilots and airplanes makes me wonder why in the world they even want to hang out at the airport.
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Re: Old codger "wisdom"

Post by Joey »

I love the philosophy of your seasoned captain friend. Flying for the joy and passion is what keeps me wanting to look up whenever I see any kind of flying machine flying over. I’m not ready to retire but the first thing I do will be to get a CFI and officially start teaching again. Been at it for 40 yrs and still love talking all things Aviation.
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Re: Old codger "wisdom"

Post by jb642DA »

CBeak wrote: Sun Apr 21, 2019 7:18 pm MOST of the old guys I know are great. One of them helped get me started and even helped me get my first airplane. You are probably like those guys, John. But I’ve run across a few very curmudgeonly codgers, and their disdain for other pilots and airplanes makes me wonder why in the world they even want to hang out at the airport.
That would be a great question to ask them Mike!! They'll probably say "....to get away from home/spouse". They probably have a crappy life there too, usually "self-inflicted"!

I love flying (whether going for the $200+ hamburger, instructing or just going for a "ride") and talking with my GA friends.
The other flying I do is "work" (a little over 3 years and I'll be "kicked out" of the 121 "work" world!)
I'd much rather be home and flying GA.
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Re: Old codger "wisdom"

Post by Don »

I have only had one incident where an older pilot in a very run down Bonanza insulted my Diamond Star when on ground control at KCMA. The ground controller asked the Bonanza to hold position and allow the Diamond Star to pass. The Bonanza responded that he would hold for that "Plastic thing you call a plane". I responded to ground control to thank that "Rivet Bucket" for allowing me to pass. My wife was very upset with my radio response for stooping down to that level and she was probably right....again. Oh well, life goes on.
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Re: Old codger "wisdom"

Post by vontresc »

Actually the worst kind are the people that have no actual experience in whatever plane (or other life situation), but will repeat the same old wives tales over and over.
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Re: Old codger "wisdom"

Post by Colin »

Dollars to donuts that rivet bucket was piloted by my aviation-friend Art Newman. I hung around with him because he got his PP a little later than I did from the same flights school at SMO. He was a quarter partner in a Grumman Tiger for a while (parked next to my DA40, which he called "that plastic thing you claim is a plane." Other than our enjoyment of flying (and he actually went on to become instrument-rated (oldest pilot issued an IFR ticket that year), but got out of the Tiger (he couldn't get along with anyone) and bought himself a Bonanza. That turned out to be more plane than he needed for the hundred dollar hamburgers at The Waypoint Cafe so he bought himself a Light Sport Plane which he killed himself in.

He was impolite everywhere and I apologized for him constantly to waitresses, people on CTAF, controllers... and eventually stopped flying with him.
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Re: Old codger "wisdom"

Post by jb642DA »

101073-Scientists+say+the+universe+is.jpg
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Re: Old codger "wisdom"

Post by Don »

Colin wrote: Tue Apr 23, 2019 10:15 pm Dollars to donuts that rivet bucket was piloted by my aviation-friend Art Newman. I hung around with him because he got his PP a little later than I did from the same flights school at SMO. He was a quarter partner in a Grumman Tiger for a while (parked next to my DA40, which he called "that plastic thing you claim is a plane." Other than our enjoyment of flying (and he actually went on to become instrument-rated (oldest pilot issued an IFR ticket that year), but got out of the Tiger (he couldn't get along with anyone) and bought himself a Bonanza. That turned out to be more plane than he needed for the hundred dollar hamburgers at The Waypoint Cafe so he bought himself a Light Sport Plane which he killed himself in.

He was impolite everywhere and I apologized for him constantly to waitresses, people on CTAF, controllers... and eventually stopped flying with him.
Colin. Yes, that could have very well been your friend as he pretty much used that same word phrase. That said, I am sorry to hear he passed away flying his plane. No one deserves that.
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Re: Old codger "wisdom"

Post by jb642DA »

FYI -
My Daffy Duck cartoon was not in response to Colin's "aviation-friend" - RIP to that guy.

It took me awhile to find the cartoon - Once posted, I saw Colin had posted.
The cartoon was in response to, and meant to follow, vontresc's post.
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