Time for Something New?

There is something so typically human in the way in which we eventually get bored with even the most exciting endeavors. As a kid, we put a big motor in a small car and are amazed by the performance--for about a week. Then we want something bigger. We buy a nice house that fits our every need and then, without adding family members, find that it's becoming too small. The same goes for flying: sometimes we can find it possible to lose interest in what is inarguably one of the most exciting and horizon-expanding experiences life has to offer. How can anyone lose interest in something as broad as aviation? Truth is, it's actually pretty easy--especially for some personality types.

Oh, the adventures you can have--from stepping back in time in a Piper Cub to helicopters and gliders, very light jets and aerobatic aircraft--the sky just keeps calling when you recognize your options.

The operative phrase in the above may be "something as broad as aviation." That is spoken from a position in which the experienced person sees aviation for what it is--a wildly divergent community of neighborhoods in which the only shared trait is the basic concept of the flying machine itself. And even that changes in the different neighborhoods. Those who have been in aviation for any length of time are fully aware that aviation is like a huge city or country and you don't have to travel far to find you're in someplace very different--and, therefore, more exciting--than your old comfort zone. However, if you're new to aviation and you're based on an airport that is fairly narrow in its scope, that is, one that comprises almost entirely training and Point-A-to-Point-B type aircraft and pilots, it is easy to think that is all aviation has to offer when nothing could be further from the truth.

Those who lose interest quite often fall prey to the "Is that all there is?" syndrome. Before learning to fly, their imagination had them chasing clouds and living among their superheroes. But, if the aviation neighborhood in which they were raised was of the traditional A-to-B variety, it was the equivalent of being raised in a community where everyone looks, acts, and thinks the same. This leads to a myopic view of aviation because they've seen only one variety. Sometimes this isn't a problem, but to certain personality types a challenge is necessary; for them, variety beyond the Cessna/Beech/Piper/Cirrus is necessary to satisfy their ever-widening taste. Most often these are Type A personalities with a mechanical bent, which means the $100 hamburger in a Cessna 172 quickly gets old.

Actually, we've mentioned two different personality traits here that often exist separately, although many times they are intertwined and either one will wither and die if it's left unnurtured in a sterile aviation environment. The first, the Type-A need for a challenge, is skill-based with an undertone of testosterone-generating experiences--simply put, they don't want flying to be easy, and once they've mastered their trusty trainer, they are anxious to climb the ladder and seek out something bigger, better, faster, zippier. Or maybe slower, smaller, pasture-loving--but in any case, different.

The second trait is an affinity for machines, and this one can get complicated. Just saying they like the nuts and bolts of airplanes is a little too broad because this, too, ties in with their urge for a challenge. In their hearts, some of the Type-A personalities are hotrodders. They want to go through life with their hair on fire. A good percentage of those don't want to know anything about their machine. They just want to kick the tires, light the fires, and have at it. Others, however, are as intense about understanding the machine as they are about flying it. They are driven to understand how it works and what makes one so much different than another.

This same love of the machine, however, can be found in much more leisurely types of personalities and most of the time, their attachment to the hardware is stronger than with the hair-on-fire types.

The problem with all the foregoing is that a person just coming into aviation may not recognize these personality traits in themselves. During flight training, the experience is everything the student hoped and heard it would be. Then, he earns his pilot certificate and is kicked out of the nest and stands at aviation's open door, saying, "Now what?"

What happens next quite often determines how long they will stay in aviation. For the first few hundred hours new pilots are simply spreading their wings, testing and adding to their skills as they grow further away from the training environment. They are shedding their "student skin" and molting into a full-fledged pilot. And this is where feeding their personality traits becomes important.

Although the excitement of the first 200 or 300 post-student hours is enormous, the more comfortable the pilot becomes, the more likely certain types of individuals are to become bored. "I can do this," they say to themselves, and the very repetition that is making them better begins to sow the seeds of discontent. If they have one of "those" personalities, the better they get, the more they'll start missing the challenge that was there when they started flying. And the more they'll start looking around. Boredom, however slight, has begun to set in and their aviation interest is in peril.

The rating game

At this point, there are several paths that can be taken. The first, and most obvious, is to start earning aviation's merit badges--ratings, endorsements, and advanced pilot certificates. They represent the most easily accessible skill builders and can range from a fairly economical, one-day challenge to a wallet-choking, multi-week learning jamboree. In virtually all of them, the challenges are two-fold: learning a new skill and becoming acquainted with the unfamiliar personality of a new airplane or type of flight operation.

Aerobatic instruction. Since no endorsement or rating is involved in aerobatics, you can take as much or as little as you want. It'll take a few hours to get past the frozen-grin, deer-in-the-headlights stage. Don't try to fly three times a day, or even two at first. Everything about this is so new, you can't help but love it.

High-performance endorsement. If you learned to fly in a Cessna 152, or a Cessna 172 for that matter, stepping up to the Cessna 182 is going to make you feel as if you're flying a fighter. Besides the performance and the extra systems represented by the constant-speed prop, it's a much bigger airplane and you feel as if you're really moving up the ladder. A couple of days should do it.

It's time to get in the air Are you in the process of deciding whether to learn to fly? If you haven't already, visit AOPA's new Web site, Let's Go Flying. The site is designed just for the person who's thinking about taking to the skies, and is full of useful information. It's arranged in three main sections. Dreaming of Flying introduces all the options, including gliders, helicopters, hot air balloons, and ultralights--just to name a few. Discover some of the reasons for learning to fly; you'll find more than you thought possible. See how practical a small aircraft can be for transportation, or just get ideas about places you can fly when you have a pilot certificate. The Ready to Start section explains the steps involved in learning to fly, explains the various pilot certificates you can choose to pursue, and estimates the time and financial commitments for each. Learn what to look for in choosing a flight school, and begin your research using AOPA's online flight school directory. The Already in Training link takes you to helpful information in the AOPA Flight Training Online Web site. Don't miss the Let's Go Flying blog, or the link to frequently asked questions about flight training. Do you have a new pilot certificate with nowhere to go? Or have you been flying awhile, and need some new challenges? Visit LetsGoFlying.com today for some fresh ideas.

Complex endorsement. "Wow!" you'll be thinking, as you throw the gear switch up. Your mind's eye will be outside the airplane watching the gear disappear, just like those really "big" airplanes you watched taking off while you were training. One to three days.

Tailwheel endorsement. It's not as hard as the wags would have you believe, plus being able to fly a tailwheel opens up thousands of airplanes from the last 70 years that you'll never get to fly otherwise. Give it several days, so you can let it all sink in.

Seaplane rating. Imagine combining life in the air with life on water. It doesn't get much better. A seaplane rating can be completed in a long weekend, but why not spread it out over time and enjoy yourself? Judgment is just one skill that can improve from such a course.

Glider rating. Here is where you're really going to learn to fly, since you can't use the throttle as a crutch and you'll get seasick if you don't coordinate. You'll be a better, safer pilot because of it.

Multiengine rating. This is a good short project and will get you thinking about more than flying the airplane. Here you'll have to expand your systems management knowledge. Ratings are offered in as little as two days.

Instrument rating. If you like video games, you'll love instrument training. If you like looking at scenery or grassroots flying, you may hate it. It can be frustrating and it involves lots of book work, but it'll really get your head and eyes working and make you safer. Ten-day and shorter courses abound, but you'll be exhausted. There's something to be said for spreading it out over a month or two and doing it locally. This is also where you'll learn the true meanings of planning ahead and visualization.

Helicopter rating. This is a blast to do, if nothing else because it is so different from all other forms of aviating. Learning to fly a helicopter will really fine-tune your eye/hand coordination. It is a longer commitment, and it's not cheap.

Commercial certificate. There are accelerated schools that can slam you through a commercial course in just a few days, if certain requirements are met (IFR in place, for example). Most will take longer, but this is the kind of thing you can spread out over several months, flying on a regular schedule. Private pilot skills are honed here, and additional experience is heaped on your plate.

Airline Transport Pilot. This is necessary only if you're going to fly for a living and it's not totally necessary then, unless you want to be the pilot in command. Where the other certificates and ratings can be worked on part-time, the ATP requires more commitment.

Certificated flight instructor (CFI). The more you learn about teaching and the more instructing you do, the better you'll become as a pilot and as a communicator. However, don't do it just to build time. Students you teach will be depending on you, and you owe them your best.

New hardware, new friends

Some people are natural-born "type hunters." They like to fly as many different airplanes as they can and this inevitably leads them out toward the edges of the bell-shaped curve where all sorts of different, sometimes exotic airplanes live. The fun part about taking this path is that those who are in love with the mechanics of flying machines will find an almost endless variety of airplanes that can keep their interest piqued for a lifetime.

The classics. At the bottom of the cost totem pole but right at the top of the bang-for-the-buck list are those general aviation aircraft produced during, and just after, World War II. This includes thousands of fun and funky little airplanes that can often be bought for less than $20,000. And many burn less than five gallons of gas an hour. This group includes the Piper J-3 Cub, Aeronca Champ/Chief, Cessna 120/140, and a bunch of other fun-to-fly airplanes that won't spend you out of house and home.

Early contemporaries (the 1950s). If you're looking for "simple," it's embodied in a 1956 Piper Tri-Pacer. Or a square-tail 1958 Cessna 182 that will carry as much--and go almost as fast--as one built 45 years later. If you want vintage sophistication, how about a Beech Bonanza or a Piper Comanche of the late '50s? The entire decade was replete with low-dollar airplanes that still give plenty of utility and have loads of character. These are also made for folks who like to tinker with their toys.

Homebuilts. At this stage of the game, we have just more than a half-century of homebuilt--or built-from-kit--airplanes that range from tiny single-place biplanes (Smith Miniplane) to rectilinear two-place bullets (Wittman Tailwind) and hyper-sophisticated, 250-mph, four-place stratospheric cruisers (Lancair IV), and everything in between. The range of styles and utility far outstrips certified airplanes and, in a lot of areas, out-performs them.

Homebuilt aircraft are split into two groups: those that are already built and are for sale, and those you have to build. The subject of buying used homebuilt aircraft could fill a book and we won't go into it here, but one hard-and-fast rule applies--get a careful inspection by an airframe and powerplant mechanic who knows the type well.

If you find yourself staying away from the airport more and more, sit down and ask yourself why. You may say that it costs too much, but is that an actual reason or an excuse? If you were passionate about it once and you aren't now, something has changed within you, because aviation hasn't changed. It may be that you just aren't looking at the right part of aviation, and by doing some snooping around you'll soon find that old passion bubbling back to the top.

Budd Davisson is an aviation writer/photographer and magazine editor who has written approximately 2,200 articles and has flown more than 300 different types of aircraft. A CFI since 1967, he teaches about 30 hours a month in his Pitts S-2A Special. Visit his Web site.