The FastDay Forum

In the spirit of me being brave today and after encouragement from the "It's a bit quiet round here" thread I'm finally going to ask is there anyone else out there who flies ??

I've been wanting to ask for ages as its an all consuming passion for me but I've held back as generally when you tell people you fly they assume that either you're posh and have loads of money or might be a bit of a snob.

Well the complete reverse is true ..most of us are completely broke
It's not as glam as it sounds I spend a lot of time freezing, covered in mud and oil, and our little plane cost less than a lot of peoples cars but I wouldn't change a single bit of it for the world !

So I would love to know if anyone else here flies or if I'm on my own with my aero obsession

It would be great to compare notes on airfields with good food and what snacks bounce best in the back of the plane !

Congratulations, @RedRobin, on jumping in and starting a new topic! Unfortunately, I'm not a flyer although my brother in law built two planes and flew more. Following his death, his last plane, an American designed, Cozy, two seater with a rear prop, passed to his son, who now flies it out of the Isle of Man. My BIL flew up to see us a few times and used Peterborough City airport because the Cozy needed a hard landing strip. I'm sorry that I don't know much more about his flying than that, although he did become an inspector of other self-build Cozy's a went all over the country to check out the various stages.

I hope that you get a decent response and well done for giving it a go!

@StowgateResident that's a really interesting plane your BIL had and one my husband has a bit of a thing about that and the Rutan Long EZ which I am sure your nephew will know all about as they look quite similar

I'm hoping there are a few more flyers on here as I know a fair few who would benefit from 5:2

One of the reasons I started this WOE is because I was so embarrassed having to tell people how much I weighed before flying in their planes with them I just had to find something that worked !

Wow RR how intrepid of you!
It must be fab to have such an absorbing hobby! X

How exciting! Sorry can't offer any companionship - the nearest we get to flying is the motorbike - although Billy Bunter here hasn't been on it for a few years since I outgrew my leathers

@CandiceMarie its amazing ...someone once told me that everyone needs something in their life that makes their heart sing and for me that's Rosie our little plane
She may not be big or posh but she has a cute red nose and I love her to bits !

@Madcatlady we used to bike before we took up flying we only recently got rid of it, and I know only to well that feeling when your leathers won't do up ! Some of my best holidays were on that bike ... Brighton to Oban on a VFR nothing quite like it

Hi @Redrobin: I used to fly, as a glider pilot and eventually Instructor. I met my wife at the gliding club, and even ended up in a farmers field on one of our flights together. My 40th birthday present from her was a 30 minute session in a Robinson R22 helicopter, which was most enjoyable once the pilot realised I had several hundred hours flying experience - we even did an autorotated landing to simulate engine failure!

Several times I have thought about power flying, and if I was still current it would be quite easy to transition to a MGPPL to fly motor-gliders, which is the perfect light utility aeroplane, but it would take some time to re-establish my credentials and I am concentrating on running and climbing at the moment. What do you fly, where do you go in your aircraft?

@CreakyPete I knew there had to be another flyer here somewhere

We have a Beagle Pup 150 , built in 1969 in Shoreham not far from where we live and sadly there are getting fewer and fewer of them every year I think we are down to about 30 left in the UK now.
My husband started off in gliders in the ATC many years ago when he was a lad flying out of West Malling and Manston both now sadly gone, and we keep the Pup not far from Ringmer gliding field.

We fly all over the place but are based in Sussex , last week the plane took part in Project Propeller I don't know if you are familiar with that but its where GA pilots fly WW2 aircrew back for a reunion and I always feel its an absolute honor to be able to do that.
Tomorrow is bath day for the Pup so I'm hoping to burn off a good few calories doing that as long as the weather holds

Hi @Madcatlady: I bike as well, but have the opposite problem - my bike seems to have outgrown me! I bought a BMW R1200RT for touring with the missus when we retired but we have done nothing of the sort, I am more than a stone lighter than when I bought it and it seems so big & unwieldy that it makes no sense to keep it. I made the mistake of passing my Suzuki 650 V-Strom on to my son who now commutes on it, that was the right size for me...

We just sold our VFR800 that was a great bike for touring @CreakyPete not too big to be hard to handle but still comfy enough for me on the back

But it ended up that despite all the great holidays we had on it that once we started flying any day that was nice enough to bike we flew ....flying I found is a bit drug like once you are hooked you're a lost cause for anything else

We have a Honda Blackbird - not the most comfortable for pillion - considering a change to a more comfy BMW - one day!

[wildmissus]

I sail..............ok, I'll leave now, not quite the same at all!

@redrobin you should look here..post226445.html#p226445..
A new member whi is going to train as a pilot!..i think you two might have a lot in common! X

I used to want to learn to fly to get over my fear of flying. I had no money at the time, though, so it never happened. Now flying doesn't bother me so much…

It's a cool hobby, @RedRobin. A housemate in grad school learned to fly, and she took me and another friend to Gettysburg one day. It was really cool flying over the area of the battlefield after reading all about the battle.

@Madcatlady we looked at a Blackbird and a ZZR 1200 before bought the VFR and agree its not the most comfy .. but then neither was the VFR after hubby and finished messing about pulling bits off and adding racks for luggage so I had nothing to hold on to .. oh my poor thigh muscles I fancy a nice FJR1300 for our next bike that looks like it would suit .. though it doesn't do to be too comfy .. I actually fell asleep once on the back of our old ZZR600 !

@wildmissus from what I hear sailing is just as addictive as flying and that people who sail are as nuts about their hobby as we are
I have often fancied a go as I love the sea .. must get that from my dad who was in the merchant navy but the fact I can't swim has always held me back ..I'm known for being a but clumsy and if anyone was going to fall overboard it would me !

@MaryAnn flying in the US is just so brilliant , so relaxed compared to the UK and so much cheaper I'm glad you had a good time looking down from up there gives you a whole different view of stuff literally ... you can see the history of places that you dont always notice at ground level