OLD FOLKS HOME

[fcornell]

Sitting in my flying club the other day chatting to a couple of other members-there were around 10 in at the time--it dawned on me that they were all getting a bit ancient--myself included.
I did a quick survey-, one 80 year old-one 79, one 78, two at 74 and one at 73--still flying excellent aerobatics., and a baby of 72. We do have some younger members-youngest around 22.
Flying does seem to keep the brain working--with natural culling if it ceases to function.
Is this now pretty typical of most clubs.?

[chevvron]

Dunno about clubs but I know an 80+ year old who did an excellent gear up a couple of months ago (one main leg wouldn't extend) and another who owns and flies a PC12.

[fcornell]

Our club has members with their own aircraft, also group planes and club aircraft which is probably a bit unusual.

[sharpend]

Yes, I think it is typical. My club has many members over the age of 50 and several over 70. We perhaps recall the 93 year old aerobatic pilot who recently was knocked down & killed crossing the road. Obviously crossing the road is less safe than aeros.

But I do agree, flying keeps you alive, pipe & slippers events watch afternoon TV does not.

[Martin_123]

from my experience, us, "young people" simply don't have time to sit down and enjoy the club's atmosphere etc.. our club has a balance between all age groups yet mostly it's the seniors (with few exceptions) who wish to hang around.. I would too, but your average 20-40 y.o. lad has too much on his plate, finding a good work/family/flying balance is hard as it is, having friends is an extra

[fcornell]

Sharpened- your note reminds me of when I met someone who I had assumed had given up flying due to ill health.
I saw him one day and said "see you"re not flying now XX, bit of a problem with the medical"?
Back came the reply--"No i"m ok--I am 60 you know--time to put my feet up , get out the slippers"! i staggered away--dazed- couldn"t beleive it. No-ones ever seen him since.

[1.3VStall]

I landed at a strip in East Anglia last week and there was a Harvard parked up. Turned out it was being flown by an 80-year old. I thought "there's hope for me yet" - not that SWMBO would let me buy a Harvard!

[India Four Two]

Ten years ago, when I was in my mid-fifties, I was towing at the Canadian National Gliding Championships with three other pilots. I was the youngest by far! Between the four of us, we had over 160 years of flying experience!

Four years ago, I had a nostalgia trip in a Dragon Rapide in NZ. It was the first aeroplane I ever flew in. My pilot was 85 years old.

[Beethoven]

At 44 it often seems I am the youngest in the clubhouse (not complaining!). I think it's great that flying can go on into mature age and even if not, then the ambience of the scene still has its attractions and allows lifelong friendships to continue. This is one reason why I am happy to pay a decent amount for membership of a real club.

[pulse1]

I went to Sandown some time ago with an old friend who, at 72, was bit younger than me. Sitting outside Carla's enjoying a bacon sandwich I realised that all the other customers looked about the same age as us. It did look rather like an outing from the old folks home.

[Jim59]

A local organisation asked for suggestions for activities for old people. I suggested gliding. They assumed that I was joking and disregarded it. (I'm a glider pilot in my 70s.)

[creweite]

Google United Flying Octogenarians. All folks who have flown as PIC after age 80! And that includes me!!

[Curlytips]

Our fly-outs are usually on a Wednesday - and nearly everyone is retired. Youngsters are restricted to the local school, and as others have said, have to manage their time with careers and family. More worrying is how few are even training. It seems the romance of flying just doesn't have the appeal when we were young.

I am thankful that when I started my love of aviation it was in the golden years when the RAF was significant, the cold war meant exciting jets surrounded our flying, and being above the ground was the most exciting thing I could do. Computers and technology have taken a lot away from people's desire to be adventurous.

I even enjoyed commercial passenger flying for many years (part of my day job) but the romance has gone there too. Only business class flying for long haul is now acceptable, but once my air miles run out that's not an option either. Please don't think me a snob, but why would I accept all the cr*p of security etc., when I can mount up in my machine and go without travel to major airports, check - in times, security etc. and get to most places quicker than commercial ( in overall travel time).

I know it's been repeated time and again, but how do we convince youth that private aviation is so worthwhile/exciting/rewarding/efficient/fun?

[mary meagher]

Don't worry, old farts have not yet taken over all the flying clubs! We sent 4 people solo last week at our gliding club, one was in his fifties, another in his 40's with a young family, another young lady of 35, and a young lad of 15.
So the new generation is still eager to fly, trouble is a lot get siphoned off into the Air Cadets, which spend more time marching and camping out than they do flying! But true enough that the retired folks have the time and the money...

[chevvron]

Don't worry, old farts have not yet taken over all the flying clubs! We sent 4 people solo last week at our gliding club, one was in his fifties, another in his 40's with a young family, another young lady of 35, and a young lad of 15.
So the new generation is still eager to fly, trouble is a lot get siphoned off into the Air Cadets, which spend more time marching and camping out than they do flying! But true enough that the retired folks have the time and the money...
Read 'Air Cadets grounded' in the military forum. There are huge problems with the Air Cadet gliding fleet and some problems with Tutors (although I gather these have mostly been solved) so cadets aren't getting a lot of flying at the moment.

[Licence to Learn]

It's great to hear that flying can continue in to the later years.

As a 30 year old I would say that the desire and romance still exists however in todays age flying is just far too expensive to keep up as a younger person.

Unless you have a job that pays enough, people in my age range are forced to prioritise saving for a house deposit etc.

Fortunately I'm lucky enough to use an aircraft for free and just pay for fuel so I can keep my hand in, but years passed where I wanted to fly but just simply couldn't afford it.

[tmmorris]

Read 'Air Cadets grounded' in the military forum. There are huge problems with the Air Cadet gliding fleet and some problems with Tutors (although I gather these have mostly been solved) so cadets aren't getting a lot of flying at the moment.

It's also not straightforward to just take cadets to a BGA club, sadly. The RAF has a duty of care and interprets this to mean they can't authorise this unless they have personally inspected it and its safety management. Some progress has been made but there aren't enough staff to do this so it is slow and frustrating.