Flying or sailing....????
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Flying or sailing....????
In a bit of a quandry at the moment 
...20 years ago I spent every spare moment of my life flying my Pilatus B4 glider, in that time I accured a few hundred hours...then I sold up and bought a yacht, for the last 15 years I have had great fun with her and seen many nice places....now approaching 55 
and having worked in ATC all of my life ( If you talk to Scottish Info 119.875 you will know who I am ) I am getting the notion to fly again and go have some fun!!
.....thinking of taking my NPPL then maybe trading the yacht for a jabiru/Tecnam/Eurostar type aircraft. Working at "Scottish info" I have met and on a daily basis speak to some great people....I have reached a stage in my life now I would like to be in the air talking to ATC rather than the other way around..........your views would be appreciated....
...20 years ago I spent every spare moment of my life flying my Pilatus B4 glider, in that time I accured a few hundred hours...then I sold up and bought a yacht, for the last 15 years I have had great fun with her and seen many nice places....now approaching 55 and having worked in ATC all of my life ( If you talk to Scottish Info 119.875 you will know who I am ) I am getting the notion to fly again and go have some fun!!.....thinking of taking my NPPL then maybe trading the yacht for a jabiru/Tecnam/Eurostar type aircraft. Working at "Scottish info" I have met and on a daily basis speak to some great people....I have reached a stage in my life now I would like to be in the air talking to ATC rather than the other way around..........your views would be appreciated....
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Do it man;
I fly for a living and still fly in my spare time, I also sail. You will always find it easier to get time to fly rather than to sail.
You will be amazed when you hear your colleagues being incredibly patient and be able to take the p*** unmercifully when you get back to work.
Don't think I could ever have parted from a Pilatus B4 though.
I fly for a living and still fly in my spare time, I also sail. You will always find it easier to get time to fly rather than to sail.
You will be amazed when you hear your colleagues being incredibly patient and be able to take the p*** unmercifully when you get back to work.
Don't think I could ever have parted from a Pilatus B4 though.
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Fisbangwollop
Go for it life is full of near misses unlike flying I nearly did this, nearly did that, maybe next year after the wife get her new suite and before you know it your sitting in front of the box with a blanket over your knees going Ga Ga 
Anyway isnt there a nice aircraft sitting up a tree round there somewhere? a bit of sticking plaster and your away.
Pace
Go for it life is full of near misses unlike flying
I nearly did this, nearly did that, maybe next year after the wife get her new suite and before you know it your sitting in front of the box with a blanket over your knees going Ga Ga Anyway isnt there a nice aircraft sitting up a tree round there somewhere? a bit of sticking plaster and your away.
Pace
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Pace..
Think it would need a roll or two of gaffer tape!!...that said I have a roll or two spare as someone recently told me they would take me for a flight provided I put the gaffer tape around my mouth!! 
That said still waiting for that flight!!
Anyway isnt there a nice aircraft sitting up a tree round there somewhere? a bit of sticking plaster and your away.
Think it would need a roll or two of gaffer tape!!...that said I have a roll or two spare as someone recently told me they would take me for a flight provided I put the gaffer tape around my mouth!! That said still waiting for that flight!!
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We must have spoken on my trips to Dundee.
I also do both but fly much more these days.
I also agree - the advantage with flying is you can always find time for a flight and all in all the time to ready the craft and pack it up is usually significantly less. Inevitably if you derive pleasure from going places flying makes a great deal more sense.
Sailing across the English Channel for me almost always takes at least a day and sometimes a little longer. In practical terms a trip almost any where is a weekend affair. On the other hand it is 30 minutes at 170 knots in the aircraft.
If you are inclined to be lazy (like me) access to the aircraft / boat is important. If you must move three other aircraft to "get" at yours and it takes 45 minutes I bet after not very long you will find excuses for not flying.
I will go back to sailing when I do a round the world cruise in an IP with 50 feet on the waterline but sadly that may be a few years away. That is something you can only do in a yacht unless you are in a very different aviation league from me.
I also do both but fly much more these days.
I also agree - the advantage with flying is you can always find time for a flight and all in all the time to ready the craft and pack it up is usually significantly less. Inevitably if you derive pleasure from going places flying makes a great deal more sense.
Sailing across the English Channel for me almost always takes at least a day and sometimes a little longer. In practical terms a trip almost any where is a weekend affair. On the other hand it is 30 minutes at 170 knots in the aircraft.
If you are inclined to be lazy (like me) access to the aircraft / boat is important. If you must move three other aircraft to "get" at yours and it takes 45 minutes I bet after not very long you will find excuses for not flying.
I will go back to sailing when I do a round the world cruise in an IP with 50 feet on the waterline but sadly that may be a few years away. That is something you can only do in a yacht unless you are in a very different aviation league from me.
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I'm not into sailing, but am I right in saying that you need no qualifications to sail, but you have to work your butt off to qualify to fly, just curious.
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I'm not into sailing, but am I right in saying that you need no qualifications to sail, but you have to work your butt off to qualify to fly, just curious.
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I will go back to sailing when I do a round the world cruise in an IP with 50 feet on the waterline but sadly that may be a few years away.
and then take off around the world filming below the waves.Failing that I am off to Scotland with a boot full of strong sticking tape as that would do for my round the world ambitions
dont know where the scuba cylinders would go?Pace
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fisbangwollop...Nice to hear of someone taking to the seas with training, but should it not be compulsory? It not being so costs the RNLI a fortune in rescuing incompetent sailors.
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It not being so costs the RNLI a fortune in rescuing incompetent sailors.
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Interesting Quandry
You have a difficult dilemma! I too used to fly gliders, in fact my last solo was in a Pilatus B4 at the Essex and Suffolk Gliding Club in about 1995. About that time I met my wife who introduced me to sailing. The gliding went by the wayside. We sailed with her parents and then bought a boat of our own. We are very lucky and sail in an area where we can sail for 16 hours and be in Holland or for an hour or so and be in a beautiful unspoilt anchorage with a glass of wine in hand.
I wouldn't agree that it is easier to find time to fly than it is to sail. Many is the time we have taken the boat out for half an hour or so just for the pleasure of it and without going anywhere (except there and back!) But you own a boat so you probably know that...
We have just sold our boat. A growing family meant we didn't use the boat so could not justify the expense... and what an expense. It is only now that the bills have stopped coming in that I realised just how much we were spending. A years mooring / insurance / running costs would easily pay for me to do my NPPL, or charter a yacht in the Med for a couple of weeks.
So would I go back to flying instead? Well, yes and no. I really miss the flying and would love to get back in to it, but gliding takes up so much time away from my familly that there is no point going down that route until our children are old enough to come to the airfield and enjoy it, safely. So what about power? More tempting, but i am not sure that I would want to own my own aircraft and have all of the expense of keeping it in the air, so, for me perhaps a flying club and hire by the hour....... although I did see a really cheap motor falke for sale the other day.....!
David
I wouldn't agree that it is easier to find time to fly than it is to sail. Many is the time we have taken the boat out for half an hour or so just for the pleasure of it and without going anywhere (except there and back!) But you own a boat so you probably know that...
We have just sold our boat. A growing family meant we didn't use the boat so could not justify the expense... and what an expense. It is only now that the bills have stopped coming in that I realised just how much we were spending. A years mooring / insurance / running costs would easily pay for me to do my NPPL, or charter a yacht in the Med for a couple of weeks.
So would I go back to flying instead? Well, yes and no. I really miss the flying and would love to get back in to it, but gliding takes up so much time away from my familly that there is no point going down that route until our children are old enough to come to the airfield and enjoy it, safely. So what about power? More tempting, but i am not sure that I would want to own my own aircraft and have all of the expense of keeping it in the air, so, for me perhaps a flying club and hire by the hour....... although I did see a really cheap motor falke for sale the other day.....!
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re sailing qualifications,my wife and I have yachtmaster offshore and have sailed around a lot of closer northern Europe.
The French do insist on qualifications for their own sailors with limits on distance from shore according to level of qualification.
Don't know about other counties though.
Agree that sailing takes all day/weekend etc.
Flying takes me a morning all in for a couple of hours flight.
Still love boats and sailing and have been thinking of getting something small for next year.
Lister
The French do insist on qualifications for their own sailors with limits on distance from shore according to level of qualification.
Don't know about other counties though.
Agree that sailing takes all day/weekend etc.
Flying takes me a morning all in for a couple of hours flight.
Still love boats and sailing and have been thinking of getting something small for next year.
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fisbangwollop...Good for you mate 
, I shall keep up my contributions, I once asked an RNLI guy why they don't get any funding from the government, he said we don't want the government to have any control on our commitment to save lives. If the government want to do something useful, they should make a certain amount of training compulsory.
, I shall keep up my contributions, I once asked an RNLI guy why they don't get any funding from the government, he said we don't want the government to have any control on our commitment to save lives. If the government want to do something useful, they should make a certain amount of training compulsory.
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If the government want to do something useful, they should make a certain amount of training compulsory.
...now that does hurt and how do you legislate against inflateable toys....in my mind they should be banned for ever!!!
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fisbang - with all that gliding behind you, you could consider a motor glider. Although a bit of a niche market, the more recent motorgliders are very pleasant to fly, have a reasonable cruise speed and look rather elegant. Not sure how feasible that would be regarding availability in your neck of the woods, but just a thought.
I think you'll find the exams a doddle and the bit feared by most - the RT - may not present you with many problems
Good luck, have fun and welcome back!
I think you'll find the exams a doddle and the bit feared by most - the RT - may not present you with many problems
Good luck, have fun and welcome back!
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fisbangwollop...Nice to hear of someone taking to the seas with training, but should it not be compulsory? It not being so costs the RNLI a fortune in rescuing incompetent sailors
Interestingly there were 21 RNLI call outs to aircraft in 2008... there back on topic!
David
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I used to share a yacht with my brother in Weymouth- Nicholson 35. It was great fun too, except for the British weather. We alway had big plans to sail it across the atlantic to St Lucia - my brother did eventually but there were also years when the weather was so sh*te that I only sailed it for 3 hours in a whole season. He's the captain of an offshore diving vessel so I used to mainly sail with him (as he knew what he was doing!) though I did do the Yachtmaster theoretical stuff. Then he had kids, and I got into flying so we sold her.
I'd vote for flying, and then charting in the sun if you get the sailing urge!
I'd vote for flying, and then charting in the sun if you get the sailing urge!
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It seems that there are a lot of yachts and a lot of owners. Quite often, the owner would like to be reunited with his/her yacht in a distant part of the world - and is prepared to pay for the privilege. How about using your commercial ticket to ferry other people's yachts around?
Get a PPL(A) instead of a NPPL and you could fly yourself back home from wherever you ended the yacht trip. Of course it might mean considerable time on the water and in the air - and that might make home-life difficult. And we'd lose your dulcet tones from Scottish Info.
Get a PPL(A) instead of a NPPL and you could fly yourself back home from wherever you ended the yacht trip. Of course it might mean considerable time on the water and in the air - and that might make home-life difficult. And we'd lose your dulcet tones from Scottish Info.
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It's true you don't need qualifications to sail your own boat, but as soon as you try hiring one (even a dinghy) they want to see the bits of paper, at least they do in the UK. Not sure about places like Greece. You can take a flotilla holiday there with no-one on the boat having any previous experience at all, but the lead boat shepards such crews very carefully whilst letting the more experienced crews have a bit of fun - at least that's what Sailing Holidays did.
Another place you can go with no qualifications is on our hills & mountains and plenty of people get in trouble there though stupidy and/or ignorance. But again, would you want it any other way? Do you want some jobs-worth checking your paperwork before you can get past the gatehouse and onto the fells? The Mountain Rescue teams certainly don't - and like the RNLI they receive no government funding. The helicopter crews seem to regard it as training and AFAIK all their services are still FOC both on land and at sea.
Another place you can go with no qualifications is on our hills & mountains and plenty of people get in trouble there though stupidy and/or ignorance. But again, would you want it any other way? Do you want some jobs-worth checking your paperwork before you can get past the gatehouse and onto the fells? The Mountain Rescue teams certainly don't - and like the RNLI they receive no government funding. The helicopter crews seem to regard it as training and AFAIK all their services are still FOC both on land and at sea.