@ Tone... It's a bit negative to give up because you had a medical problem....As Mary said, take a safety-pilot...there will be thousands who would relish the thought of flying free or even cost-sharing and don't forget, they don't have to be qualified. AFAIK there's even a course especially designed for Pax who "may" find themselves flying with an incapacitated P1 , necessitating taking control and safely landing the aircraft.

If you've really finished with flying consider dinghy or small keelboat-racing,
A lot of your pilot knowledge will stand good and the competition helps you learn to harness the wind to best effect. Capsizes don't matter! yes, you get wet but even in some of the speediest sailing-boats, you'll not get injured when you overcook it!
There's nothing quite like the surge of acceleration as it unsticks, comes up on the Plane and the spray flies past. :)

Thanks C Steve. Tried the dingy sailing when I were younger and loved it. Now more into 35' jobs in Croatia & Turkey. It's good to sit on deck with beer or G&T and talk about flying. I've not given up on life - just aviation. Gosh just look at the price of Avgas!

That can't possibly be true! What are you doing reading and posting on an aviation internet forum? You may think you've given up aviation but its still got its hooks into you :ok:

One word... lose :E

I knew an ex world war 2 spitfire pilot (past away a few years back) He was retired and had lost his medical years before but turned up at the flying club every month to take an aircraft up for 1 to 1.5 hrs with an instructor in the right seat.
If you love flying you will fly it does not have to be solo

Pace

Tone,

Have you thought of diving (SCUBA - not Sky)?

Friend of mine did the basic PADI (Open Water) course just before we were going to spend a couple of weeks sailing in the BVIs - so he wouldn't be left out (the rest of us were intending to fit in a few dives).

Unfortunately he lost his medical a couple of months later ... and took up diving seriously. He now reckons it's much closer to "flying like a bird" (i.e. no aeroplane) than anything else and always seems to be on / preparing for / coming back from a diving holiday somewhere hot.

Just a thought.

OC619

P.S. Mixes well with the 30-40' sailing boat as well.

Any problem would be more likely to have serious consequences underwater than in the air.
(I knew a weightshift pilot who had a heart attack in the air. He landed successfully - but in a field with no mobile phone reception. Fortunately the farmer had seen him, and came over. He survived, and flew again.)

The effects on the heart scuba diving with high levels of nitrogen in the blood would not be conducive as a new hobby for a heart attack victim!
Shallow diving maybe or the use of Nitrox maybe.
For serious diving NO not a good idea.
There is not a good record for over 50s diving sadly

Pace

OK - not a well thought out suggestion :(

OC619

Update
 

Well, following a long medical (including stress ECG) at the local hospital and lighter to the tune of £1k, I have now got my medical back. No need for a safety pilot.
However, I need to do the same ever year at least for 5 years and I don't actually fly at the moment. Was hoping to fly over in Canada where I plan to move next year.
Will probably decide on grounds of cost that it is not worth it...:rolleyes:

The info on diving is piffle.

Unless warned off exercise (they don't do that) there is no reason not to dive - it's good exercise and does not stress the joints - normal drift dives are not going to raise the heart rate (fighting a current can).

The depth one dives to causes no particular additional stresses on the body - max depth on air is around 130ft for 3 minutes for a no decompression dive - nitrogen is forced into the tissues - it causes go issues but if one ascends too quickly instead of releasing slowly it releases in one go - like opening a shaken fizzy drink and evolves bubbles - these bubbles for in joints etc causing the pain associated with the bends. The point is depth is not what does it but time under water - a 40 minute dive at 50ft forcing in as much as a couple of minutes at 130. Just as with flying one must plan - modern dive computers have educed significantly the chance of a miscalculation.

If you've been told exercise is ok irrespective of age diving can be part of it - just make sure those you're diving with know not to ry battling any 20kt currents!

dkatwa, are you really moving to CANADA?????

And you spent all that money on renewing the medical, and havn't flown since?
Dear chap, do a couple of circuits at your local club with an instructor, just to see if you have forgotten everything entirely being so long out of practice, and
if planning to move to Canada, it would be the best place in the world to fly light aircraft. They also have gliding clubs in that country, with the companionship found in these places. Avgas is cheaper, skies are huge, ATC is friendly and welcomes your presence.....

Have a look on the web to check out the flying clubs where you plan to be living, and go there for a week or two on holiday, you then have your network of friends already in place ....