From a Prowler to a 172 ...You are slowing down in your old age.
Well, to be fair. I did solo before but it was in the last century
Lot of fun getting back into flying but it's sure not the $32 an hour Piper Warrior I used to rent. Actually, the plane is about the same, the price sure isn't!
I have not missed the Navy but I have sure missed flying.
What's a 172 go for an hour now? (Been awhile since I had a check ride too...)
$145 an hour and you get a $200 credit if you fly 10 hours a month. They are a little nicer. Fuel injected, 180 Hp, GPS and such but still beat up rental planes. Flying out of Frederick MD and sharing the pattern with a wide mix of stuff. Love to hear the Gulfstream V being told to hold for me.
We go through life balancing time and money and it's finally aligned for me at age 54. Retired from the Navy in 07 and don't miss any aspect of the Navy but I've missed flying terribly and SWMBO told me "stop looking up at every single airplane, go do this" so who am I to argue? As a plus, I've not seen a SAM go by me on any of these flights but I've not gotten to shoot a HARM either.
My instructor did wonder why I thought an engine failure passing 5000 feet AGL with no relight we should eject but he got over it.
Actually, he's a retired USMC A-4 and AV-8A guy so very cool and kind of gets me even though he never flew with a Naval Flight Officer being a single seat puke.
I suspect I'll end up looking at joining one of several local clubs for the time we have left in MD (<5 years) and then we'll see what I do once we retire to central NH. It's either mind boggling how cheap airplanes have become or my perception of cheap has changed over time.
