Paying For It

Flying days are few and far between.  As always, time and money are issues, with a regular, distant commute every week making weekend time with the family a primary concern.  Though I don't get much PIC time here in Australia, like my work back in North America, I get a regular seat "in the back" on two commercial flights each Monday and Friday. 

As before, even though I'm not flying, I'm thinking about it.  When the big Embraer 190 or Boeing 737 holds short of the runway, I peek out for traffic on final, mentally switch on the strobes and transponder, double-check the seat belt, and plan for an aborted takeoff.  I imagine the pilots in the front advancing the throttle, remember that a jet doesn't need right rudder, and even think of the "V1" and "rotate" call-outs.  I watch the flaps come up as the climb is stabilized, and feel the pitch change as we make the turn on course. 

Part of the hold up is that it seems excessive to spend a bunch of money on flying myself around the sky (yes, with an instructor, but not really doing anything).  We can do airwork, practice navigation, and brush the rust off my landings.  For sure, these are all things that I need to do.  But in the longer view, what I really want to be able to do is share flight with my family.  Yesterday, I took one of my daughters out to a nearby airfield that was having a fly-in.  The first question she asks is, "Will we be able to go flying?"

"No, not today."

Thinking to myself, "So, when then?"

I realized that it would take many weeks and several hundred dollars for me to finish obtaining an Australian certificate, then rent a four-seat plane if I want to take more than one kid at a time.  It was clear that if I want to share this with the kids, I need to try a different strategy.  So it was today.

The local flying club offers scenic flights of the area, and an hour flight is only slightly more expensive than an hour of dual instruction.  If I'm only going to fly every four months, I may as well do it this way.  At least the kids can come along.

It turned out great.  I had scheduled a 182, which would have put me in the right seat with the kids in back.  But when we arrived, the club had to shuffle the schedule around.  So they gave us two pilots and a ride in a twin-engined Partenavia P68.
 

The kids loved it!  We flew out over the bay at 1,000 feet, over shipwrecks, boats, the local "sand island", a lighthouse, a hammerhead shark feeding frenzy, and several miles of deserted beaches, with a handful of four-wheel-drive vehicles making their way across the sand.

It was a great way to spend an hour, take a beautiful afternoon flight, and see some of the country - as an unhurried passenger glued to the window.  Sure, I can't log it in my own logbook, but the kids get to log a great memory and have another positive experience in the air.