I think I've come to the conclusion that I will let my IFR rating lapse. As
it stands, I seem to be flying mostly to keep the rating current, rather
than flying for the enjoyment. I don't really go anywhere, the wife won't
fly with me, and the skyrocketing cost is making me look hard at the ROI
from different angles.

I'm figuring that from now on when I fly, I'm taking my 4 year old grandson.
He's my only enthusiastic co-pilot, and I won't put him in IFR, so why keep
it current? I don't want to get priced out of flying any sooner than I will
be, so this is my way of getting the Little Man in the air with me, and
keeping flying bug alive in him, for the maximum number of hours I have
left.
--
Jeff 'The Wizard of Draws' Bucchino
Cartoons with a Touch of Magic �

http://www.wizardofdraws.com
http://www.cartoonclipart.com

On Jul 9, 10:04*pm, Wizard of Draws > wrote:
> I think I've come to the conclusion that I will let my IFR rating lapse. As
> it stands, I seem to be flying mostly to keep the rating current, rather
> than flying for the enjoyment. I don't really go anywhere, the wife won't
> fly with me, and the skyrocketing cost is making me look hard at the ROI
> from different angles.
>
> I'm figuring that from now on when I fly, I'm taking my 4 year old grandson.
> He's my only enthusiastic co-pilot, and I won't put him in IFR, so why keep
> it current? I don't want to get priced out of flying any sooner than I will
> be, so this is my way of getting the Little Man in the air with me, and
> keeping flying bug alive in him, for the maximum number of hours I have
> left.
> --
> Jeff 'The Wizard of Draws' Bucchino
> Cartoons with a Touch of Magic *
>
> http://www.wizardofdraws.comhttp://www.cartoonclipart.com

The rating doesn't lapse, your currency does. You can regain currency
when you need it. The longer you stay away from IFR flying, the more
work it'll take to regain it.

On Wed, 09 Jul 2008 22:04:52 -0400, Wizard of Draws wrote:

> so this is my way of getting the Little Man in the air with me,

That's good...

Now your grandson will be able to tell his children that there was a day
when ordinary people could afford to take to the air in flying machines
that ran on fossil fuels.

Of course they'll accuse him of making this stuff up.


--
Dallas

On Jul 9, 7:04*pm, Wizard of Draws > wrote:
> I think I've come to the conclusion that I will let my IFR rating lapse. As
> it stands, I seem to be flying mostly to keep the rating current, rather
> than flying for the enjoyment. I don't really go anywhere, the wife won't
> fly with me, and the skyrocketing cost is making me look hard at the ROI
> from different angles.

Yea, I find a lot of pilots in the same situation. I also talk a lot
of pilots out of getting the instrument rating for the reasons you
mentioned. Its not something you can put in your back pocket and I
suspect that if you've just been flying around trying to stay current
you aren't in a position that you'd feel comfortable going into the
clouds anyway. If you don't find yourself in the clouds on normal
flights at least every once-in-a-while you probably are better off
being VFR.

-Robert, CFII

Wizard of Draws wrote:
> I think I've come to the conclusion that I will let my IFR rating lapse. As
> it stands, I seem to be flying mostly to keep the rating current, rather
> than flying for the enjoyment. I don't really go anywhere, the wife won't
> fly with me, and the skyrocketing cost is making me look hard at the ROI
> from different angles.
>
> I'm figuring that from now on when I fly, I'm taking my 4 year old grandson.
> He's my only enthusiastic co-pilot, and I won't put him in IFR, so why keep
> it current? I don't want to get priced out of flying any sooner than I will
> be, so this is my way of getting the Little Man in the air with me, and
> keeping flying bug alive in him, for the maximum number of hours I have
> left.

As I'm sure will be mentioned in other follow-ups the rating doesn't
lapse and you will be able to make it current when ever you need to. How
much practice and time it will take to do that is directly proportional
to how long you go. It's silly to keep it current if you aren't going to
be using it. Kinda like a retired 747 pilot renting a heavy to keep
current when the only thing he flies now is a Skyhawk.

> Wizard of Draws wrote:
>
>> I think I've come to the conclusion that I will let my IFR rating
>> lapse. As it stands, I seem to be flying mostly to keep the rating current, rather
>> than flying for the enjoyment.


Rather than remaining IFR current, maybe you could do an IFR refresher
in a simulator or with an instructor a couple of times a year, or every
couple of years or whatever.

Since you're not likely to be flying IFR you don't need to remain
legally current, but keeping in touch with those skills will benefit
your flying and would probably allow you to recall them to get you out
of an emergency if something ever happened.

I suspect that the hours you spend flying with your grandson on sunny
day VFR will be worth more than anything else you ever do in an
airplane; if not to you, certainly to him.

Have a great weekend. Your grandson is a lucky boy.

-c

"gatt" > wrote in message
...
>
>> Wizard of Draws wrote:
>>
>>> I think I've come to the conclusion that I will let my IFR rating lapse.
>>> As it stands, I seem to be flying mostly to keep the rating current,
>>> rather
>>> than flying for the enjoyment.
>
>
> Rather than remaining IFR current, maybe you could do an IFR refresher in
> a simulator or with an instructor a couple of times a year, or every
> couple of years or whatever.
>
> Since you're not likely to be flying IFR you don't need to remain legally
> current, but keeping in touch with those skills will benefit your flying
> and would probably allow you to recall them to get you out of an emergency
> if something ever happened.
>
> I suspect that the hours you spend flying with your grandson on sunny day
> VFR will be worth more than anything else you ever do in an airplane; if
> not to you, certainly to him.
>
> Have a great weekend. Your grandson is a lucky boy.
>
> -c


I use mine to make a living...

"NW_Pilot" > wrote in
:

>
>
>
> I use mine to make a living...
>

I could as well, but what with all he nasty venereal disease out there..

Bertie