The First Thousand Hours

[Jay Honeck]

Life is full of little transitions and milestones. Back in 1995, when I got
my ticket, I privately vowed that I would fly 1000 hours in the next ten
years.

At the time, this seemed wildly optimistic. I had a house, two little kids
underfoot, a wife who had just gone to working part-time in order to be home
with the kids, a middle-level management job at my hometown newspaper, and
very little discretionary income.

Nevertheless, I had waited my whole life to learn to fly, so I flew as often
as I could, even selling my plasma to raise funds for aircraft rental.
Relatives knew that the *only* thing I wanted for birthdays and Christmas
was "flight-time-money"...

It's been an interesting decade. Last week, while en route to visit
Montblack for Turkey Day up in frozen Minnesota, the clock ticked off that
thousandth flying hour. And although it actually took 10 years and 9 months
to achieve, I have a great excuse -- my wife, Mary learned to fly in the
interim, and I have had to share flight time equally with her ever since!
Heck, if we added in *her* PIC hours, we're actually approaching 1600 hours
now...

I sat down with my log books and transcribed them into an Excel spreadsheet,
allowing me to extract the following mildly interesting data:

- 1000 hours is the equivalent of 25 full work weeks in the air
- In 3,932 days (from Private to 1000th hour), I made 1181 flights,
averaging one every 3.3 days
- 1502 landings without breaking anything
- Number of landings noted as "perfect": 13
- Number of landings before achieving "perfect": 371
- 19 different aircraft types flown (Top two: 437 flights in the Pathfinder;
404 in the Warrior)
- 190 different airports in 25 states (Top 3: Iowa, 47 different airports;
Wisconsin: 41 airports; Illinois: 26 airports)
- 113 different passengers (other than Mary and the kids)
- Highest wind noted during landing: 62 knots
- Highest headwind noted: 70 knots
- Average flight time: 0.85 hour per flight
- Longest flight: 5.4 hours (Reno, NV -to- Scott's Bluff, NE)
- Most unusual plane flown: Lockheed Constellation...
- Most fun plane flown: 1942 Stearman...
- Most fun flight: Aerobatics in a Decathlon...
- Most memorable flight: Into Dulles International, in Washington, DC, to be
an exhibit at the Smithsonian...
- Most beautiful flight: 1.5 hours over the Grand Canyon...
- Best use for aviation: 31 flights to Wisconsin to see my Mom during her
last year...
- Dumbest thing I've done in a plane: Flying without flotation gear straight
across Lake Michigan with my toddler son (and a flight instructor) in a
clapped out old Mooney at 3000 MSL...
- Most poignant flight: Flying into Meigs shortly after 9/11...what a
bittersweet memory!
- Money spent on flying: I don't want to think about it.... :-0

Flying has been -- and continues to be -- a wonderful, magical, spiritual
experience for me, and I've been very lucky to have achieved (what I thought
was) an unattainable goal. During this past decade, I've seen some
remarkable changes take place in aviation.

- When I learned to fly, GPS was still basically a dream -- now, we sport
*two* color units in our aircraft...
- The World War II guys, once the main-stay of our airports, are just about
gone now...
- ADF has virtually disappeared from general aviation planes...
- Glass cockpits were science fiction in '95 -- now they are becoming the
norm...
- Women pilots, once incredibly rare, are now only "rare"...

It's been my privilege and honor to share the skies with you gentlemen and
women, and I look forward to spending another decade of safe, accident-free,
aviating with you all!
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

[Michelle P]

Jay,
Congratulations!
I remember when I hit my first thousand hour. I shutdown at Spirit of
St. Louis looked at my Hobbs and had a big smile on my face. I was on my
way home from a tour of the Continental US.
Michelle

[Bob Noel]

In article <ajMjf.372824$084.192879@attbi_s22>,
"Jay Honeck" > wrote:

> - 1000 hours is the equivalent of 25 full work weeks in the air

maybe your work week is equivalent but sure not mine. :-(

congrats.

--
Bob Noel
New NHL? what a joke

[Bushleague]

Jay that was a really nice post, Thank you for sharing.

Bush

On Fri, 02 Dec 2005 00:11:50 GMT, "Jay Honeck"
> wrote:

>Life is full of little transitions and milestones. Back in 1995, when I got
>my ticket, I privately vowed that I would fly 1000 hours in the next ten
>years.
>
>At the time, this seemed wildly optimistic. I had a house, two little kids
>underfoot, a wife who had just gone to working part-time in order to be home
>with the kids, a middle-level management job at my hometown newspaper, and
>very little discretionary income.
>
>Nevertheless, I had waited my whole life to learn to fly, so I flew as often
>as I could, even selling my plasma to raise funds for aircraft rental.
>Relatives knew that the *only* thing I wanted for birthdays and Christmas
>was "flight-time-money"...
>
>It's been an interesting decade. Last week, while en route to visit
>Montblack for Turkey Day up in frozen Minnesota, the clock ticked off that
>thousandth flying hour. And although it actually took 10 years and 9 months
>to achieve, I have a great excuse -- my wife, Mary learned to fly in the
>interim, and I have had to share flight time equally with her ever since!
>Heck, if we added in *her* PIC hours, we're actually approaching 1600 hours
>now...
>
>I sat down with my log books and transcribed them into an Excel spreadsheet,
>allowing me to extract the following mildly interesting data:
>
>- 1000 hours is the equivalent of 25 full work weeks in the air
>- In 3,932 days (from Private to 1000th hour), I made 1181 flights,
>averaging one every 3.3 days
>- 1502 landings without breaking anything
>- Number of landings noted as "perfect": 13
>- Number of landings before achieving "perfect": 371
>- 19 different aircraft types flown (Top two: 437 flights in the Pathfinder;
>404 in the Warrior)
>- 190 different airports in 25 states (Top 3: Iowa, 47 different airports;
>Wisconsin: 41 airports; Illinois: 26 airports)
>- 113 different passengers (other than Mary and the kids)
>- Highest wind noted during landing: 62 knots
>- Highest headwind noted: 70 knots
>- Average flight time: 0.85 hour per flight
>- Longest flight: 5.4 hours (Reno, NV -to- Scott's Bluff, NE)
>- Most unusual plane flown: Lockheed Constellation...
>- Most fun plane flown: 1942 Stearman...
>- Most fun flight: Aerobatics in a Decathlon...
>- Most memorable flight: Into Dulles International, in Washington, DC, to be
>an exhibit at the Smithsonian...
>- Most beautiful flight: 1.5 hours over the Grand Canyon...
>- Best use for aviation: 31 flights to Wisconsin to see my Mom during her
>last year...
>- Dumbest thing I've done in a plane: Flying without flotation gear straight
>across Lake Michigan with my toddler son (and a flight instructor) in a
>clapped out old Mooney at 3000 MSL...
>- Most poignant flight: Flying into Meigs shortly after 9/11...what a
>bittersweet memory!
>- Money spent on flying: I don't want to think about it.... :-0
>
>Flying has been -- and continues to be -- a wonderful, magical, spiritual
>experience for me, and I've been very lucky to have achieved (what I thought
>was) an unattainable goal. During this past decade, I've seen some
>remarkable changes take place in aviation.
>
>- When I learned to fly, GPS was still basically a dream -- now, we sport
>*two* color units in our aircraft...
>- The World War II guys, once the main-stay of our airports, are just about
>gone now...
>- ADF has virtually disappeared from general aviation planes...
>- Glass cockpits were science fiction in '95 -- now they are becoming the
>norm...
>- Women pilots, once incredibly rare, are now only "rare"...
>
>It's been my privilege and honor to share the skies with you gentlemen and
>women, and I look forward to spending another decade of safe, accident-free,
>aviating with you all!

[tom pettit]

Nice post, Jay. As a beginner with only a year and a half of PPSEL
experience, it is fun to hear about others with more time.

> - Most memorable flight: Into Dulles International, in Washington, DC, to
> be an exhibit at the Smithsonian...

I never suspected that you are old enough to be an exhibit at the
Smithsonian!

tom pettit

[Maule Driver]

Jay, that really is an achievement! Few people flying only for fun can
hit 100+ hours a year... and I personally think that time flying with
one's spouse should count as PIC for both pilots! Doesn't get any
better than that.

Jay Honeck wrote:
> Life is full of little transitions and milestones. Back in 1995, when I got
> my ticket, I privately vowed that I would fly 1000 hours in the next ten
> years.
>
> At the time, this seemed wildly optimistic. I had a house, two little kids
> underfoot, a wife who had just gone to working part-time in order to be home
> with the kids, a middle-level management job at my hometown newspaper, and
> very little discretionary income.
>
> Nevertheless, I had waited my whole life to learn to fly, so I flew as often
> as I could, even selling my plasma to raise funds for aircraft rental.
> Relatives knew that the *only* thing I wanted for birthdays and Christmas
> was "flight-time-money"...
>
> It's been an interesting decade. Last week, while en route to visit
> Montblack for Turkey Day up in frozen Minnesota, the clock ticked off that
> thousandth flying hour. And although it actually took 10 years and 9 months
> to achieve, I have a great excuse -- my wife, Mary learned to fly in the
> interim, and I have had to share flight time equally with her ever since!
> Heck, if we added in *her* PIC hours, we're actually approaching 1600 hours
> now...
>
> I sat down with my log books and transcribed them into an Excel spreadsheet,
> allowing me to extract the following mildly interesting data:
>
> - 1000 hours is the equivalent of 25 full work weeks in the air
> - In 3,932 days (from Private to 1000th hour), I made 1181 flights,
> averaging one every 3.3 days
> - 1502 landings without breaking anything
> - Number of landings noted as "perfect": 13
> - Number of landings before achieving "perfect": 371
> - 19 different aircraft types flown (Top two: 437 flights in the Pathfinder;
> 404 in the Warrior)
> - 190 different airports in 25 states (Top 3: Iowa, 47 different airports;
> Wisconsin: 41 airports; Illinois: 26 airports)
> - 113 different passengers (other than Mary and the kids)
> - Highest wind noted during landing: 62 knots
> - Highest headwind noted: 70 knots
> - Average flight time: 0.85 hour per flight
> - Longest flight: 5.4 hours (Reno, NV -to- Scott's Bluff, NE)
> - Most unusual plane flown: Lockheed Constellation...
> - Most fun plane flown: 1942 Stearman...
> - Most fun flight: Aerobatics in a Decathlon...
> - Most memorable flight: Into Dulles International, in Washington, DC, to be
> an exhibit at the Smithsonian...
> - Most beautiful flight: 1.5 hours over the Grand Canyon...
> - Best use for aviation: 31 flights to Wisconsin to see my Mom during her
> last year...
> - Dumbest thing I've done in a plane: Flying without flotation gear straight
> across Lake Michigan with my toddler son (and a flight instructor) in a
> clapped out old Mooney at 3000 MSL...
> - Most poignant flight: Flying into Meigs shortly after 9/11...what a
> bittersweet memory!
> - Money spent on flying: I don't want to think about it.... :-0
>
> Flying has been -- and continues to be -- a wonderful, magical, spiritual
> experience for me, and I've been very lucky to have achieved (what I thought
> was) an unattainable goal. During this past decade, I've seen some
> remarkable changes take place in aviation.
>
> - When I learned to fly, GPS was still basically a dream -- now, we sport
> *two* color units in our aircraft...
> - The World War II guys, once the main-stay of our airports, are just about
> gone now...
> - ADF has virtually disappeared from general aviation planes...
> - Glass cockpits were science fiction in '95 -- now they are becoming the
> norm...
> - Women pilots, once incredibly rare, are now only "rare"...
>
> It's been my privilege and honor to share the skies with you gentlemen and
> women, and I look forward to spending another decade of safe, accident-free,
> aviating with you all!

[[email protected]]

Congrats on the big 1000 hour milestone!... just a thought, but have
you ever thought maybe about now pursuing getting a CFI ticket to help
pass on your flying knowledge and experience to others on a casual
basis?

Now that I've finally passed the 500 hour mark myself, the oldtimer
CFIs around my airport have been pestering me on to get my commercial,
instrument and CFI tickets. The two main ones are getting old in years
and intend to let their medicals lapse someday to do the sport pilot
thing for the remainder of their flying days. I don't know if I have
the "right stuff" to be a CFI or not, and have no real desire or time
to become a regular primary instructor, but could probably handle the
occasional student such as the children of fellow private pilots who've
actually been already flying all their lives with their dads but just
need to get that "official" on-paper training for their checkrides when
they reach their 17th birthday, and to perform BFRs for my fellow
pilots, and other CFI things of that sort, since my local airport is
really like more of a big flying club with a close-knit community of
fellow aviators than it is a "normal" airport. It would be a neat way
to contribute something back to that community, but I'm still somewhat
skittish in the idea of accepting all the extra responsibility.

[Jay Honeck]

>> - Most memorable flight: Into Dulles International, in Washington, DC, to
>> be an exhibit at the Smithsonian...
>
> I never suspected that you are old enough to be an exhibit at the
> Smithsonian!

Hey, my kids think I'm a fossil!

:-)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

[Jay Honeck]

> Congrats on the big 1000 hour milestone!... just a thought, but have
> you ever thought maybe about now pursuing getting a CFI ticket to help
> pass on your flying knowledge and experience to others on a casual
> basis?

Getting my CFI has always been in the back of my head...but I don't have
time to turn around, lately...

Someday...
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

[Flyingmonk]

Jay Honeck wrote:
>And although it actually took 10 years and 9 months to achieve

You got your ticket in '95, '05 is not over yet. You can rename your
goal to 1000hrs in ten years (AFTER you got your license).

Anyways, Big congrats on the 1000hr mark. Truely a great achievement
(although some would say "been there, done that", they didn't do it
while raising kids, keeping the mrs happy, running your own business
and keeping household obligations intact). Congrats again my friend.

[vincent p. norris]

Congratulations, Jay!

>1502 landings without breaking anything

You gonna tell us about the *other* landings?

((:-))

And how did you get to fly a Connie?

vince norris

[Jay Honeck]

> Anyways, Big congrats on the 1000hr mark. Truely a great achievement
> (although some would say "been there, done that", they didn't do it
> while raising kids, keeping the mrs happy, running your own business
> and keeping household obligations intact). Congrats again my friend.

Thanks. I know 1000 hours ain't nuthin' to pilots who have ten (or more)
times the hours I have -- but most of them are commercial pilots.

While they were racking up their bazillion hours on someone else's nickel, I
was having the singular "joy" of paying for each and every one of those
thousand hours myself.

I try not to think about it too much. If you start to factor in what flying
costs per hour, plus the acquisition costs of two planes, plus what we
*could* have done with that money...

Thank goodness Mary likes to fly as much as I do!

:-)

I'm just kidding. There is *nothing* in this world like flying, and it's
been worth every penny, times ten.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

[Jay Honeck]

> And how did you get to fly a Connie?

It was part of the deal when we put up the MATS Connie crew for a weekend...
Mary and I both got some dual with Frank Lang, the 82 year old pilot of that
grand old ship.

Which, incidentally, is now on static display in South Korea, never to fly
again.... :-(
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

[Flyingmonk]

>Which, incidentally, is now on static display in South Korea, never to fly
>again.... :-(

Why for heaven's sake? Were the times runing low on her? ...and why
Korea?

[Jay Honeck]

> >Which, incidentally, is now on static display in South Korea, never to
> >fly
>>again.... :-(
>
> Why for heaven's sake? Were the times runing low on her? ...and why
> Korea?

Korean Air Lines used to fly Connies. They've bought the plane, and stuck
it in their museum.

Here's the story:

http://www.conniesurvivors.com/1-mats_connie_korea.htm

It's awful to know that I'll never hear those awesome radial engines again.
I've flown on that plane twice, and I'll never forget that sound.

Here are some pix from that last flight:

http://alexisparkinn.com/mats_connie_flight.htm
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

[Peter R.]

Jay Honeck > wrote:

> Life is full of little transitions and milestones. Back in 1995, when I got
> my ticket, I privately vowed that I would fly 1000 hours in the next ten
> years.
<snip>

Great write-up, Jay. Thanks!

--
Peter

[George Patterson]

Flyingmonk wrote:

> Why for heaven's sake? Were the times runing low on her? ...and why
> Korea?

Money.
http://makeashorterlink.com/?A4861214C

George Patterson
Coffee is only a way of stealing time that should by rights belong to
your slightly older self.

[Flyingmonk]

>I sat down with my log books and transcribed them into an Excel >spreadsheet,

Any chance I could get a copy of the spread sheet (mmm good brie...
Sorry, I'm eating brie and crossant)? I want to plug in my hours to
see what I got.

[Cal Vanize]

wrote:

> Congrats on the big 1000 hour milestone!... just a thought, but have
> you ever thought maybe about now pursuing getting a CFI ticket to help
> pass on your flying knowledge and experience to others on a casual
> basis?
>
> Now that I've finally passed the 500 hour mark myself, the oldtimer
> CFIs around my airport have been pestering me on to get my commercial,
> instrument and CFI tickets. The two main ones are getting old in years
> and intend to let their medicals lapse someday to do the sport pilot
> thing for the remainder of their flying days. I don't know if I have
> the "right stuff" to be a CFI or not, and have no real desire or time
> to become a regular primary instructor, but could probably handle the
> occasional student such as the children of fellow private pilots who've
> actually been already flying all their lives with their dads but just
> need to get that "official" on-paper training for their checkrides when
> they reach their 17th birthday, and to perform BFRs for my fellow
> pilots, and other CFI things of that sort, since my local airport is
> really like more of a big flying club with a close-knit community of
> fellow aviators than it is a "normal" airport. It would be a neat way
> to contribute something back to that community, but I'm still somewhat
> skittish in the idea of accepting all the extra responsibility.
>

Its very hard to get out of the cockpit and lean back in to tell your
student to "Take the plane around a few times by yourself. You can
handle it." I never got used to doing that. It was harder every time
than my first solo.

As a suggestion, take CFI training. It won't hurt to gain that right
seat experience.

[Montblack]

("Jay Honeck" wrote)
[snip]
> I sat down with my log books and transcribed them into an Excel
> spreadsheet, allowing me to extract the following mildly interesting data:

Nice write-up Jay.


> - 19 different aircraft types flown (Top two: 437 flights in the
> Pathfinder; 404 in the Warrior)

Some more from the list please :-)


> - 190 different airports in 25 states (Top 3: Iowa, 47 different
> airports; Wisconsin: 41 airports; Illinois: 26 airports)

What are the closest states to Iowa that you've skipped over?


> - Highest wind noted during landing: 62 knots

When you flew up here, to Minneapolis, in 2003 for The National Air Tour you
had a GPS GS reading of over 200 mph. What's the fastest you've flown ...as
PIC?


Montblack

[Flyingmonk]

>It won't hurt to gain that right seat experience.

Jay gets that experience every time Mary flies :<)

[Jay Honeck]

> Any chance I could get a copy of the spread sheet

Actually, having now done it (it took *days* to do, in dribs and drabs), I
would recommend against using a spreadsheet.

Use a database. It would be MUCH easier.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

[Jay Masino]

Jay Honeck > wrote:
<SNIP>

I passed 1000 hours several months ago, albeit at a more leisurly rate,
having accumulated it over 18 years. Actually, I probably have even
more hours, but I don't always log everthing.

I have to say that, ever though most things in my life revolve around
one of two things (my airplane or my cats/dog), I can't get over how
intoxicated you seem to be with aviation. It seems to be a little over
the top.

--- Jay


--
__!__
Jay and Teresa Masino ___(_)___
http://www2.ari.net/jmasino ! ! !
http://www.OceanCityAirport.com
http://www.oc-Adolfos.com

[Jay Honeck]

> I have to say that, ever though most things in my life revolve around
> one of two things (my airplane or my cats/dog), I can't get over how
> intoxicated you seem to be with aviation. It seems to be a little over
> the top.

NOW you're starting to get to know me!

:-)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

[[email protected]]

>>>>And how did you get to fly a Connie? ... It was part of the deal when we put up the MATS Connie crew for a weekend<<<<

You definitely did that on the cheap - I recall reading years ago that
plane was kept out in the southwest after Travolta sold it and for a
measly $4000 you could get an hour or so right seat time..

Wooly

[Jay Honeck]

>> - 19 different aircraft types flown

> Some more from the list please :-)

- Alon Ercoupe
- Piper J3-Cub
- Decathlon
- Grumman Tiger
- Beech King Air
- Blanik Sail plane
- Cessna 150
- Cessna 172
- Cessna 182
- Cessna 310
- Lockheed Constellation
- Mooney M20B
- Piper 140
- Piper Warrior
- Piper 180
- Piper Archer
- Piper Pathfinder
- Boeing Stearman

>> - 190 different airports in 25 states (Top 3: Iowa, 47 different
>> airports; Wisconsin: 41 airports; Illinois: 26 airports)
>
> What are the closest states to Iowa that you've skipped over?

Hmmmm. Dunno. I've flown OVER most states, just haven't landed in all of
'em...yet.

> When you flew up here, to Minneapolis, in 2003 for The National Air Tour
> you had a GPS GS reading of over 200 mph. What's the fastest you've flown
> ...as PIC?

Well, my fasted noted groundspeed in a single has been 243 mph. (The
multi-engine planes don't "count"...) I don't know what speed we were
doing in the Mooney -- it may have been faster than that -- but that flight
pre-dated GPS, and I was more focused on the sound of the engine and the
fact that I couldn't see land in any direction!

:-)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

[Ross Richardson]

Great job. I passed my 1000 hours this summer. I took a little longer to
achieve. I first started in 1970 at a little 1800' airport near KC MO. I
got my commercial, then moved away and could not afford to fly for a
couple of years. Moved again to TX and started flying again. Then kids
activities stopped me aging for about 4 to 5 years. At the suggestion of
a friend, he said to use his plane to get current again and I have been
flying since. 9 years ago (has it been that long) I bought my Skyhawk. 4
years ago I finally got my instrument rating. Just completed annual this
week and looking forward to get into the air. It is always fun to pull
out the log books and look at the notes that I have made. Although mine
do not seem to be as detailed as you have; just who may have been with
me, where I went, interesting weather, etc.


-------------
Regards, Ross
C-172F 180HP
KSWI


Jay Honeck wrote:
> Life is full of little transitions and milestones. Back in 1995, when I got
> my ticket, I privately vowed that I would fly 1000 hours in the next ten
> years.
>
snip

[Ross Richardson]

OK, let's edit.

Kids activities "stopped me aging"????? That should be 'again'. On the
contrary, they AGE you.


-------------
Regards, Ross
C-172F 180HP
KSWI


Ross Richardson wrote:
> Great job. I passed my 1000 hours this summer. I took a little longer to
> achieve. I first started in 1970 at a little 1800' airport near KC MO. I
> got my commercial, then moved away and could not afford to fly for a
> couple of years. Moved again to TX and started flying again. Then kids
> activities stopped me aging for about 4 to 5 years. At the suggestion of
> a friend, he said to use his plane to get current again and I have been
> flying since. 9 years ago (has it been that long) I bought my Skyhawk. 4
> years ago I finally got my instrument rating. Just completed annual this
> week and looking forward to get into the air. It is always fun to pull
> out the log books and look at the notes that I have made. Although mine
> do not seem to be as detailed as you have; just who may have been with
> me, where I went, interesting weather, etc.
>
>
> -------------
> Regards, Ross
> C-172F 180HP
> KSWI
>
>
> Jay Honeck wrote:
>
>> Life is full of little transitions and milestones. Back in 1995, when
>> I got my ticket, I privately vowed that I would fly 1000 hours in the
>> next ten years.
>>
> snip

[Chris G.]

Here is my shameless plug for Dan Checkoway's logshare.com site. I use
it (as a backup to my paper logbook) and LOVE it.

Chris G.
PP-ASEL, 8-27-05, OOOOhhhhh so close to that 100 hrs


Jay Honeck wrote:
>>Any chance I could get a copy of the spread sheet
>
>
> Actually, having now done it (it took *days* to do, in dribs and drabs), I
> would recommend against using a spreadsheet.
>
> Use a database. It would be MUCH easier.

[Montblack]

("Jay Masino" wrote)
> I have to say that, ever though most things in my life revolve around
> one of two things (my airplane or my cats/dog), I can't get over how
> intoxicated you seem to be with aviation. It seems to be a little over
> the top.


I agree with Jay M. Jay H is VFR over the top.

http://www.alexisparkinn.com/recent_events.htm
Scroll down through the events, keeping in mind that many of their family
adventures haven't made the list.

It's just a guess on my part but I think Jay and Mary would like to someday
be like the Johnson's, 80 years ago - flying off to new adventures in their
Sikorsky flying boats ...only with a digital camcorder instead of that guy
in the back of the plane with a funny hat, a two-reel documentary film
camera and a tripod.

http://www.scripophily.net/marjohafexco.html

http://www.safarimuseum.com/exhib_photo_online_africa_1933.htm

http://www.strangebirds.com/Carnauba-Johnson.html


Montblack

[Longworth]

Jay,
Congratulations. 1000th hrs is quite a milestone. What kind of
logbook do you use to have rooms for all those flight details & how
long did it take to tally the record?

Except for the line about flying over the lake without a life
jacket, what about scary parts like icing encounter, electrical
failures, equipment malfunction, icy runways, extreme crosswinds,
severe turbulence, etc.?

I have been flying just a bit over 4 years accumulating close to
550hrs. Unless something happens, I expect to at least match your
record of 1Khrs in 10 years. In looking back, I have few good memories
like the first flight with my daughter (it took us over 3 yrs to
convince her to get in a small plane), fulfilling a dying man's wish of
flying over his property in our plane, the long cross-country trips to
MI, MN, CO, AR, our exciting IFR training flights etc However, the
more memorable are the scary ones like the unexpected freezing rain
encounter, the total electrical failure, the heart-stopping go-around
while attempted to land in a short runway surrounded by tall trees (had
to add power last second while attempting short field landing to
counter sudden windshear), one aborted takeoff (the plane ahead did a
180 to land back in the runway due to engine failure), several aborted
landings (animals suddenly appeared on runways) etc.. Hope that I will
as a safe flying record as your.

Hai Longworth

[vincent p. norris]

>> And how did you get to fly a Connie?
>
>It was part of the deal when we put up the MATS Connie crew for a weekend...
>Mary and I both got some dual with Frank Lang, the 82 year old pilot of that
>grand old ship.

You made a good swap!

vince norris

[Jay Honeck]

> Kids activities "stopped me aging"????? That should be 'again'. On the
> contrary, they AGE you.

I was *wondering* about that. Mine certainly do!
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

[Jay Honeck]

> Except for the line about flying over the lake without a life
> jacket, what about scary parts like icing encounter, electrical
> failures, equipment malfunction, icy runways, extreme crosswinds,
> severe turbulence, etc.?

Well, Hai, there have been a few of those.

- The time we lost the #2 cylinder coming out of Titusville, FL, thanks to
lead fouling. Had to come around and land with a very rough engine.
- The complete electrical failure in a clapped out rental Cherokee 140, at
night...
- The sudden encounter with icing while flying right seat with Mary as
PIC...
- The near-collision with a Stinson in the pattern over Iowa City...
- Landing, at night, on a 2300' x 30' wide strip, with mayonnaise-jar lights
on just one side of the runway, and snow drifts all around...
- The inadvertent retraction of flaps on take-off in a 172, and the near
collision with traffic as the plane settled back toward the earth...
- The severe turbulence coming into Oelwein, IA that very nearly convinced
Mary never to fly again...
- The time we drained over a quart of water from the tanks of a rental
plane...
- The time the throttle cable broke, thankfully while taxiing out to the
runway...(rentals, again)

Come to think of it, most of the scary stuff (other than the bills we
occasionally receive!) went away when we stopped renting. Some of the
rental fleet is pretty frightening!

:-)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

[Morgans]

> > Kids activities "stopped me aging"????? That should be 'again'. On the
> > contrary, they AGE you.
>
> I was *wondering* about that. Mine certainly do!
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^

Hold onto your hat. I have met your kids, and I guarantee....comparing what
you have gone through, and what is yet to come?

You ain't seen nothin', yet!!! <g>
--
Jim in NC

P.S. This time, I'm not kidding!
There is a reason that you only have just *started* getting gray.

[Jay Honeck]

> P.S. This time, I'm not kidding!
> There is a reason that you only have just *started* getting gray.

My hair is falling out faster than it can turn gray!

:-)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

[george]

Jay Honeck wrote:
> > Except for the line about flying over the lake without a life
> > jacket, what about scary parts like icing encounter, electrical
> > failures, equipment malfunction, icy runways, extreme crosswinds,
> > severe turbulence, etc.?
>
> Well, Hai, there have been a few of those.
>
> - The time we lost the #2 cylinder coming out of Titusville, FL, thanks to
> lead fouling. Had to come around and land with a very rough engine.
> - The complete electrical failure in a clapped out rental Cherokee 140, at
> night...
> - The sudden encounter with icing while flying right seat with Mary as
> PIC...
> - The near-collision with a Stinson in the pattern over Iowa City...
> - Landing, at night, on a 2300' x 30' wide strip, with mayonnaise-jar lights
> on just one side of the runway, and snow drifts all around...
> - The inadvertent retraction of flaps on take-off in a 172, and the near
> collision with traffic as the plane settled back toward the earth...
> - The severe turbulence coming into Oelwein, IA that very nearly convinced
> Mary never to fly again...
> - The time we drained over a quart of water from the tanks of a rental
> plane...
> - The time the throttle cable broke, thankfully while taxiing out to the
> runway...(rentals, again)
>
> Come to think of it, most of the scary stuff (other than the bills we
> occasionally receive!) went away when we stopped renting. Some of the
> rental fleet is pretty frightening!
>
> :-)

I WAS going to suggest you go buy a lottery ticket but by the sound of
it you don't need it :-)
My 'scary' was a series of engine failures in a (again) rental
microlite........

[john smith]

> Come to think of it, most of the scary stuff (other than the bills we
> occasionally receive!) went away when we stopped renting. Some of the
> rental fleet is pretty frightening!

You left out Mary's arrival at AirVenture 2005!

[Jay Honeck]

> > Come to think of it, most of the scary stuff (other than the bills we
> > occasionally receive!) went away when we stopped renting. Some of the
> > rental fleet is pretty frightening!
>
> You left out Mary's arrival at AirVenture 2005!

Ooooo, you're *BAD*....

They DID throw everything they had at her, and it was an, um,
"interesting" arrival -- but we have been able to use the plane again
since, so I guess it couldn't have been *too* bad...

:-)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

[me]

Jay Congratulations on the thousand hour milestone ..
And thanks again for another interesting post !
J.



"Jay Honeck" > wrote in message
news:ajMjf.372824$084.192879@attbi_s22...
> Life is full of little transitions and milestones. Back in 1995, when I
> got my ticket, I privately vowed that I would fly 1000 hours in the next
> ten years.

[Morgans]

"Jay Honeck" > wrote
>
> They DID throw everything they had at her, and it was an, um,
> "interesting" arrival -- but we have been able to use the plane again
> since, so I guess it couldn't have been *too* bad...

I don't think I have heard that story. Care to share, while Mary is not
looking? <g>
--
Jim in NC

[john smith]

In article >,
"Morgans" > wrote:

> "Jay Honeck" > wrote
> >
> > They DID throw everything they had at her, and it was an, um,
> > "interesting" arrival -- but we have been able to use the plane again
> > since, so I guess it couldn't have been *too* bad...

> I don't think I have heard that story. Care to share, while Mary is not
> looking? <g>

Naw, it's one of those things you have to see Jay tell in person.
There's body language, facial expressions, hand and arm gesticulation,
voice inflections.
Writing it would take less than a minute.
Telling you is good for at least 15 minutes.

[Jackal24]

"Flyingmonk" > wrote in news:1133497336.826411.322810
@g43g2000cwa.googlegroups.com:

> Jay Honeck wrote:
>>And although it actually took 10 years and 9 months to achieve
>
> You got your ticket in '95, '05 is not over yet. You can rename your
> goal to 1000hrs in ten years (AFTER you got your license).
>
> Anyways, Big congrats on the 1000hr mark. Truely a great achievement
> (although some would say "been there, done that", they didn't do it
> while raising kids, keeping the mrs happy, running your own business
> and keeping household obligations intact). Congrats again my friend.
>
>

Or 1000 hours in 120 calendar months. This is aviation.

[Morgans]

"john smith" > wrote

> Naw, it's one of those things you have to see Jay tell in person.
> There's body language, facial expressions, hand and arm gesticulation,
> voice inflections.
> Writing it would take less than a minute.
> Telling you is good for at least 15 minutes.

OK, next year at OSH. Besides letting him off the hook now, will be worth
watching him squirm while Mary is right beside him. <g>
--
Jim in NC

[Jay Beckman]

"Jay Honeck" > wrote in message
news:ajMjf.372824$084.192879@attbi_s22...
> Life is full of little transitions and milestones. Back in 1995, when I
> got my ticket, I privately vowed that I would fly 1000 hours in the next
> ten years.
>

<Snip>

Jay H,

Outstanding! And also very interesting how you've managed to keep track of
all the small details from day one.

Jay B

PS ... While 1000 hrs in 10 years deserves a hearty "Huzzah!", would you
believe that when I was going through my training, there were two
20-somethings from Iceland who were flying 100 hours a *month* as part of an
Ab Initio program for Icelandic Air. They started about the same time I did
but racked up over 700+ hours in the time it took me to reach the 51 hours I
had when I took my checkride. Must have worked because according the one of
the owners at the FBO, they're now both wearing three stripes for their home
airline.

[Flyingmonk]

Yeah! That's the ticket!

[Jay Honeck]

> PS ... While 1000 hrs in 10 years deserves a hearty "Huzzah!", would you
> believe that when I was going through my training, there were two
> 20-somethings from Iceland who were flying 100 hours a *month* as part of
> an Ab Initio program for Icelandic Air. They started about the same time
> I did but racked up over 700+ hours in the time it took me to reach the 51
> hours I had when I took my checkride. Must have worked because according
> the one of the owners at the FBO, they're now both wearing three stripes
> for their home airline.

Holy cats! I presume Icelandic Air was picking up the tab?
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

[john smith]

In article >,
"Morgans" > wrote:

> "john smith" > wrote
>
> > Naw, it's one of those things you have to see Jay tell in person.
> > There's body language, facial expressions, hand and arm gesticulation,
> > voice inflections.
> > Writing it would take less than a minute.
> > Telling you is good for at least 15 minutes.

> OK, next year at OSH. Besides letting him off the hook now, will be worth
> watching him squirm while Mary is right beside him. <g>

Oh... that's the 30-minute version.

[Margy]

tom pettit <tompet<at>peak wrote:
> Nice post, Jay. As a beginner with only a year and a half of PPSEL
> experience, it is fun to hear about others with more time.
>
>
>>- Most memorable flight: Into Dulles International, in Washington, DC, to
>>be an exhibit at the Smithsonian...
>
>
> I never suspected that you are old enough to be an exhibit at the
> Smithsonian!
>
Hey, you don't have to be old to be at the Smithsonian, just significant!

Margy
> tom pettit
>
>

[R.W. Behan]

Jay, let me add my congratulations, too.

As to the cost involved: don't sweat the small stuff, even if it ain't
small. My wife and I just got back from a 2,500 mile trip to Alaska and
back, in a 20-year-old, 37' Victory Tug--a slow, full displacement, diesel
powered boat. If we calculated the cost per mile, or per hour, it would
blow our socks off. We know that.

The experience, a lifetime adventure, simply cannot be evaluated in dollars.
Literally priceless.

So must it be with flying.

Press on, cyberspace friend.

Dick Behan
W.P. (Wannabe pilot, age 72)


"Jay Honeck" > wrote in message
news:vwQjf.373264$084.4954@attbi_s22...
>> Anyways, Big congrats on the 1000hr mark. Truely a great achievement
>> (although some would say "been there, done that", they didn't do it
>> while raising kids, keeping the mrs happy, running your own business
>> and keeping household obligations intact). Congrats again my friend.
>
> Thanks. I know 1000 hours ain't nuthin' to pilots who have ten (or more)
> times the hours I have -- but most of them are commercial pilots.
>
> While they were racking up their bazillion hours on someone else's nickel,
> I was having the singular "joy" of paying for each and every one of those
> thousand hours myself.
>
> I try not to think about it too much. If you start to factor in what
> flying costs per hour, plus the acquisition costs of two planes, plus what
> we *could* have done with that money...
>
> Thank goodness Mary likes to fly as much as I do!
>
> :-)
>
> I'm just kidding. There is *nothing* in this world like flying, and it's
> been worth every penny, times ten.
> --
> Jay Honeck
> Iowa City, IA
> Pathfinder N56993
> www.AlexisParkInn.com
> "Your Aviation Destination"
>

[Jay Beckman]

"Jay Honeck" > wrote in message
news:njDkf.620732$xm3.265619@attbi_s21...
>
> Holy cats! I presume Icelandic Air was picking up the tab?
> --
> Jay Honeck
> Iowa City, IA
> Pathfinder N56993
> www.AlexisParkInn.com
> "Your Aviation Destination"

Jay H,

Near as I could figure out, it was a program similar to Lufthansa or SAS
where they recruit them, screen them heavily then ship the "best of the
best" to the desert SW where they do basically nothing but fly, fly, fly and
fly.

Lufthansa even bough their own airport at Mobile, AZ to accomodate their
intensive schedule.

Lately, it's begining to sound like I'm not flying in the US anymore with
all the foreign accents on the radio. Pretty good english spoken by all but
the Chinese...they're brutal and can tie up the freq pretty well trying to
make themselves understood to ATC.

Regards,

Jay B

[Jay Honeck]

> The experience, a lifetime adventure, simply cannot be evaluated in
> dollars. Literally priceless.
>
> So must it be with flying.

Precisely, Dick. You nailed it right on the head!

Your trip sounds incredible. What, exactly, is a "Victory Tug"?

Does your boat look like this?: http://makeashorterlink.com/?P2F72144C
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

[Morgans]

"R.W. Behan" > wrote

> My wife and I just got back from a 2,500 mile trip to Alaska and
> back, in a 20-year-old, 37' Victory Tug--a slow, full displacement, diesel
> powered boat. If we calculated the cost per mile, or per hour, it would
> blow our socks off. We know that.
>
> The experience, a lifetime adventure, simply cannot be evaluated in
dollars.
> Literally priceless.

Is this your boat? I wouldn't think there are many of them around.

Cool!
--
Jim in NC

[Morgans]

"Morgans" > wrote

> Is this your boat? I wouldn't think there are many of them around.

OH NO !!! Don't anyone tell BoB, but I am posting into the future, again.

I posted the above post at 8:54, but it showed up with a 9:54 time stamp on
it.
--
Jim in NC

[Gig 601XL Builder]

"Jay Honeck" > wrote in message
news:ajMjf.372824$084.192879@attbi_s22...
> Life is full of little transitions and milestones. Back in 1995, when I
> got my ticket, I privately vowed that I would fly 1000 hours in the next
> ten years.
> - Number of landings noted as "perfect": 13

I'm sure you just missed this stat...

- Number of consecutive perfect landings: 0
- Number of number of Awful landings on flights after perfect landings: 13

[R.W. Behan]

Jim,

If you'll email me, I'll forward an email I sent Jay, with a picture. (I
tried emailing you, but you must have a spam killer in your address.)

Cheers,

Dick


"Morgans" > wrote in message
...
>
> "R.W. Behan" > wrote
>
>> My wife and I just got back from a 2,500 mile trip to Alaska and
>> back, in a 20-year-old, 37' Victory Tug--a slow, full displacement,
>> diesel
>> powered boat. If we calculated the cost per mile, or per hour, it would
>> blow our socks off. We know that.
>>
>> The experience, a lifetime adventure, simply cannot be evaluated in
> dollars.
>> Literally priceless.
>
> Is this your boat? I wouldn't think there are many of them around.
>
> Cool!
> --
> Jim in NC
>

[Darrel Toepfer]

Morgans wrote:
> "R.W. Behan" > wrote
>
>> My wife and I just got back from a 2,500 mile trip to Alaska and
>> back, in a 20-year-old, 37' Victory Tug--a slow, full displacement, diesel
>> powered boat. If we calculated the cost per mile, or per hour, it would
>> blow our socks off. We know that.
>>
>> The experience, a lifetime adventure, simply cannot be evaluated in
> dollars.
>> Literally priceless.
>
> Is this your boat? I wouldn't think there are many of them around.
>
> Cool!

http://www.maplebay.com/page100.htm

[R.W. Behan]

Darrel, yes, that is now our boat. Maple Bay was the broker.
Cheers,
Dick B.


"Darrel Toepfer" > wrote in message
...
> Morgans wrote:
>> "R.W. Behan" > wrote
>>
>>> My wife and I just got back from a 2,500 mile trip to Alaska and
>>> back, in a 20-year-old, 37' Victory Tug--a slow, full displacement,
>>> diesel
>>> powered boat. If we calculated the cost per mile, or per hour, it would
>>> blow our socks off. We know that.
>>>
>>> The experience, a lifetime adventure, simply cannot be evaluated in
>> dollars.
>>> Literally priceless.
>>
>> Is this your boat? I wouldn't think there are many of them around.
>>
>> Cool!
>
> http://www.maplebay.com/page100.htm

[Morgans]

"R.W. Behan" > wrote in message
om...
> Jim,
>
> If you'll email me, I'll forward an email I sent Jay, with a picture. (I
> tried emailing you, but you must have a spam killer in your address.)

Yep, spamkillers forever!

Wilco. Out.
--
Jim in NC

[Jay Honeck]

> - Number of consecutive perfect landings: 0
> - Number of number of Awful landings on flights after perfect landings: 13

Actually, what I found is that -- over time -- my criterion for a "perfect"
landing is not static. As my skills have improved, I'm a much tougher
judge!

Early on, a "squeaker" was a perfect landing. Now, if I can feel any
vertical deceleration at all, it ain't perfect.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"