Student Pilot at 50

You're only too old if you're dead! :-)

You still have plenty of flying years left. Better to start now and enjoy
them than look back 10 years or so from now and wish you'd started. That
was a huge motivating factor for me. I started while I was 40 and thought
and, while it would have been great starting sooner in life, this is how it
worked out and I'm having a ball.

Check out rec.aviation.student as another great source of information.
And...post about your flying lessons. There are a bunch of us out here that
love reading about them. Many folks have been there/done that and can offer
tons of great advice. Lots of funny stories too.

--
Jack Allison
PP-ASEL

"When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the Earth
with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there
you will always long to return"
- Leonardo Da Vinci

(Remove the obvious from address to reply via e-mail)

Started at 47, now 51, own my plane, fly all the time, best thing I ever
did!!!



"TF" wrote in message
...
Sound like alot of wisdom in this newsgroup would appreciate the same
about
what my prospects can be starting at 50. Flight has always been a lure
for
me (father in the business, avid flight sim user etc etc) Now that I can
financially afford to do the real thing (well lets say ~ $7,000/year
afford). I haven't looked beyond the adventure of just getting a PPL but
I'm still dreaming. Possible scenarios ? Bring me back to earth ?

AARP Student Pilot (that card came in the mail on my birthday)

My oldest student was 85...and there were many whose age fell between 50 and
85. Don't sweat it.

Bob Gardner

"TF" wrote in message
...
Sound like alot of wisdom in this newsgroup would appreciate the same
about
what my prospects can be starting at 50. Flight has always been a lure
for
me (father in the business, avid flight sim user etc etc) Now that I can
financially afford to do the real thing (well lets say ~ $7,000/year
afford). I haven't looked beyond the adventure of just getting a PPL but
I'm still dreaming. Possible scenarios ? Bring me back to earth ?

AARP Student Pilot (that card came in the mail on my birthday)

"TF" wrote:
would appreciate the same about
what my prospects can be starting at 50.

I got my PP certificate on my 50th birthday. The last seven years have
been immensely enriched for me by flying.
Go for it.
--
Dan
C172RG at BFM
(remove pants to reply by email)

My CFI is 79. He teaches aerobatics in a Decathlon.


"TF" wrote in message
...
Sound like alot of wisdom in this newsgroup would appreciate the same
about
what my prospects can be starting at 50.

"Ed" wrote in message
. com...
My CFI is 79. He teaches aerobatics in a Decathlon.

My seaplane instructor was in his mid-70's. He is a great pilot, but I
could still scare him!

"Ed" wrote in message
. com...
My CFI is 79. He teaches aerobatics in a Decathlon.


"TF" wrote in message
...
Sound like alot of wisdom in this newsgroup would appreciate the same
about
what my prospects can be starting at 50.

Like they all said... do it! In 1999 I started at age 67 and got my
Instrument ticket in 2002. Go for it!

Vince

On Sat, 13 Mar 2004 22:32:30 -0500, "Vince"
wrote:

Like they all said... do it! In 1999 I started at age 67 and got my
Instrument ticket in 2002. Go for it!

We should form a club. I started same year, same age, though I settled
for a recreational cert.

It was definitely the case that my ground school was filled with
Dreams Deferred people. My guess is that the average age was 49 or 50.
We had two high-school kids who looked as if they'd wandered into the
wrong party; everyone else had a story to tell. Most had taken a few
lessons 20 or 30 years earlier and given up because of family or job
commitments. Others of us hadn't even gotten that far with the
project.

1999 of course was the top of the market, before the bubble burst. We
were all fat, rich, and happy in 1999.

all the best -- Dan Ford
email: (requires authentication)

see the Warbird's Forum at www.warbirdforum.com
and the Piper Cub Forum at www.pipercubforum.com

"TF" wrote in message
...
Sound like alot of wisdom in this newsgroup would appreciate the same
about
what my prospects can be starting at 50. Flight has always been a lure
for
me (father in the business, avid flight sim user etc etc) Now that I can
financially afford to do the real thing (well lets say ~ $7,000/year
afford). I haven't looked beyond the adventure of just getting a PPL but
I'm still dreaming. Possible scenarios ? Bring me back to earth ?

AARP Student Pilot (that card came in the mail on my birthday)

As others have affirmed, there's no problem with starting to fly at 50. At
any age, though, it's a good idea to get your medical certificate early in
the process--even before you start your training--so you won't spend a lot
of money on lessons only to discover later that there's some medical
disqualification. (See www.aopa.org for information on finding a medical
examiner.)

Good luck!

-Gary

It's too bad that FBO's don't give "senior citizens' discounts", because you've
got a lot of company in the "over 50" crowd.

My second instrument student passed his IFR checkride at age 59. He then went
on to get his instructor's certificate at the ripe young age of 66. He's in
excellent health, so I expect he'll have many more years of happy flying. He
stays busy "riding herd" on a large group of student pilots (some of whom are
just teenagers).

It's been my experience that older students take somewhat longer to master the
basic hand-eye coordination required for flying. On the other hand, older
students tend to be more patient and usually possess better decision-making
skills.

One weakness of many adult learners (in almost any endeavor, not just flying)
is that they tend to "overthink" a maneuver or procedure. Although it's
important to plan ahead and vizualize what you want to accomplish, it's also
important to recognize that many flying skills (such as learning to land in a
crosswind) require you to react nearly instantaneously in response to what you
see and feel. (As you gain proficiency, many of these responses become
automatic and almost unconscious.) During your initial training, keep an open
mind and pay careful attention to the visual cues (what you see outside the
airplane), how the aircraft sounds, and how it responds to your control inputs
at various speeds. A good instructor can help you with this.

Interestingly enough, I had two older students that struggled with basic flying
skills (i.e., landing), but turned out to be superior instrument pilots.

Good luck,
E. Roberts, CFI