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As the years pass the thought process changes


cliffy

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I hope I'm not breaking any rules as I posted this somewhere else on the net but I think it might be appropriate and timely for starting a discussion as the years pass for many of us here on MS
I look forward to your thoughts- 
 
 
Maybe the time to hang up the 6 shooter and put the badge in the desk as you walk out the door is akin to a friend of mine, years ago, who decided to retire from a career as a rodeo clown working with bull riders. He was in his 30s. I asked him why and his answer was? "I'm a half step too slow now". He was perceptive enough to see that with age, even at that young position, age has a way of changing things.

Could it be that the lines of invincibility and realization of vulnerability cross in ones mind? Will everyone of us be able to make that decision at the correct time or will ego step in the way? Will we all actually watch our own performance and be willing to evaluate it in an impartial manner to make the big decision? Because that's what it really comes down to.

When I was on the way up, I was very fortunate to have been allowed into a flying organization that was populated by world renown pilots, pilot heros from several wars and captains of industry in aviation, all of whom were very much older than myself and the crowd I usually ran with. At my young age (at the time, I was the youngest member ever allowed in) I felt humbled to be in their company. I figured I'd better listen to their stories and advice. They had been through it all, way more than I ever would. To listen to guys that "flew the Hump" and what they had to do to survive in that flying, to listen to the greatest test pilots in the world and how close they came to going west and what they did to avoid a smoking hole epitaph, to listen to old grizzled line pilots and how they flew weather on colored airways and shot low freq range approaches in shitty weather in DC-3s and DC-6s, it was an education unavailable today. 

Over the years (I've been a member for 40+ years) I've watched as they, older than me, have hung up the spurs and walked into the sunset and they all, almost to a man, went through the same metamorphosis. They set the world on fire when young and impetuous, they got seasoned and then became cautious as they matured and then decided that the true root of flying was just being off the ground and looking down and then they saw, in the mirror, that their skills and mental calculations were at a point that they didn't want to "push the envelope" anymore. They decided to follow what Wilbur Wright said so many years ago, "if you want to be perfectly safe, go sit on a fence". It was a hard decision for all of them. Flying had defined their very existence and now they were relegated to self imposed obscurity. But the decision process that they had gone through was directly parallel to that which many others before them had done. 

Do I have the skills to continue and is it worth the risk in the waning years?

Here again comes the lines of invincibility and the realization of vulnerability at a crossing point.

I've tried to teach younger pilots that being safe has a process, a thought process and one is never really safe until one is "seasoned" and one only gets seasoned when one does something in an airplane that scares the the living hell out of you and you realize you did it to yourself. Then, from then on, you will have a different perspective on flying. 
You realize that no matter how safe you try to be, there is ALWAYS and element of risk that could be fatal, ALWAYS. Maybe that is what drives us, the underlying element of ultimate risk. Adrenaline junkies?

As the years behind get more numerous and the years ahead dwindle, the view point of "pushing the envelope" somehow losses its luster and maybe self-preservation of what's left (for most) kicks in and the tin star is put in the drawer. As always , it will be a deep and personal decision with the face in the mirror.

 

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Let me be the first to throw the wrong answer in the ring...

1) I know that one day my cognitive skills and or my physical skills are not going to pass the test.

2) I know that somebody else is going to want to make that decision for me.

3) I know that there is going to be some fighting to put that day off as long as possible.

4) I have seen plenty of physical therapy and seen some cognitive therapy work up close.

5) I work with people trying to regain these skills after injuries.

6) I am impressed with what I have learned from these fine people...

7) Eat right, get physical exercise, fly like Bennet into your eighties...

8) Continue with your cognitive exercise...  reading, writing, puzzles, whatever you like....

9) Use a desktop flight sim, they make great cognitive exercise equipment.

10) Only retire when you are ready.  One day you will wake up and say, 'I just don't feel like it'

11) in the mean time select the right days for flying...

12) A few MS members have had health issues.  Nothing like cardiac arrest or brain issues to make you reconsider your flying lifestyle.  These people have found ways to keep flying...

13) If it is only getting older driving the decision, I would add some focus to the physical and cognitive exercise and consult a food specialist to work on dietary needs.  We have one at our local grocery store that works with customers with their special needs...

14) when you find an exercise that works, add a way to measure your skills.  Count the reps, use a timer.  You will be able to tell a good day from a not so good day.  There are also fitbit devices that can help you with counting exercise and how good your sleep is.

15) If you haven't given up smoking yet.  Today would be a great day to start.  Consult your doctor, some of the meds are paid for nowadays....

16) not being able to fly is in the plan. Not being able to drive is worse. Not being able to walk makes things really difficult.

17) if all it really takes is to eat right and exercise to keep flying, I would consider joining a gym, jog on the inbetween days, read a lot of MS and fly the MSFT FS, but I'm not there yet!  :)

18) never give up, there is going to be another day with something important to do.

19) Risk analysis... only you know if it is worth it.  If there are people depending on you to be alive you have more things to consider.

until that day, fly on!

Positive thoughts coming your way...

Is that the kind of thing you were thinking?

Reminder I am only a PP, not a therapist

Best regards,

-a-

Edited by carusoam
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I'll give a totally inappropriate response.   We all have an expiration date.  Foolish behavior at young age means wasting a lot of years, and often leaving a family in rough shape.   If you die in a smoking hole at 98, didn't hurt anyone else, and had a good time doing it, it seems like a reasonable risk/reward trade off. 

On the other hand, if flying is no longer fun, the reward part of the equation is diminished, and it would make sense to quit sooner.  Surly none of us needs to fly, and if we are retired, we can probably go commercial for a lot less.

My point is if you love it, keep doing it.  Just be careful with others lives (those with you and those on the ground).

 

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Aging out is a lot like fatigue, or alcohol:

The dangerous pilot is the one who is too drunk to know he's  too drunk.

The dangerous pilot is one who is too tired to realuze he is too tired,

The dangerous pilot is one who has lost the cognitive skills to judge his cognitive skills.

We can use reasonable rules to guide us when we're  to drunk, too tired, or too old.

8 hours from bottle to throttle.

12 hours on duty.

65 years old for 121 ops.

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I think flying is one of the tasks I do to keep me sharp, both physically and mentally. Adrenaline junkie? That's a hard question for me to answer. In the earlier part of my life, I would have given a solid "Yes", but I came to realize it was not the adrenaline as it was the challenge that came along with the adrenaline. It was as much the mental work planning the dive, the flight, the race course or the trail as much as it was doing it. Friends and family always said I had HADD - Hobby ADD - and could not keep doing any one thing. Partially true, but it was more a concern about becoming complacent in the skills I used to participate in some of my hobbies.

I believe those of us not professional pilots, divers, racers or the like need to remain vigilant about the complacency that will kill us if we don't catch it in time. It is not that we plan on getting sloppy, but everything has become too easy and we "know" things are going well. As @cliffy said above, when we are lucky enough to live through a teachable moment, we come out with a different perspective.

I still fly, but I may not push into as much weather as I once might have.

I still dive, but I no longer carry the twin 100's into caves.

The motorcycle is on it's way out. I see too many drivers who don't see me.

Some of the badges are put away, but some are still polished up and on the shirt. I think I have been fortunate to know to hang up one or two before something really bad happened, and I promise I will continue to try and recognize the days when others should be put away.

But until then, I am looking at planning a flight to Belize somewhere in the next couple of years to do some diving. I'll keep you posted.

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I had a Mooney customer who passed his last instrument re ride at age 89, he was healthy in mind and body, and was still active in his business.  He told me that he would not do his next instrument re ride at age 91 and would sell the Mooney.

Sadly, he was right.  On a trip through the the U.S. in his Mooney at age 90, he was killed while crossing the street between the hotel and restaurant.  He told me being active kept him young.

Clarence

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To M20Doc's comment-

My Dad said that he kept moving even in his mid eighties by going to work every day in his one man machine shop. 

He wouldn't have made 86 if he didn't . My Mother in Law is 98,  takes short walks 3 or 4 times a day and is still

ambulatory at her age. Sitting in front of the TV all day eating chips a soda is what my Dad used to say-

"You're digging your grave with your teeth!"

 

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18 hours ago, Marauder said:

I know it will be time to sell my Mooney and hang it up when I can't get in it anymore or I can't push the fat lady out.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Well I can still get in ..not to sure about wrestling with one of your fat ladies!

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I watched a commercial recently that had a young woman jogging and she came upon an old "fortune teller" type machine that said it would tell you how/when you would die.  She hesitated and then dropped in a quarter and stuck her finger into the machine.  A pin prick and whirring gears resulted in a small piece of paper being expelled from the machine.  She slowly unfolded the paper and read: OLD AGE

With a smile she turned and started to cross the street.  Immediately struck by a car and killed.  The old driver behind the wheel double clutching the steering wheel with heavy fists viewing out through coke bottle glasses and a rumpled old suit and hat was indeed-OLD...

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Well,

To continue the morbidity:

Or, to quote Christopher Hitchens, "We all know what's coming."

It's just a little tap on the shoulder with a voice saying, "The party will continue, but you have to go now and you will never return."

That being said, not sure the tap will work with Aaron Rodgers.

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  • 2 weeks later...

My Dad flew starting back in 1942 and continued to fly with me until just a few months before he passed away at age 90. In the last few years of his life, when he no longer had the drive or the health to do very much, he still got up on Saturday and Sunday mornings to go flying with me and hang out at the airport. It was the one thing he would still do.

I am very glad that we shared those times together. They were special to me.

 

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