What's new
Van's Air Force

Don't miss anything! Register now for full access to the definitive RV support community.

You Know you're Getting to be an Old Pilot When....

Ironflight

VAF Moderator / Line Boy
Mentor
1) After dialing in a new altimeter setting on your EFIS, you tap the glass?..

2) You instinctively thump the wing skin on your walk-around to make sure the fabric is tight?

3) You always park the airplane with the prop horizontal, to make sure you don?t get a "heavy blade"?.
 
Last edited:
...or you end up calling someone on your new $$$$ Palm Treo trying to connect it to the AC intercom and start some tunes. Then you hang up on that person trying to answer when they call back trying to see what you needed when you just called and promptly hung up on them.....
 
The sun going down means it's time to go home.

"IFR currency" is the money somebody would have to pay you to voluntarily fly in the soup.

"inbound for landing...with...the numbers" -- why can't I remember that simple letter?! Ok, ok, I should write it down. Now where did I put my pen?!
 
Last edited:
1) ...you decline a breakfast flight to an airport because "they have a tower".

2) ...the conflicting traffic you are so concerned about turns out to be Myodesopsia.
 
Last edited:
1.When all you?re flying ?Buds? change the weekly breakfast/lunch flight schedule and neglect to mention it to you at the regular coffee meeting?.

2. They ask if you want to be ?ground control? during the fly-bys and you?re not offended?.
 
You know how to fly an NDB approach.

When you think about listening to music in flight, you don't think about iPod or XM, you think of listening to KOMA on the same ADF you fly the NDB approach with.
 
Last edited:
...your bladder range has dropped to 20 minutes.
...your knees ache just looking at an -A without a step
...you pop open the canopy after shutdown and yell for help to get out
...you mount the altimeter so the Kollsman window is at the optimum angle for your trifocals
...you know what a 'dutch oven' is and suspect it may have been responsible for your divorce
...you just installed an 8-track player in your panel
...you're actually pissed that your ADF quit working
...you remember when a cub rented for $5 an hour
...you carry extra underwear in the glovebox in case of a 'shart'
...80 knots is plenty fast

Dave
 
:p I find myself kicking tires, pulling on the crankshaft end play, and lifting the wingtips to see if the spar is broke even on a Seneca. :D (I once found a broke spar at preflight on an Aeronca champ).
 
"Shart"

ROTFLMAO

Something akin to a "snart" - a sneeze and a **** together. The results are the same as a shart!

So I quess the old flyer carries a shart bag or snart bag istead of a barf bag.

Jekyll

PS: I'm still rolling :D
 
Feeling my age

You know that a DF steer is not an animal and have used one! Worse yet, I have taught how to use it, ouch! :eek:

You know how to use a radio with tones to match receiving and sending frequencies.

You have responded to ATC with "Can you give me another frequency, I don't have that crystal" :eek:

Your E6B says US Army Air Forces across the top....ok, I got that from someone else, but it is my favorite!

You still occasionally forget and call the Class B a TCA.

Stewart
 
Superhomer

You know how to tune a receiver using a "whistle stop" after navigating with the "omni."

John Clark
RV8 N18U
KSBA
 
My rule of thumb...

Young pilot looks at a picture of an F-86 and says, "Gee that's a cool airplane - I wish I had one!"

Old pilot looks at a picture of a 68 Cardinal and says, "Gee that's a cool airplane - I wish I had one!"

--JCB
 
Last edited:
...When a good layover means that you had eight hours of sleep and a nice B.M. in the morning to start your day.
 
BFO

.......I remember paying $7.50 wet for our Fort Gordon flying club Cessna 150 and $4.00 for the instructor (1967). I used to tune the ADF while listening for the BFO. :D

Old and not-so-bold,
 
Acceptance: At family gatherings, the subject of airplanes never comes up.

Wisdom: When you finally realize that to really attract chicks.......get a boat.
 
You know when you are getting old when....

You know wen you are getting old when you start having dry dreams and wet **rts
 
You were taught that a pre-flight includes checking the flying wires, looking for cracks in the tail skid, adding water to the radiator, and greasing the rocker arms.

Mike
 
Last edited:
I'm a young one but....

You know you're an old pilot when you hand prop your airplane because you refuse to use the starter on the electrical system.
 
Close Your Flight Plan

You have "Close Your Flight Plan" notes on you panel, your hangar door, your car dash board, you refridgerator, .......
 
- Your flight instructor told you great stories about learning to fly in biplanes.
- You try to taxi with the tail still chained down.
- You complain about them reducing the font size on sectionals.
- You haven't flown over 3000 feet in the last ten years.
- You call it the "whiz wheel" and you still use one.
- You keep referring to GPS a fad.
 
You think the idea of having an electric starter and a radio as a convenience and not a necessity.

You think a post war plane is a '46 Cub, not a '74 Skyhawk.
 
You Know You're Getting Old When...

Your joints are more accurate than the National Weather Service.
Your investment in health insurance is finally beginning to pay off.
Your back goes out more than you do.
The twinkle in your eye is only the reflection of the sun on your bifocals.
You feel like the morning after when you haven't been anywhere the night before.
Your supply of brain cells is finally down to a manageable size.
You wake up with that morning-after feeling and you didn't do anything the night before.
You don't care where your wife goes, just so you don't have to go along.
It takes twice as long to look half as good.
Many of your co-workers were born the same year that you got your last promotion.
People call at 9 PM and ask, "Did I wake you?"
You can live without sex but not without glasses.
The clothes you've put away until they come back in style... have come back in style.
You look forward to a dull evening.
Your mind makes contracts your body can't keep.
The pharmacist has become your new best friend.
There's nothing left to learn the hard way.
You come to the conclusion that your worst enemy is gravity.
You start video taping daytime game shows.
You quit trying to hold your stomach in, no matter who walks into the room.
Your idea of a night out is sitting on the patio.
You look for your glasses for half-an-hour, then find they've been on your head all the time.
You wake up, looking like your driver's license picture.
Happy hour is a nap.
You begin every other sentence with, "Nowadays..."
You constantly talk about the price of gasoline.
You don't remember when your wild oats turned to shredded wheat.
You sing along with the elevator music.
You are proud of your lawn mower.
You wonder how you could be over the hill when you don't remember being on top of it.
Getting lucky means you find your car in the parking lot.
The little gray-haired lady you help across the street is your wife.
Your idea of weight lifting is standing up.
Your secrets are safe with your friends because they can't remember them either.
Your ears are hairier than your head.
You have a party and the neighbors don't even realize it.
It takes longer to rest than it did to get tired.
You talk about "good grass" and you're referring to someone's lawn.
The end of your tie doesn't come anywhere near the top of your pants.
You give up all your bad habits and you still don't feel good.
Your childhood toys are now in a museum.
You can't remember the last time you laid on the floor to watch television.
You confuse having a clear conscience with having a bad memory.
You frequently find yourself telling people what a loaf of bread USED to cost.
You know all the answers, but nobody asks you the questions.
You enjoy hearing about other people's operations.
You got cable for the weather channel. Old Folks MTV!
Your new easy chair has more options than your car.
Your little black book only contains names ending in M.D.
Everything hurts and what doesn't hurt, doesn't work.
You have too much room in the house and not enough in the medicine cabinet.
You get into a heated argument about pension plans.
"Getting a little action" means you don't need to take a laxative.
Conversations with people your own age often turn into "dueling ailments."
You buy a compass for the dash of your car.
You take a metal detector to the beach.
The airplane that you bought brand new becomes an antique.
You are cautioned to slow down by the doctor instead of by the police.
You realize that caution is the only thing you care to exercise.
You don't remember being absentminded.
You have more patience; but actually, it's just that you don't care any more.
Your memory is shorter and your complaining is longer.
Your drugs of preference are now vitamins.
You tip more and carry less.
You read more and remember less.
You get propositioned by AARP.
Younger women start opening doors for you.
You begin to become invisible in the dating and mating game.
The highway patrol sigh or shake their heads but don't give you a ticket.
You scout for a warmer place to spend the long, cold winters.
You are no longer 'promising'.
Younger men ask you for advice.
You work on your short game.
Youthful injuries return with a vengeance.
Youthful indiscretions harden into bad habits.
You shop for health insurance the way you once shopped for a new car.
Your medical expenses go up 50%.
A 'late night' now ends at 11 pm.
You learn where your prostrate is.

:D :D
 
Jekyll said:
Something akin to a "snart" - a sneeze and a **** together. The results are the same as a shart!

PS: I'm still rolling :D
I'm glad I'm not alone in having that experience at some point in my life. I'm just glad it wasn't at the altar or while giving a speech somewhere!

Dave
 
This is embarrasing! But I confess.

You recollect that you did your instrument rating in a WWII Link Trainer. True!

You get a check with an instructor, who looks pre-pubescent, and he asks how did you get pilot's licence No. 3406.

When you were young you used to go to the airport to watch the airliners. DC-3s & DC-4s.

And you saw the first Qantas B707 arrive in Australia.

Pete.
 
- When you post to VAF you you sometimes type the same word twice and don't notice.
- You track using ADF simply because they play oldies on the station.
- You fly with your left strobe light constantly blinking.
 
Pontius The Pilot.

Hey!
Easy!

Oldtimer's disease ain't that bad, but the trouble with nostaglia is the it isn't what it used to be.
Pete.
 
Geico266 said:
Man, I thought I was getting old, you guys had Orvil or Wilber as your CFI!
Well not that, but I'm not the only one on this forum that knows a guy that Orville Wright signed his pilot's license.
 
jsherblon said:
-<snip>- You fly with your left strobe light constantly blinking.<snip>

I'm a young pilot, and read this and didn't get it. Then Doug highlighted it as "Priceless" on the homepage. I must admit I allready had to send Paul a PM to explain the "Heavy Blade" for me. :rolleyes: So could you explain this one to me and the other "Kids" on here. :D
 
RVAddict said:
I'm a young pilot, and read this and didn't get it. Then Doug highlighted it as "Priceless" on the homepage. I must admit I allready had to send Paul a PM to explain the "Heavy Blade" for me. :rolleyes: So could you explain this one to me and the other "Kids" on here. :D
Josh,
This is a reference to the stereotype of old people, in Florida, but not any of us, driving miles and miles with a turn signal blinking.
 
Last edited:
You know you are an old pilot when

You go to the airport and you find the plane you trained on sitting on the ground with the wings off. Then some young mechanic comes up and says "yep, they are selling her for parts."You walk up to it and give the cowl a hug and you have a tear in your eye.

You are on your second or third log book, but you can't remember where you put them.

You go for your physical and it feels like you are going to a funeral parlor.

Turning 50 next month.
 
You know when you are old when........

You turn off the gps and all the other gadgets and look out the window and maybe pull out the map once in a while to make sure you are still where you think you are. :rolleyes: . Still tune the ADF in to listen to the oldies though. If you can find a plane with it.
 
Applies mostly to airline-types, but...

When you worry more about your Flight Physical than your 6-month proficiency check!

Rod Woodard
Loveland, Colorado (KFNL)
not too old, yet :D
 
You know you're old when

You go in for your flight physical and the doctor says "I need a urine specimen, a stool specimen and a semen specimen" and you hand him your shorts.
 
You know you're old when...

1. One of the formerly front-line military airplanes you used to fly is now displayed in a "vintage aircraft" museum.

2. While viewing said airplane, a nearby child is heard to say, "Daddy, look at that O-L-L-L-L-D airplane!" (This actually happened to me. Argh.)

3. When you go home from the museum, you try to put on your old Nomex flight suit, and you look like a king-sized pillow inside a regular pillowcase. :rolleyes:
 
Last edited:
Ha Ha

cdmiller said:
You go in for your flight physical and the doctor says "I need a urine specimen, a stool specimen and a semen specimen" and you hand him your shorts.

Now that really did make me laugh out loud..........and there is no way I will show it to my 13 yo son

You know you are old when......

you take your glasses OFF (which you have worn since being a child for myopia) to do all the work on the plane such as measuring, drilling, fitting etc because you don't want to bite the bullet ........and finally get bi or variofocals .... and you are worried that your arms won't be long enough at your next medical (June 07) :rolleyes:
 
Old is.....

"OLD" IS WHEN ... Your sweetie says, "Let's go upstairs and make love," and you answer, "Pick one; I can't do both!" :D

"OLD " IS WHEN . Your friends compliment you on your new alligator shoes and you're barefoot. :eek:

"OLD" IS WHEN ... A sexy babe catches your fancy and your pacemaker opens the garage door. :p

"OLD" IS WHEN ... Going braless pulls all the wrinkles out of your face. :confused:

"OLD" IS WHEN ... You don't care where your spouse goes, just as long as you don't have to go along.

"OLD" IS WHEN ... You are cautioned to slow down by the doctor instead of by the police.

"OLD" IS WHEN ..."Getting a little action" means you don't need to take any fiber today :(

"OLD" IS WHEN ... "Getting lucky" means you find your car in the parking lot.

"OLD" IS WHEN ... An "all nighter" means not getting up to use the bathroom.

"OLD" IS WHEN ... You are not sure these are jokes.
 
Back
Top