So I was catching up my logbook today, and got to thinking wistful thoughts.
It?s been over forty years since I first took control of an airplane, and no, I don?t have airline-type hours up in the tens of thousands (No need to get into total hours in anyone?s book for this exercise ? first liar doesn?t stand a chance anyways). Many entries have gone into the logbooks over those years, but what can we take away that is incredibly simple? Maybe something tells the tale of how we spend our time? I have used my airplanes for many things, but they can be boiled down into local or cross-country flights. Lots of the local flights are training, practice, or Acro. No record of Acro time, but I do log total landings. I took a look at the bottom line in the last book, and came up with two numbers ? you can do the same. ? Divide ?Cross-Country? hours by your Total Flight Time. Then divide ?Total number of Landings? by your Total Flight Time. Like this:
Cross Country Ratio = 41%
Landings per Hour = 1.96
What do these numbers mean? Well, I have spent a little less than half my flying career droning along (in peace, or in terror) on cross-countries, watching the scenery and weather go by. And when I am local, I like to land airplanes! I used to spend a lot of time shooting Touch and Goes in my old Grumman. And I have quite a few logged landings (and more I never logged) in the old ?Heavy Glider? simulator at work. I shoot far fewer landings in the RV?s for some reason ? things happen fast in the T&G pattern in an RV I suppose. I bet the career heavy guys here will have a much higher cross-country percentage. The career CFI?s will have lower X/C and higher landings/hour.
Doesn?t mean much ? it?s just a curiosity about how we spend our time off the planet?s surface!
Paul
It?s been over forty years since I first took control of an airplane, and no, I don?t have airline-type hours up in the tens of thousands (No need to get into total hours in anyone?s book for this exercise ? first liar doesn?t stand a chance anyways). Many entries have gone into the logbooks over those years, but what can we take away that is incredibly simple? Maybe something tells the tale of how we spend our time? I have used my airplanes for many things, but they can be boiled down into local or cross-country flights. Lots of the local flights are training, practice, or Acro. No record of Acro time, but I do log total landings. I took a look at the bottom line in the last book, and came up with two numbers ? you can do the same. ? Divide ?Cross-Country? hours by your Total Flight Time. Then divide ?Total number of Landings? by your Total Flight Time. Like this:
Cross Country Ratio = 41%
Landings per Hour = 1.96
What do these numbers mean? Well, I have spent a little less than half my flying career droning along (in peace, or in terror) on cross-countries, watching the scenery and weather go by. And when I am local, I like to land airplanes! I used to spend a lot of time shooting Touch and Goes in my old Grumman. And I have quite a few logged landings (and more I never logged) in the old ?Heavy Glider? simulator at work. I shoot far fewer landings in the RV?s for some reason ? things happen fast in the T&G pattern in an RV I suppose. I bet the career heavy guys here will have a much higher cross-country percentage. The career CFI?s will have lower X/C and higher landings/hour.
Doesn?t mean much ? it?s just a curiosity about how we spend our time off the planet?s surface!
Paul