Am i just too old?

[Bill Greenwood]

oK, I know I am a little old fashioned, I still use actual real charts, those printed on paper, to fly to Oskosh every year, just like I did the first time 38 years ago, and believe it or not, they havent moved Oshkosh or even Iowa or Wisconsin in all those decades, either I am very lucky or it is in the same place as it was in 1980. And if it was cheaper, Id probably have a gps with moving map in my Bonanza. I even own and use a cell phone, on which my friends who only own cell phones call me and we can sort of hear each other some of the time, until I get them to call back on my real phone.
Im having a hard time finding new skis to buy, all the young people tell me how fine their short, fat, rocker tip with stiff tails are. but I demoed two and even fell once, first time in years. My conventional red Atomic 220 downhill skis, that I won two races on ,are still in the closet. Sometimes I'm on them again, 70 mph at the bottom of a race course, until morning wakes me up. Ans my knee never hurts in a dream. I just had an IPC with a nice young CFI who talked about how special it is to fly his Dad's "Mustang" but what he means is a Cessna, and what I mean when I say Mustang is a big Packard Merlin engine and a 4 bladed prop controlled by the pilot with a stick, not a computer, and when you land the linemen want a photo not just to "drain the lav." And the A F Academy invites Merlins to do a fly over at the Notre Dame game, never heard of that with a Cessna.
So maybe I am mostly of another age, hey sailing ships were great for a long time before steam took over.
But yesterday I see a short piece on the internet about how there are going to be male danceleaders performing at the Super Bowl, and the young men look very proud of themselves in the clip. Somehow I just couldn't feel the thrill, not that they don't have the right to. I'm all for cheerleaders, two of my favorites in high school were Jan and Donna, and Ginger in college, but like the word "Mustang" I have a traditional image of them.
Am I just too old? Or do I need an exorcism to come up to date? I do see the Dr .Pepper commercials with football games and they taste as good as when I was growing up.

[DRGT]

oK, I know I am a little old fashioned ...
Am I just too old?

Yes - welcome to the club!

[DaleB]

Things change. Some things we're free to keep doing the old way, at least for a while, like paper charts. Some things will never go back to the way they were before.

The Moving Finger writes; and, having writ,
Moves on: nor all thy Piety nor Wit
Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line,
Nor all thy Tears wash out a Word of it.

[thisadviceisworthles]

Too Old? No, but you may be missing a bit of perspective.


oK, I know I am a little old fashioned, I still use actual real charts, those printed on paper, to fly to Oskosh every year, just like I did the first time 38 years ago, and believe it or not, they havent moved Oshkosh or even Iowa or Wisconsin in all those decades, either I am very lucky or it is in the same place as it was in 1980. And if it was cheaper, Id probably have a gps with moving map in my Bonanza. I even own and use a cell phone, on which my friends who only own cell phones call me and we can sort of hear each other some of the time, until I get them to call back on my real phone.


I don't keep 100% up to date on paper, I use apps, for the same reason I use a cell phone instead of a landline. I like money. Specifically, I dislike anything that encroaches into my flying budget. That is why I don't spend $30/month on a landline, that is why I don't spend $100s a year on having the most up to date paper when, for VFR, Avare can meet the requirement for free. Also, read your charts a little closer, if you compare one from 38 years ago, magnetic north has moved.




Im having a hard time finding new skis to buy, all the young people tell me how fine their short, fat, rocker tip with stiff tails are. but I demoed two and even fell once, first time in years. My conventional red Atomic 220 downhill skis, that I won two races on ,are still in the closet. Sometimes I'm on them again, 70 mph at the bottom of a race course, until morning wakes me up. Ans my knee never hurts in a dream.


You are a pilot. You should know better than anyone that new equipment will perform differently and require some retraining. By this argument, an F18 is worse in a combat role than a P-51 just because it lands differently.



I just had an IPC with a nice young CFI who talked about how special it is to fly his Dad's "Mustang" but what he means is a Cessna, and what I mean when I say Mustang is a big Packard Merlin engine and a 4 bladed prop controlled by the pilot with a stick, not a computer, and when you land the linemen want a photo not just to "drain the lav." And the A F Academy invites Merlins to do a fly over at the Notre Dame game, never heard of that with a Cessna.
So maybe I am mostly of another age, hey sailing ships were great for a long time before steam took over.


Just to note, regardless of what it's called, you just belittled someone who enjoys spending time with his dad in his dad's plane. As someone who did not come up in a flying family, I would have loved to spend time with my dad in his plane. I am guessing at some point you spent time with your dad in a plane, how would you feel if some kid belittled that time just because of what you called the plane?



But yesterday I see a short piece on the internet about how there are going to be male danceleaders performing at the Super Bowl, and the young men look very proud of themselves in the clip. Somehow I just couldn't feel the thrill, not that they don't have the right to. I'm all for cheerleaders, two of my favorites in high school were Jan and Donna, and Ginger in college, but like the word "Mustang" I have a traditional image of them.
Am I just too old? Or do I need an exorcism to come up to date? I do see the Dr .Pepper commercials with football games and they taste as good as when I was growing up.

You have enjoyed watching cheerleaders for years, why not let your wife have some of the fun?

[Bill Greenwood]

I certainly didn't belittle anyone for enjoying flying with their Dad or doing anything else with their Dad. I loved flying with my kids, who have been to Osh many times. and teaching them to ski, up to about 10 years old when my Son beat me in a ski race for the first time ( hey I had rental skis!). My Son raced the same place and course as Lindsey Vonn as a kid and he says he could beat her when they were 13.
Maybe I miswrote it , but my only point is that calling a Cessna passenger jet a Mustang is a big stretch. They should have come up with their own name, not tried to play on an historic icon. The CFI is lucky his DAD owes a plane and a very neat one as I hear a Citation is, and the he gets to fly their company plane. By the way his Dad is an ex combat medic as well as a pilot. Its short of like the turboprop trainer calling itself a T6, the name doesn't make the plane. I can barely recall anything about my couple of hours of jet time, but my P51 time is fresh as if it was last week.
And my topic was meant to be humorous, don't read it so uptight.

[rwanttaja]

Things change. Some things we're free to keep doing the old way, at least for a while, like paper charts. Some things will never go back to the way they were before.

The Moving Finger writes; and, having writ,
Moves on: nor all thy Piety nor Wit
Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line,
Nor all thy Tears wash out a Word of it.

The tusks which clashed in mighty brawls
Of mastodons, are billiard balls.

The sword of Charlemagne the Just
Is Ferric Oxide, known as rust.

The grizzly bear, whose potent hug,
Was feared by all, is now a rug.

Great Caesar's bust is on the shelf,
And I don't feel so well myself.
- Arthur Guiterman

Ron Wanttaja

[malexander]

oK, I know I am a little old fashioned, I still use actual real charts, those printed on paper, to fly to Oskosh every year, just like I did the first time 38 years ago, and believe it or not, they havent moved Oshkosh or even Iowa or Wisconsin in all those decades, either I am very lucky or it is in the same place as it was in 1980. And if it was cheaper, Id probably have a gps with moving map in my Bonanza. I even own and use a cell phone, on which my friends who only own cell phones call me and we can sort of hear each other some of the time, until I get them to call back on my real phone.
Im having a hard time finding new skis to buy, all the young people tell me how fine their short, fat, rocker tip with stiff tails are. but I demoed two and even fell once, first time in years. My conventional red Atomic 220 downhill skis, that I won two races on ,are still in the closet. Sometimes I'm on them again, 70 mph at the bottom of a race course, until morning wakes me up. Ans my knee never hurts in a dream. I just had an IPC with a nice young CFI who talked about how special it is to fly his Dad's "Mustang" but what he means is a Cessna, and what I mean when I say Mustang is a big Packard Merlin engine and a 4 bladed prop controlled by the pilot with a stick, not a computer, and when you land the linemen want a photo not just to "drain the lav." And the A F Academy invites Merlins to do a fly over at the Notre Dame game, never heard of that with a Cessna.
So maybe I am mostly of another age, hey sailing ships were great for a long time before steam took over.
But yesterday I see a short piece on the internet about how there are going to be male danceleaders performing at the Super Bowl, and the young men look very proud of themselves in the clip. Somehow I just couldn't feel the thrill, not that they don't have the right to. I'm all for cheerleaders, two of my favorites in high school were Jan and Donna, and Ginger in college, but like the word "Mustang" I have a traditional image of them.
Am I just too old? Or do I need an exorcism to come up to date? I do see the Dr .Pepper commercials with football games and they taste as good as when I was growing up.



Well...…..I enjoyed reading it. I can actually relate to some of it, like the paper "maps". Shoot, I still use the atlas and maps on the highways.

[Frank Giger]

I think a lot of it has to do with what kind of flying one is doing.

For example, I'm very much a short hop or "local" kind of pilot into and out of uncontrolled airfields; it's all I want to do and I'm very happy with it.

So the "bells and whistles" of technology is nice, but not really necessary for me. I alternate between paper and digital charts, depending on whether or not I remembered to charge the tablet. ;) My "magenta line" is a series of rivers, power lines, roads, and landmarks.

Does that make me a dinosaur, even though I'm fairly new to aviation? Hardly.

As to male cheerleaders, our good friends who are also Aggies will tell one it's not such a bad thing and doesn't detract from the game in the least.

[Bill Greenwood]

Alabama may be different, but in Texas we don't have "good friends who are also Aggies " and if we did have such a lapse in standards we would never admit in public.

[CDS]

Maybe I miswrote it , but my only point is that calling a Cessna passenger jet a Mustang is a big stretch. They should have come up with their own name, not tried to play on an historic icon. The CFI is lucky his DAD owes a plane and a very neat one as I hear a Citation is, and the he gets to fly their company plane. By the way his Dad is an ex combat medic as well as a pilot. Its short of like the turboprop trainer calling itself a T6, the name doesn't make the plane.

Names or model designations have been duplicated for a long time - take the Grumman F4F versus the F4 Phantom, for one example. The Cessna C-172 Skyhawk is certainly not a Douglas A-4 Skyhawk either. Oh well.

Perhaps we should feel fortunate to have lived so long as to be able to see these repeated names and designations.

[Bill Greenwood]

I have always tried to be a good and mostly SAFE pilot and I think largely I've done that, I think Ive certainly been better than average, there are a lot of days when I'd grade myself at least a solid B+ , maybe even A-. And there was a time when I was a pretty good skier, at least for a Texan. Have you ever seen a Texan try to ski? It's a lot like a politician trying to tell the truth, it is possible in theory, but not often easily or readily done. My sons are of course excellent skiers., the older one was a fine racer, his school won the state championship when he was a junior. He says, without joking, "Dad you are the best skier I know from Texas." Anyway, our snow this year if beyond good, and I went skiing. With my sore knee and sometimes sore back and just not being anywhere near race shape, I am now for sure a lot better pilot than a skier. I think that is a sure sign of being old, but maybe from a safety standpoint not such a bad thing. Flying is much about judgment and the brain doesn't age like the body does. Good eyesight helps a plot , but fast reflexes and good balance on your feet are not needed by a pilot so much as a ski racer.

[Louis]

I've been both a pilot and skier. The advantage of flying over skiing is that it's a lot easier to service or replace a weak landing gear on an airplane.

[saber25]

So just for chuckles, what do you consider old and what metric are you using? Some folks are old at 40 and others seem exuberant all the way to when they slide in sideways and proclaim, "Man what a ride"!