Maintaining proficiency in these times

[AndrewM]

Yeh... I ended up going out this morning and flew IFR and did some practice approaches. Everything seemed very normal, just a little less airline traffic than normal around Boston, but about the usual amount of GA traffic.

[NDCDA62]

On Friday, I took my DA62 up into German airspace and it was indeed quiet. Not sure when/if we will all be grounded so will take every opportunity to fly.

Happy Landings !

[Tom-B]

Good thread. For some reason I have not felt comfortable flying with Pennsylvania at the level of lockdown that the Governor is asking for. To some degree I wonder if some on the ground would regard me flying overhead as being as insensitive as a Spring Breaker on the beaches of Florida.

I realize my thoughts on this are not well thought out. And it kills me to not exercise the aircraft and my skills knowing that few things could be more socially distant than flying around the area at 5,500 feet.

[AndrewM]

Tom, I had the same thoughts as you, hence starting the thread to see what the general opinions were.

I think most of us can detect when a controller is a bit grumpy or pissed off with something you have (or have not) done. I got out yesterday and all the controllers seemed perfectly normal and friendly as usual. At one point once I had done a few practice approaches the controller asked if I wanted more and I said no, would return to my field, seemed she was a little dissapointed. There was not a huge amount of traffic, so perhaps they were happy to be doing something... some normality?

Anyhow, I am expecting the Boston area will likely lock down at some point in the near future, so if I can get out again I am going to take the opportunity. Feels good to knock the cobwebs off!

[Tom-B]

Thanks Andrew ... everyone’s thoughts and experiences are great things to consider for the next flyable day.

[jb642DA]

Went flying yesterday; needed some fuel and got a "bonus"!!!

FuelTP1.jpg (17.8 KiB) Viewed 1860 times

[Steve]

Oakland County is a bit far for me to fly to wipe my A$$...

[caseyayers]

I highly recommend getting out there for a spin, if you can. I found it really comforting over the weekend to go flying and hear how *normal* everything sounded, talking to controllers. Plus, 5-10k feet is a healthy amount of distance to put between yourself and anyone else. It's lucky to be able to do something that lets us see a lot of the outside world without potentially harming ourselves or others right now.

[Boatguy]

Tom-B's point shows a lot of sensitivity, but I don't think GA flying is subject to the same criticism as Florida spring break parties.

However, in California they've closed the state parks and beaches due to the high density of visitors seeking to get out of the house; not too dissimilar to the FL situation. We're also under an order to not leave the state for non-essential travel. My interpretation is that subject to social distancing before/after, we can GA fly all we want, just don't land in another state.

[jb642DA]

Oakland County is a bit far for me to fly to wipe my A$$...

Depends how badly you need TP???!!!