How many hours do you fly??

[MikeB]

My Champ is just coming up for the annual so I was adding up the hours flown in it last year......exactly 60 hours. I think that's the most I've ever put on even when I had my Cherokee. It seems like I generally only get 40 hours or so a year, but then our Wisconsin winters are long and cold. Even when you do have skis on, there's not that many good days. Either too cold or too slushy in the spring and easier to stay in the shop and work. When the weather's decent, I try to get up two or three times a week and do some airport hopping. I have about 900 total and 200 TW..that's over 27 years. Next year I'm going to fly more (now if only the price of fuel would go down ).

Am I more or less with hours per year compared to the average person on this forum? (Not counting you corporate types, who have all the fun and get paid for it ).

Mike

[Ron Babos]

Mike: I seem to run around the 60-70 hours a year. Went nuts the second year of flying my Maverick and put on 98. Started fixed wing flying in 97 and have 450 TT with all but 22.2 in tail draggers. It seems really hard to do much more than 65 a year, with like you said with fuel prices, weather and so on. This year was the earliest I started flying. Got 15 in April with nice weather, then it rained forever or the howling winds were coming from the north. We are down to east - west runway only at my club. Have become a good crosswind pilot, but sometimes you have to say no.
Ron

[Mikek]

My Champ is just coming up for the annual so I was adding up the hours flown in it last year......exactly 60 hours.
Mike

I get about 50 /yr in my champ, the most was 105 in 2003.

Mikek

[Jody Wittmeyer]

I feel lucky, I guess. I fly my champ 150-200 hours a year. Slowed down some when I went to day shift. Second shift, I could fly every day (winter included) if the wx was good. On day shift, no flying after work, as it gets dark so early, but have lots of time to fly the calm summer evenings. Used to do @ 40 a year in the Cherokee Challenger too, but only use it for night currency now. Lots more fun to travel in the champ.

[kevin mielke]

I get about 100+ and not nere enuff

[Tim Juhl]

For the first twenty years or so I averaged 200+ hours per year (the record was 462.) That year I flew over 80 hours on just one trip from MI to AK, then WA and back (in a 172). Since then about 100 hours per year is average. I plan to make a concientous effort to increase my annual total somewhat.


Tim

[Nathan K. Hammond]

I get around 150-200 a year, with 80-100 in the Champ.

nkh

[Dusty]

About 200, most in winter in Interior AK.

What exactly is it that keeps you summer people from flying in winter?

[pablo]

total since 1960= 3060 hrs average 66hrs/year

Last Year: 147 hrs total
Champ 88 hrs
Mooney 201 59 hrs

Pablo

[7GC]

Probably average about 75 hours a year. One year I did about 115. Last couple years I've done various upgrades to the plane in the winter, keeping me busy. I do about 15-20 on skis, the rest on wheels.

[Nathan K. Hammond]

What exactly is it that keeps you summer people from flying in winter?

Well, anytime it gets below 45'F I go into hibernation.
Seriously, the weather in the Ohio Valley is usually crummy from November till around March. Low ceillings, low vis, and the temp hangs about 35 with rain 3 out of 7 days. Down right nasty, when use too CAVU. It makes joy riding, not too joyful. Now to an Alaskan, half and a hundred would be a good day.

nkh

[MikeB]

Dusty (and others that may wonder why we don't fly a lot in the winter even if we have skis): I guess it gets to the point where it's more fun to work in the shop, rather than dig the doors open, chip ice, preheat the old beast, then drag the Champ out (usually by myself) just in order to put on a few hours. Also, I put the skis on last winter, flew a few times, our snow went away......so I put the wheels back on and it snowed again...put the skis back on and the snow melted....you get the picture . Probably to someone who lives and flies in the interior of Alaska, the snow and cold is not a problem. By the way, I spent a year in Alaska during the "cold war" (late 1950s) on St. Lawrence Island working on the Dew Line compliments of Uncle Sam. The winds were almost constantly 40-50 kts. and sometimes much higher. We had a Beach 18 (Alaska Airlines) get blown right off the runway when trying to land (big wreck) but our primary aircraft was the C123 which was a little more adaptable to the rough conditions.

Right now, I think it gets to the point where the price of fuel kinds of holds me back from running to the airport and taking a ride just to bore a few holes in the sky. If I have somewhere to go, that's a different story.

[Jon B.]

'57B turned over 100 hours on the tach yesterday. She's been flying since 06 July last year, so eleven months and 5 days to get 100 hours.

I guess I then, have 101.5 in the last 12 months, as I flew another Champ and a PA-12 as well as my own. I didn't fly at all the month before the Champ was finished, so I should make about 110 when 06 July comes around again.

My goal is to put 100 hours a year on the tach. Only about 12 hours were on skis, as winter wasn't favorable this time. As the Vikings fans say - Wait 'til next year!

Jon B.

[jc pacquin]

I fly about 40-45 hours a year. Turbulence will keep me grounded and or high wind. It just doesn't seem like fun to be hitting my head on the overhead or being pushed around by wind in the aeronca....weather here in western n.y. so far has been real crappy and even when nice Im severley limited by a 13 gallon tank. I may sell my 7bcm for a Citabria 150 hp. I just annualed it last week. Runs perfect.

[SFC Hiatt]

Yesterday I logged my 309th hour. 226 in a 7AC and the rest in my current 11AC and all as a sport piot -Chris