Hi y'all.
Met up with Jim on the 15th for BBQ as I was working to put Florida in my rear view window. He again urged me to stop by PP, so here I am.
There were a few reasons for my self-imposed exile. Partly, as Jim alluded, I found myself spending too much time on the internet. Almost to the point of addiction, I was checking PP over and over and losing a lot of productivity time.
There was also a current of change flowing through the forums as the company shifted from Wayne to new owners, and as some of the old guard drifted away and new members came forth. Arguments, troll threads, politics seeping into every discussion ... it was becoming tiresome.
In short, I needed the break.
Business had it's ups and downs.
Sold my 911s. I have a BMW in a shop somewhere now.
I miss my 911SC !!
I bought a 1956 Cessna 182 in 2018. It was flying, but rough. I spent a lot of time and money restoring it. The work was rewarding, but there was no cost saving for sure.
Mom died in 2019.
That took a lot to deal with.
In 2020 I saw all the cool kids identifying as new things, so I took the opportunity to fully identify as a helicopter pilot. I took a job flying a UH-1H for a company in south Florida. At the end of the contract, I coasted while waiting on my condo lease to expire. I always though it would be nice to live near the beach with nothing to do, but it sucked. I missed working in my shop.
My business partner and I sold one of our businesses earlier this year, so I was able to bank a little bit of return on that.
Sold my 73 Plymouth Duster a few months ago because after storing it for ~20 years, I finally accepted that I would never do anything with it.
Currently my wife and I are in South Carolina at my fathers house for the holidays.
I have
429 type training scheduled at Bell at the end of January.
What is my next adventure? Probably a mistake, but I have accepted an opportunity to work with a startup aviation company. In Alaska.
I will be helping the owner get the new op running and stabilized, and will also be acting as his Director of Maintenance and as one of the pilots. It's an EMS / SAR operation. I promised him a year of my time. Fingers crossed.
The Huey
My Cessna, and a Schweizer that needs a new home
