Aviation for Women is the flagship member publication of Women in Aviation International. Articles feature women who have made aviation history, professional development ideas, and current-topic articles.
Issue link: https://afwdigital.epubxp.com/i/715635
S E P T E M B E R / O C T O B E R 2 0 1 6 Aviation forWomen 35 O ne time, not long ago, all you could do was think about flying. If you weren't at the airport, you were talking about it. You had plans to add another rat- ing, do a long cross country to visit friends, or make the annual pilgrimage to EAA AirVenture Oshkosh. But then, something happened. Time, money, life—something—got in the way and you fell out of aviation. Soon, a week, a month, a year, or more had passed since you last took the controls, and now you're not sure how to find your way back. Don't worry—you're not alone. In 2013, AOPA fou nd t hat as ma ny as 500,000 pilots under the age of 75 had earned their private pilot certificate and subsequent- ly stopped flying. Even though they are not currently f ly ing, they still i d e n t i f y t h e m - selves as pilots, and 87 percent want to return to flying, says Katie Pribyl, WAI 55625, senior vice president of communications at AOPA. Tom Kelly, an attorney from West Hampton, New Jer- sey, was one of those lapsed pilots. He took his private pilot checkride in 2005, but stopped flying shortly af- ter relocating for a job change. "I'd still talk about flying like I was going up every day," Tom says. Like Tom, many rusty pilots would love to get back in the air, but they have lost their connection to flying. "If they've been out for a long time, they don't know how to get back in," Katie says. Finding Your Way Back Many lapsed pilots think they need to get an FAA check- ride, Katie says, but this is not the case. For most pilots, all that is needed to return to flying is a current med- ical and a flight review. The flight review, as outlined in FAR section 61.56, requires a minimum of one hour of ground instruction and one hour of flight instruction, and a logbook endorsement from an authorized instruc- tor certifying satisfactory completion of the review. These are the minimum legal requirements; the actu- al amount of training required, and specific material to be covered, to become safe and proficient again depend on the individual pilot. As a rule of thumb, the FAA es- timates approximately one hour of ground and one hour of flight training will be needed for each year the pilot has been out of flying. Keeping up with changes is an integral part of being a pilot, both in the cockpit and on the ground. How long you've been out of aviation will determine what you'll need to work on. Pilots who haven't flown since the ear- ly 1990s will need to familiarize themselves with the major changes in airspace designations. After 9/11, new security measures were implemented, from new plastic certificates and a requirement for pilots to carry photo IDs to the much-expanded use of temporary flight re- strictions (TFRs). Even ATC is speaking a new language. by Cassie Peterson "If they've been out for a long time, they don't know how to get back in." 9 Steps to Startup Checklist ✔ Identify your flying goals ✔ Organize your time and finances ✔ Find an AME and get your medical ✔ Check out the FAA and AOPA websites for flight review guidelines and resources ✔ Take the FAA Flight Review Preparation Course or sign up for a Rusty Pilots seminar ✔ Find a good CFI and schedule your first flight ✔ Complete your flight review ✔ Make a plan to maintain proficiency ✔ Do it now! COURTESY OF SHERRY PARSHLEY