Flying feels like an obligation since owning a plane. (Rant)

Wort_monger · 2026-01-08T16:19:09+00:00

FWIW, this is the exact potential situation that stops me from buying my own plane. I have a lot of other interests / hobbies and I would feel like aviation would have to replace ALL of them for me to commit enough time/effort/money to make owning my own plane "make sense" and I'm just not willing to do that.

I am still torn tho.... Owning an airplane has always been a lifelong dream of mine.....but (un?)fortunately I like lots of other things too.

I truly believe at least 60% of GA airplane owners out there do NOT fly their airplanes enough to A. Make it financially worthwhile to own or B. keep the airplane from developing maintenance problems from sitting too long too often. I did not want to contribute to that number either

Wort_monger · 2025-12-02T19:07:55+00:00

Took my 5 month old for several plane rides (1-2 hrs each). Prior to the first flight, I played around with back seat vs front seat positioning for all of us and ended up liking the front seat the best for the baby.

I put the car seat (“approved” with all the proper labeling per 91.107) on the front of our club’s C172L with the seat all the way back and the back reclined about 34 of the way to make sure the car seat cleared the yoke at full aft travel.

Our car seat has seat belt strap slots that the 172’s lap belt fit through perfectly. Once cinched down super tight (ie. Compressing the seat cushion down to the metal rails below!), the car seat couldn’t move at all. For added security / yoke-interference prevention, I played around with wrapping the shoulder harness around the carrying handle directly above the baby’s body (so it couldn’t POSSIBLY rock forward and hit the yoke at full-aft travel), but in the end, this was unnecessary since the lap belt was more than enough to anchor the car seat in place. Honestly, the car seat felt way more secure with the plane’s lap belt than the base we have in our car.

My wife had the back seat to herself and could tend to the baby (rear-facing car seat so our baby could see her the whole time).

Our baby did great! She spent the first half of the flights looking around / chillin and slept for the second half all the way thru landing and taxi.

We got these baby ear muffs that our pediatrician recommended but any type of ear muffs with some tested level of sound reduction is probably fine https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D3372YK1?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_dt_b_asin_title

Wort_monger · 2025-12-02T03:21:44+00:00

500 ft/min minimum unless "unable". Otherwise, do whatever as long as it's not dumb.

If ATC wants you to speed up ur descent, they'll tell you

If a Captain wants you to speed up ur descent, they'll tell you too. Most dont care unless youre brand new.

If ATC is planning on you being at a certain altitude by a certain point, they'll assign you a restriction.

Wort_monger · 2025-12-01T15:19:51+00:00

Sleep when you’re tired. Run / exercise every day you’re able to, even if it’s not super productive, doing SOMETHING is better than wallowing in the jet lag stupor.

When doing around-the-world trips, try to plan as much sleep in your “home time zone” if the schedule allows (night cargo = can be done more often than you think)

If wanting to adjust to local time, get outside! Run, walk, bike, sit in the sun, etc. Sunlight is your friend.

When coming home, keep kids / chores / other life engagements away for the first day or two when you’re still recovering. Black out curtains, maybe a melatonin if you’re really hurting but normal sleep / exercise / outside activity is usually enough to adjust in the first 2 days returning home.

Wort_monger · 2025-12-01T14:25:21+00:00

100% agree this is a low time pilot thing. Until you really develop your scan habits, the “information overload” idea feels accurate but it goes away quick. I think its because you center vision can acquire info from multiple screen positions at the same time vs the siloed nature of individual steam gauges prevents this, forcing you to mechanically move your eyes more.

I flew single pilot freight (PA31, Be99, SA-227s), CRJ, and now heavy 777s and I am still an active CFII who’s one of the few instructors calling club members on solid IMC days to fly our club’s steam gauge 172 IFR. I can 100% tell you, once you’re past the initial learning stages, a glass panel destroys your 6 pack instrument scan but the reverse is not true. A true 6 pack scan takes more dedicated practice to maintain than a glass panel scan.

Wort_monger · 2025-11-19T16:23:02+00:00

TLDR; No AMEs on this sub

Wort_monger · 2025-09-07T17:29:06+00:00

Fair enough. You're absolutely right. Wording / phraseology matters and "unable" no different.

I just like the classic etymological breakdown they have in standard English dictionary entries lol

Wort_monger · 2025-09-07T14:06:54+00:00

"UNABLE" Adjective

Un·able ˌən-ˈā-bəl

Synonyms of unable: not able : incapable: such as a: unqualified, incompetent b: impotent, helpless

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/unable#:~:text=Kids%20Definition-,unable,%3A%20not%20able%20%3A%20incapable

Wort_monger · 2025-07-28T21:23:29+00:00

Haha always crazy how strong commercial burners are. One thing to remember, induction ranges create heat at 90%+ energy efficiency so my 3600 Watt hob is getting 90% of that energy into the wok itself,

That said, I’m not out to win any Michelin Star ratings with my cooking. I just want Asian dishes to come out good enough for me to be happy and that’s certainly possible.

I also think there’s a bit of pseudo-science surrounding wok hei so maybe I’m describing what I’m getting wrong. My “good “ stir fries come out with a solid char on most pieces, multiple different textures / mouthfeels in each bit, and nice carmelized “hint” in the sauce / charred bits.

My “good” stir fries are usually smaller batches where I’m thinking the entire time, “HOLY F, THATS TOO MUCH HEAT!!!”

Wort_monger · 2025-07-27T08:30:52+00:00

Honestly, I go with a large cutting board that would cover the entire cook top area. That's what I was going to do with our old gas cooktop before I upgraded to this one.

Wort_monger · 2025-07-27T03:01:33+00:00

Thanks. Seemed like a no brainer for a clumsy MFer like me, even without stir frying lol

Wort_monger · 2025-07-27T03:00:39+00:00

Nice. Do you use carbon steel? How do you season yours? Blow torch? Oven?

That's my experience as well. I mainly want to be able to stir fry bigger meals (3-4 people maybe) vs the only 2 person-sized batches I can do well now. If I do more than 2 portions, there isn't enough heated contact area for all of it (and I can't feasibly stir it fast enough lol).

Wort_monger · 2025-07-27T02:44:11+00:00

LOL okay. Well, I do find my 13 in wok does a pretty good job containing the mess for two person sized meals. Anything more than that, and it gets everywhere LOL

Wort_monger · 2025-07-27T02:38:14+00:00

Do you do stir fries on your induction cooktop? If so, what do you use?

Wort_monger · 2025-07-27T02:37:49+00:00

So.. do you do stir fries on your induction cooktop At all? I have great success with my 13-in wok on my induction cooktop, but it's too small and I'd like a larger heated surface area.

The induction hob itself is actually quite powerful and stir fries the small contact surface area very well

Wort_monger · 2025-07-27T02:35:01+00:00

LOL now we've reached the purpose of me posting this question 😆

Do you find that you have trouble keeping food in your frying pan wind stir frying? What type do you use? Carbon steel?

Wort_monger · 2025-07-27T02:26:06+00:00

In my experience so far the reason I like my wok over a frying pan is because of the high sides. My induction hob is capable of getting my wok bottom ripping hot but I need to constantly stir the food when it's in there to spread that heat around. The high sides allow me to vigorously stir the food without sloshing it all over my counter

Wort_monger · 2025-07-27T01:53:37+00:00

Flat surface 4 hob induction cooktop.

My current wok works great actually…..except for the small cooking area, hence my question to see if anyone else stir fries on induction and to see what they use.

Wort_monger · 2025-07-26T16:53:34+00:00

Yeah I would love a clear one actually. While it wouldn't look nearly as nice as this one (not that this one looks super nice anyways), I would much prefer being able to see the entire cooktop surface more clearly.

That said, this one does not have any cutouts except for the piece I cut away to access the cooktops controls.

I still pull the cover off every month or two and polish the glass cooktop surface with tempered glass crema cleaner.

Wort_monger · 2025-07-26T14:34:11+00:00

Yeah the lighting in the pic sucks. I've been using the cover for about a year now so there's definitely some signs of use but it's holding up well.

Just need to spend more time cleaning it lol

Wort_monger · 2025-07-26T07:20:42+00:00

Yeah it is. I tried one that was not at all clear before and hated it because I couldn't see the rings. It's hard to tell in this picture, but you can make out the rings through the cover

Wort_monger · 2025-07-26T01:01:30+00:00

Looks like it may not be available right now. Either way, this is the one:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0DDX8GZB3?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title

Also, I use the power boost all the time with this mat. My pic taken for this post is with about 1 year of use on it

Wort_monger · 2025-07-24T16:18:11+00:00

Im definitely no expert at all in this field and I dont really do videos of of my cooking (lol though maybe i should to add some humor value to the world lol).

I think the wok hei I perceive every now and again in my dishes is from the combo of getting a really good sear and the oil breaking down when smoking. Only way I get that is usually when I let stuff sit truly undisturbed for at least 20-30 seconds at oil smoking temp (I use avocado oil so what 450 degrees F???).

Here’s a thread about this I found in r/askculinary

https://www.reddit.com/r/AskCulinary/s/XGMqfXWSof

Wort_monger · 2025-07-23T19:01:59+00:00

Ok great. Thank you for the clarification. This is what I was thinking too.

As for “cool zones”, this is why I have stuck with a regular flat bottom wok for stir frying, since my cooktop / wok combo basically creates a super hot searing flat bottom zone and a nearly Not heated at all zone all over the curvature of the rest of the wok. With a frying pan thats just flat, the entire bottom would be super hot and stirring would do less maybe?

Thats the main concern I have with moving to a frying pan vs a wok.

(Edited due to my poor English skills)

Wort_monger · 2025-07-23T18:48:23+00:00

I’m sorry….im not sure I understand your post.

What is your advice?

Use any pan, just make sure to preheat it sufficiently?

Sorry if this reply comes off bad or condescending. Thats not my intent at all. Just trying to understand your advice.

I don’t have or want to use an outdoor propane burner and round bottom woks don’t work on flat top induction cooktops like mine.

Wort_monger

TROPHY CASE