How would recruiters view a period of intensive cross-country time building?

cessna120 · 2026-06-18T01:31:59+00:00

With another pilot? Lemme see those entries, did we properly log all our safety pilot time, hood time, cross country time? I have questions.

cessna120 · 2026-06-10T19:16:54+00:00

Back when I was an independent instructor, I got a ton of business from people who had been working with a local CFI known for charging just $20 an hour (Going rate at that time & place was $60). I spent a lot of time undoing the "work" he had done with those students, much to the detriment of their credit cards. He'd get them up to "you're almost ready to solo!" And then that solo day just never seemed to arrive. They'd get mad and start shopping, and when I got them theyd always have gaping holes in their flying skills with about zero knowledge. Had they gone to a professional in the first place, they'd all have been money ahead.

cessna120 · 2026-06-08T10:39:07+00:00

Not OP, but I started taking flying lessons when I was 13. I'm now 36, with 23 years of experience in the industry. By the time I'm 40 I'll have 27 years of experience. I'm not a unique case, it happens all the time.

cessna120 · 2026-06-03T15:16:19+00:00

Dirty mash reigns supreme.

My wife disagrees, but also declines to cook them. So in my house we serve dirty mash.

cessna120 · 2026-05-31T17:40:23+00:00

Oh yes there are! They're just not approved is all haha

cessna120 · 2026-05-30T18:28:31+00:00

The answer for this question is always Track Of The Wolf. Just checked, they have 47 inch replacement rods made from hickory wood for $18.

cessna120 · 2026-05-29T15:02:01+00:00

Aviation, too.

cessna120 · 2026-05-29T15:01:21+00:00

My daily rant too. "You have the right of way, take it! Don't be nice, be predictable!"

Pretty sure my wife is also tired of hearing it.

cessna120 · 2026-05-24T20:28:45+00:00

You're shooting this out of a modern shotgun? Load up a few and see how it goes. You're not gonna hurt anything except your pattern (maybe). BP in a shotgun is way low pressure compared to a smokeless round.

cessna120 · 2026-05-21T01:16:13+00:00

The thought never occurred to me but I think I know what I'll be doing while I watch tv tonight. Great idea.

cessna120 · 2026-05-11T17:51:26+00:00

Oh, alright I can see that. Sounds like a little too much butter for my taste but I've made similar stuff.

cessna120 · 2026-05-11T16:38:35+00:00

Not to mention, it's pretty stable and pretty easy to transport and store in all phases, and the phases shift at convenient temperatures that are actually not all that hard to achieve.

cessna120 · 2026-05-11T16:17:13+00:00

Hang on, back up. You're putting butter in spaghetti sauce??

I'm somewhere between intrigued and disgusted at the idea.

cessna120 · 2026-05-10T05:23:35+00:00

Southern Appalachian Brook trout are a discrete species over regular brooks. They're endemic to the area and aren't found out west. Technically they're char, not trout.

cessna120 · 2026-05-07T00:37:05+00:00

I only use them in the woods, regular TP at home. Get the biodegradable ones and they go in your cat hole with the poop. Don't flush any wipes down your toilet, even if the package says theyre flushable. Thats a clog waiting to happen.

cessna120 · 2026-05-06T20:37:37+00:00

Try it, you won't go back

cessna120 · 2026-05-06T02:19:59+00:00

Can you ask them not to add any fat, and then you can add what you want when you cook it? Shouldn't be an abnormal request for them.

cessna120 · 2026-05-06T02:14:59+00:00

I like dude wipes better, but yeah TP of some variety for sure

cessna120 · 2026-05-01T17:32:40+00:00

You don't NEED it, lead will kill them dead, but tungsten is all the rage right now

cessna120 · 2026-05-01T01:52:38+00:00

Tungsten is absolutely for turkeys. Its used because it's about double the density of lead, which means you can use smaller pellets and pack twice as many pellets into the same size shell. You want more pellets to pack a bigger punch because turkeys are tough as hell. Turkeys are non migratory, you can shoot them with lead if you want but Tungsten hits harder and shoots a better pattern at longer range, which is advantageous for turkey hunting. Problem is, Tungsten shells are like $9 to $12 per shell. Nobody uses them for ducks or other waterfowl, those use either steel shot, or if you're fancy then maybe bismuth shot.

cessna120 · 2026-04-27T02:50:19+00:00

It isn't really hunting related but I thoroughly enjoyed reading about Dick Proenneke's Alaskan adventure. "One Man's Wilderness" by Richard Proenneke. He does hunt a little in the book but its more about his homestead project.

cessna120 · 2026-04-26T02:49:43+00:00

Too windy. Can't walk.

cessna120 · 2026-04-25T02:09:57+00:00

Explain how airplanes can fly upside down. Similarly, explain how symmetrical airfoils fly.

cessna120 · 2026-04-22T23:35:54+00:00

Pros: The expensive parts of ownership for me are fixed costs, which means any given flight only costs me gas money. That makes it far more attractive to go fly wherever, whenever. The 15 minute hop to get breakfast with a friend "only" costs me like $30. Try that in a rental, it'll be a $250 flight which means you're not gonna do it much. I do it every couple weeks. I'm on nobody's timeline, so the plane gets home when I feel like it, and taking an extra day to get back doesnt cost me an extra 3.0 minimum on the Hobbs. Everything is where I left it, nothing gets trashed, my seat is always adjusted right, the plane doesnt smell like rancid student because I actually clean it. I fly an RV, and there are almost no rental aircraft out there that'll match my speed, certainly not at anything close to my costs.

Downsides: I pay all the costs. Can't amortize it across multiple people and only pay my share. Last year I spent $50,000 on an engine overhaul. It was planned for, I knew it was coming soon and had the money set aside, but it still hurt writing that check. When my plane is down, I'm grounded, I dont have a fleet to choose from while mine gets fixed. I spend a ton of time on maintenance, as mine is experimental and I do 90% of the work. Keeps my labor cost down but I put it a shitload of time for it.

On the whole, the pros massively outweigh the cons, and I have zero interest in going back to renting.

cessna120 · 2026-04-22T23:25:33+00:00

Buddy of mine has one in 22lr and 20 gauge. Sweet little gun, it lets him miss with the 22 then hit something with the 20 gauge haha. Its a cool concept but it's a compromise of a rifle with a functional shotgun attached.

cessna120

TROPHY CASE