Hobbies

[Uncle Fester]

Motorcycle riding, like flying, isn't inherently dangerous, but it's very unforgiving of stupidity and overconfidence. You don't need to sell the bike - just be smart about riding. Wear the PPE (if it's too hot for a jacket, it's too hot to ride), be honest with yourself about your abilities, don't push the weather or fatigue.

 

[RobLyman]

I am writing this from the POV of someone who has had one minor and two major injuries post flight school.

The minor injury, a broken wrist, happened midway through a flying course at Ft Rucker. It was my first broken bone, ever. I thought it was maybe a sprain so I finished the five week course and went to the doctor at the end just to "make sure." FYI, boost off sucks with a broken left wrist. I could have and should have been kicked out of the course and sent back home. Lesson: At 45-ish, perhaps mountain biking activities should be tempered at least while attending a professional flight course.

The major injuries, a dislocated ankle and a dislocated shoulder both required surgery and hardware. They also happened as a result of mountain biking. When you ride 1500-2000 miles and 150 hours a year off road, you are going to have some injuries. Lesson: Three to five months of rehab sucks. Three to five months of not being available to do test flights, MTP evals and flight instructing doesn't make your command happy about your activities. Having a lot of quals and being valuable is great. Getting injured and not being available makes your command think about the merits of "putting all their eggs in one basket."

Its your life. You got to do what you got to do. Make sure it isn't forbidden by your command! Take care of your body. If you don't, it will let you know when you get older!

 

[ea6bflyr]

I get that rules are different for winged and non-winged.

That said, a dude dies, a dude loses organs and can't fly, and a dude is down for a year. Each one of those could just as easily happen after winging as prior to, and the end result is the same for all three.

My point, saying you're not going to ride a motorcycle or recommending not riding because of the extremely small potential for getting hurt...I suppose all studs should live on base and walk to the squadron?

This seems apropos:

 

[Swanee]

What is allowed and what is not allowed while completing the pilot training and further on? Are students (with PPL) allowed to rent and fly aircraft on their spare time?

I've also skydived before, can that still be done?

Thanks!

I flew sailplanes all through flight school. I also sailed boats, windsurfed and refereed minor pro hockey.

Some guys told me I was stupid- but there is more to life than flight school, and the same people that like to fly airplanes also like to do other cool stuff. Just be smart about it. Wear the PPE that keeps you alive/uninjured (which may be more than what is legally required) and make sure you think about risk vs reward. For me, a lot of what I did on the weekends was my way to decompress from the stress during the week. It still is. Your only outlet shouldn't be to drink your face off every weekend (though that can be fun too).