It’s just hit me hard that I can’t do this :(

[danny_galaga]

I built my plane for the fun of building it. I’ve put about 50 hours on it, flying a few friends around the local area, enjoying the scenery. But I’ve never done my navs, and I’m now going through the PPE course. And I realise I’m not cut out for the full deal. 30 years ago, yes. I did one nav and did ok, but ran out of money and steam. But now, I can’t absorb anything easily, and I feel it might be dangerous to continue. All the info just swirls around in my head, but I’m not absorbing it. 

 

My skills are very iterative, so for instance I would be good at freeform sculpture. A current project involves making a custom case for a games console. I build it as the ideas come to me, no plan. But I’m looking at this course, and it’s stuff I did have some understanding of years ago, but not enough that it’s like ‘riding a bicycle’. All my flying up until now has been very ‘organic’. Is the local weather good? yes? No? If yes, go for a pootle. If no, probably still go for a pootle and scare myself silly. Luckily I don’t do that all that often, but the few times I’ve done it made me wonder if I have the right kind of sense for this hobby.  

 

So, this is a crossroads. If I give it all in, at least my house repayments will drop with the extra in the offset. And of course all the associated costs means more towards the mortgage repayments.

 

Ponderin’ time.

 

 

Edited August 12 by danny_galaga

[FlyBoy1960]

you don't mention how old you are ?    that has a lot to do with absorption

 

[danny_galaga]

Just now, FlyBoy1960 said:

you don't mention how old you are ?    that has a lot to do with absorption

 

56. I first learnt to fly at about 27. Then left it for several decades. 

[rgmwa]

I don't think your age would be a factor here even if it takes you a bit longer, but it will definitely be harder if you're not sure in the back of your mind that you really want to keep going, particularly if there are other demands on your financial resources. It comes down to whether you want to go the full deal or not, and it sounds as though you have more or less decided that the answer is no because you've achieved pretty much what you set out to do. Building and flying is already more than most people ever achieve so deciding you've done enough is perfectly OK. In the end whether to stop or keep going is something only you can decide. 

 

[kgwilson]

It is different for everyone. I turned 76 in February and my BFR expired in November 24. I had a bad case of Shingles that lasted 4 months, then a lot of wet weather, sold my house & bought another & am full on with renovations. I flew my aircraft in January with an instructor and was very rusty. My navigation skills in the air and general flying ability are fine but thinking about organising a BFR and what I need to demonstrate to an instructor has left me pondering whether i'd manage everything. I haven't flown more than a hundred miles from home since 2020 and am unlikely to go long distance any more so maybe I'll just do the BFR without Navs. I am not sure I will be able to remember everything i need to know about XC flight by dead reckoning. First though I need to go for a couple of flights with an instructor to get my skill levels back.

 

One day i know I will have to give up flying. I still have a few years ahead of me but don't know how many.

 

I read somewhere years ago the quote below.

 

"One day you will walk to your hangar knowing that this is your last flight or one day you will walk to your hangar not knowing that this is your last flight. You will not do both". I fully intend it to be the former.

[clouddancer]

Hi Danny, maybe try doing the nav part of the exercise while the instructor flies the aircraft? That way you embed the processes and use of the map and time intervals without overloading yourself flying the aircraft?

You probably do many of the time over distance tasks in the car without even thinking about it, because driving a car is second nature for most of us.

Practice ETAs, using 100 kph, estimating your time to the next town?

Don’t give up just yet, talk to your instructor and ask them to be innovative.

My advice is also don’t sweat the accuracy of headings too much, over shorter legs you won’t get too far off track. 
You need to develop systems that work for you, so your organic methods work to your advantage.

[facthunter]

Remember you don't have to prove anything and IF you are not perfectly comfortable, it's not Pleasure any more so save your Money.  I know quite a few who just said "What am I doing up here?" and stopped. It's not as if there are not other ways to engage and amuse yourself at Less cost.. Nev

[Moneybox]

2 hours ago, danny_galaga said:

I built my plane for the fun of building it. I’ve put about 50 hours on it, flying a few friends around the local area, enjoying the scenery. But I’ve never done my navs, and I’m now going through the PPE course. And I realise I’m not cut out for the full deal. 30 years ago, yes. I did one nav and did ok, but ran out of money and steam. But now, I can’t absorb anything easily, and I feel it might be dangerous to continue. All the info just swirls around in my head, but I’m not absorbing it. 

 

My skills are very iterative, so for instance I would be good at freeform sculpture. A current project involves making a custom case for a games console. I build it as the ideas come to me, no plan. But I’m looking at this course, and it’s stuff I did have some understanding of years ago, but not enough that it’s like ‘riding a bicycle’. All my flying up until now has been very ‘organic’. Is the local weather good? yes? No? If yes, go for a pootle. If no, probably still go for a pootle and scare myself silly. Luckily I don’t do that all that often, but the few times I’ve done it made me wonder if I have the right kind of sense for this hobby.  

 

So, this is a crossroads. If I give it all in, at least my house repayments will drop with the extra in the offset. And of course all the associated costs means more towards the mortgage repayments.

 

Ponderin’ time.

 

 

My flight instructor recommended I download Chapter 10 of Stewart Maddigan's FLIGHT TRAINING MANUAL. It's just $11.99 from Amazon and worth every cent.

 

https://www.amazon.com.au/FLIGHT-TRAINING-MANUAL-performance-Recreational-ebook/dp/B0BYXQNQLM

 

He gives you the theory and practical exercises for a WA location but you just insert data for your own location. That's all it'll cost you to get started and practise what you're learning.

Edited August 12 by Moneybox

[BurnieM]

Keep going.

Aviation has a lot of skills that you need to know. Really you need to learn all of them in parallel.

Only one problem, nobody learns this way. So you learn one task/skill and then you learn the next and so on.

The other thing is what you take in for each skill depends on what you already know. Having to go over things several times is normal and you take in more info each time.

 

It has always been like this even when you were 15 or 25. The thing is 15 year old us knew this and slogged through.

 

Today you have finished your formal education and learnt a job or two and settled into a more comfortable life.

Yes old bastard you is a little slower to absorb new information but it it has always been a process. 

You just have to start and keep going. The more you learn, the safer you are.

 

Edited August 12 by BurnieM

[Neil_S]

17 hours ago, danny_galaga said:

56. I first learnt to fly at about 27. Then left it for several decades. 

Hi Danny,

 

I learnt to fly at 54 and got my Nav endorsement about a year later. I am now 70+, so you are definitely not too old. As some others have suggested it would seem a good idea to do the Nav stuff a small step at a time. Having an understanding instructor would be a definite advantage - one who would be happy letting you gradually build up your proportion of a cross country flight, including doing the planning, while he/she does the rest. 

If you are like me you would probably have felt a bit overwhelmed the first time you flew a circuit - I certainly was! I remember thinking there was just so much going on I wouldn't ever be able to do it all myself. Looking back now it seems almost laughable - flying a circuit these days is just a regular event, a bit like driving that car today that seemed pretty difficult at 16!

 

Obviously the choice to carry on is up to you, but I think it would be sad to give up something as amazing as flying a plane unless you really have to. 

 

Most people would feel totally overwhelmed at the prospect of building their own plane - but you have done just that! The process of building a plane would probably have been doing a few hours a day, week after week, month after month, maybe learning a new skill here and there, probably getting a bit disheartened a few times, but carrying on and eventually achieving the amazing outcome of having built your own plane! Very few people can say they have done that. 

 

You have plenty of time to make your decision - you're a young bloke compared to most of us on this site 🙂

 

Cheers,

Neil

 

 

[sfGnome]

What Neil said! The older we get (and you ain’t old), the more we need to challenge our brains with new stuff. Those challenges came thick and fast when we were younger, so we didn’t even notice them as anything special. 30 years of absorbing stuff slowly on the job, and suddenly a new challenge looks overwhelming. It isn’t. It just feels that way. 
 

If you do decided that cross-country isn’t for you, make sure that you find a new cerebral challenge. Older you will thank you for it. 

[danny_galaga]

The big problem I'm having is the local school closed several years ago. The CFI was great and anytime you wanted some refresher he was only too happy to oblige. While I now have over 50 hours logged on my own plane, I know I need some refreshers. I barely scraped through my last BFR, at a different school, which was bitter sweet because he basically implied he didn't want to see me again. Knowing that does not make me feel clever. In fact i often wonder if I'm special needs and everything around me is just busy work for me. I mean, does a special needs person know? 

 

So I've got a double problem of finding it hard to study nowadays, AND no local instructor. If I only had one problem or the other I might be ok. 

 

Building and flying my own plane should make me feel pretty clever, but I'm constantly sad about how difficult the nav theory is for me, something pretty much any 16 year old can do. My father did navigation as a fisherman and he left school in equivalent of grade 8. But he was super smart (just not academic) and he had a family to feed.

Edited August 13 by danny_galaga

[BurnieM]

Where are you located in Brisbane ?

I guess you are still working so you need something after work or weekends ?

 

[skippydiesel]

Hi Danny,

 

Is there anyone, who has the Nav endorsement, you can go flying with?

While not an instructor (they would have to be PIC for any actual flying) they could help you through the planning and then the applicating - go on some Navs!

With practise comes confidence - next time you front up to an instructor. you will be a diffrent, way more capable student.😈

 

 

 

Edited August 13 by skippydiesel

[danny_galaga]

57 minutes ago, skippydiesel said:

Hi Danny,

 

Is there anyone, who has the Nav endorsement, you can go flying with?

While not an instructor (they would have to be PIC for any actual flying) they could help you through the planning and then the applicating - go on some Navs!

With practise comes confidence - next time you front up to an instructor. you will be a diffrent, way more capable student.😈

 

 

 

I have broached that subject with a couple of guys at the hangar, and both are happy to oblige. In fact virtually everyone in the hangar I reckon would help. But there's no point in doing a prac if i.have no grip on the theory. I have grown up without the skill of asking for help. 

 

I have now downloaded the course that moneybox pointed to. I'll see if that helps me get going again.

[skippydiesel]

All good Danny,

 

If any one of your hanger mates is willing to sit with you, while you work through a flight plan, you may find that his  lay explanation of various parts of the process, may meet /suit your leaning needs.

 

Of course there is a danger that bad habits or faulty explanations, may be transfeds but this is a small risk to get you back into your comfort zone/confidence.😈

[Garfly]

 

 

24 minutes ago, danny_galaga said:

 ... But there's no point in doing a prac if i.have no grip on the theory ...

 

You sound like you think you're overthinking a bit, that you might be over-sweating "Nav theory" as some kind of bogeyman (Lord knows, we've all been there! ;- ).

But then, if you were to go on some actual nav trips with your hangar-mates, you may be surprised to find (as competent in the air as they may be) that their grip on book-theory is not a whole lot firmer than your own.  After all, they will most likely have been using EFBs to plan and navigate for years, and doing it far more accurately, reliably and safely than they ever did with a magnetic compass (itself, once the new fangled tech of ancient mariners).  Of course, you still have to pass exams in the olden day way (for reasons both good and bad) but even so, I reckon, the actual theory exam often turns out to be not near as tough as one imagined.  To be sure, there are still many real gotchas in recreational flying but few have to do with trigonometry any more.  Weather remains a biggie even as getting lost or busting airspace gets somewhat harder to do. But even with weather, EFBs (both in planning and aloft) can help a lot in avoiding storm and stress.  Hey, it's recreational, it's supposed to fun.

 

 

 

BTW, regarding the debate about old versus new in nav training, there's heaps here in the past pages of this forum.

For example, this thread (almost a decade back some were adamant that it's time to move on  ;- )

 

 

 

[rodgerc]

Hi Danny….You likely haven’t had your “Ah hah!” moment yet….It will happen.
I see you’re Brisbane based so I’m happy to meet up and go through your issues if that’s of interest. 
Unless you’re forgetting where you parked your plane, at 56 you’ve got a couple of decades of flying ahead of you before investigating bowls club memberships. 

Edited August 14 by rodgerc

[BrendAn]

On 13/08/2026 at 10:59 AM, danny_galaga said:

The big problem I'm having is the local school closed several years ago. The CFI was great and anytime you wanted some refresher he was only too happy to oblige. While I now have over 50 hours logged on my own plane, I know I need some refreshers. I barely scraped through my last BFR, at a different school, which was bitter sweet because he basically implied he didn't want to see me again. Knowing that does not make me feel clever. In fact i often wonder if I'm special needs and everything around me is just busy work for me. I mean, does a special needs person know? 

 

So I've got a double problem of finding it hard to study nowadays, AND no local instructor. If I only had one problem or the other I might be ok. 

 

Building and flying my own plane should make me feel pretty clever, but I'm constantly sad about how difficult the nav theory is for me, something pretty much any 16 year old can do. My father did navigation as a fisherman and he left school in equivalent of grade 8. But he was super smart (just not academic) and he had a family to feed.

i think your shortchanging yourself danny. once you get into it i am sure you will be fine. i am yet to tackle xcountry as well.

anyone that can do as good a job as you have on your aircraft is way ahead already.

 

[danny_galaga]

On 12/8/2026 at 6:14 PM, Moneybox said:

My flight instructor recommended I download Chapter 10 of Stewart Maddigan's FLIGHT TRAINING MANUAL. It's just $11.99 from Amazon and worth every cent.

 

https://www.amazon.com.au/FLIGHT-TRAINING-MANUAL-performance-Recreational-ebook/dp/B0BYXQNQLM

 

He gives you the theory and practical exercises for a WA location but you just insert data for your own location. That's all it'll cost you to get started and practise what you're learning.

Ok, I’ve now paid for this twice and can’t read it on my computer for various reasons. How do I pick ip a p1rat3d copy?

 

Stop the press. I somehow made it work. I really fucking hate this century...

Edited Friday at 07:26 AM by danny_galaga

[BrendAn]

14 minutes ago, danny_galaga said:

Ok, I’ve now paid for this twice and can’t read it on my computer for various reasons. How do I pick ip a p1rat3d copy?

 

Stop the press. I somehow made it work. I really fucking hate this century...

😭

[Moneybox]

4 hours ago, danny_galaga said:

Ok, I’ve now paid for this twice and can’t read it on my computer for various reasons. How do I pick ip a p1rat3d copy?

 

Stop the press. I somehow made it work. I really fucking hate this century...

danny, it's meant to be read on a Kindle app. You can download it to your tablet or phone.

Edited Friday at 12:07 PM by Moneybox

[danny_galaga]

17 minutes ago, Moneybox said:

danny, it's meant to be read on a Kindle app. You can download it to your tablet or phone.

Was trying to read on the web browser version. I was having all sorts of concurrent problems. For instance I have a Mac mini. For some reason the Apple store is linked to my mums phone number 😄. Anyway. I am.able to read it through the web version now, despite Amazon shenanigans. So now I'm back to feeling overwhelmed by flight plans and weather reports. I'm not dyslexic but I swear that I understand what they go through when looking at this stuff...