What kind of flying impresses you as a pilot?

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Th3Man0nTh3M00n@reddit

Billboard wranglers rounding up their prey. I always think about small of a margin there is to stall.

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Rich-Quote6243@reddit

The guys who see "drag required" pop up and ignore it because you know the plane will make it without grabbing a fist full of speed brake - because the 737 is a piece of shit.

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SP_Aman@reddit

Flying without posting everything on social media

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Druken_sincerity@reddit

Like that sad story about that girl on Instagram, she would post everything, and then she crashed twice, second time was fetal.

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West-Organization450@reddit

I went fetal one time in a thunderstorm…it worked

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West-Organization450@reddit

I know what ya mean…my reply actually went feral but I caught it by chance

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Hakarrod@reddit

You can go fetal, hell, you can go feral. Just don't go fecal in a plane.

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Druken_sincerity@reddit

All good, it's the like the old days of reddit

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cephalopod11@reddit

But how else will we hear about how passing your instrument checkride taught you about supply chain management?

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coldnebo@reddit

“find out what flight training taught me about B2B sales.” 😂

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Pfff. For IFR, I ain't impressed til I hear about how you leveraged integrated class-leading disruptive blockchains to accelerate delivery of enhanced revenue-supporting synergies enable expediting your migration.

To the cloud.

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RaidenMonster@reddit

Standard.

Easier said than done.

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CuriousDude493@reddit

Nobody knows how to fly standards anymore, only automatics.

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BigBadPanda@reddit

Be predictable.

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BagOfMoneyNoChange@reddit

"OK I'm totally by the book. Close your eyes. Anything you see is yours. Now open your eyes. Anything you see is mine. First non-alcoholic beverage is on me.

... Preflight checklist."

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stevie-ray-voughn@reddit

TFAYD

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TemporaryAmbassador1@reddit

You have been visited by the Permit Crab 🦀

You may deviate from one SOP today.

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LymePilot@reddit

Winner, close thread.

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MenRest@reddit

SOP

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NubDestroyer@reddit

The more I think about hand flying actual IFR the more batshit crazy it actually seems. There really isn't anything that a normal person can comprehend that compares to it. I always try to think of ways to explain to people what it's like doing but I've never come up with a good one

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Flyingredditburner44@reddit

The first day after my IR checkride I did my first approach to minimums solo and I was shitting my pants halfway through it.

The normal analogy would be like driving on the interstate during rush hour at 100mph with your eyes closed and only your passenger making callouts for you.

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Ancient-Dust3077@reddit

is IR flying that hard?

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unable_compliance@reddit

I was the same and ended up going missed on mine. Not due to the cloud, it was just messy so I bailed out.

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Lanky-Rabbit8694@reddit

Lock your self in the closet stare at a computer screen saver while there’s a vaccum cleaner running right next to you.

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Canadian47@reddit

I fly what is within my budget and have 900 hours in an older Mooney without an auto-pilot. Lots of it IFR, some of it hard IFR. You sleep really well after 3.5 hours in solid IMC.

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shansta7000@reddit

Now imagine doing it in formation 3 feet from another aircraft.

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Dirty_Power@reddit

And here I’ve taken to enjoying single pilot no AP IFR, but I’ve been call batshit crazy before

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NubDestroyer@reddit

Hey I definitely didn't say it's not fun!

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zkoolie@reddit

Like playing a 4D video game?

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NubDestroyer@reddit

I don't even know I guess it's like driving a boat that you can't see out of going 100mph, you can't slow down and you have to try and navigate it to the marina using only a line that tells you if you're too far left or right and how far away it is

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hehesf17969@reddit

Crop dusting

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GoobScoob@reddit

Well I can tell you that even when I’m cruising out at 45k I still look at the moon and think “dam wish my plane could go there”

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weech@reddit

I feel the same way in my shitbox 150 at 1750’ (was told to maintain 1500).

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Street-Committee-367@reddit

To quote Han Solo, "she ain't much kid but she's got it where it counts."

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NordSteveMN@reddit

Boring flying is impressive.

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Brotein40@reddit

I have never truly gotten comfortable with NVG terrain flying. With that said, my worst day is probably better than 160th’s easiest day

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JustAnotherDude1990@reddit

Back when I crewed with them, I remember doing about a three hour night time terrain flight at 100ft popping up over power lines and antennas in people’s backyards stateside. They were good enough I didn’t really worry.

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harambe_did911@reddit

The shit they do in urban areas at night is crazy to me. They were ripping through downtown San Diego at like 30 feet like a year or two ago. 60s just doing a casual one wheel to a balcony here and there.

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I-r0ck@reddit

Gotta be the crop dusters for me. Flying low and slow all day everyday, never making a mistake. Dodging obstacles and power lines, it’s hard dangerous work

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Imperial_Citizen_00@reddit

Aerial Fire Fighting

It’s the dream that I’ll never achieve, lol

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lovelyfeyd@reddit

Tight formation. I work for a formation flight team and am so used to it that I often forget how much work it is. There is no room to fuck up.

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walleyednj@reddit

Safe flying. You know, the shit that puts you, your passengers and your plane back on the ground in one piece.

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External-Creme-6226@reddit

I gotta hand it to the Agriculture Spray guys…crop dusters. They do some crazy stuff that would make me pucker up right

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TuwtlesF1@reddit

The kind where they don't say "with you" when they check in on the radio.

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Curly1109@reddit

Proper ICAO phraseology, none of this auctioneer nonsense

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Apprehensive_Cost937@reddit

“Emergency aircraft”

Surely there’s no standardised way to declare an emergency?

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Curly1109@reddit

ICAO annex 10, volume 2, Chapter 5.3, Distress and urgency radio procedures

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BagOfMoneyNoChange@reddit

Yeah I don't need to read any ICAO rules to declare an emergency lol

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Apprehensive_Cost937@reddit

Aircraft: “Mayday, mayday, mayday” ATC: “Confirm you are declaring an emergency?”

Yeah, who needs to know ICAO standards, waste of everyone’s time. Even if it takes you 1 minute and 53 seconds to declare an emergency, it’s still much better than using pan/mayday.

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x4457@reddit

Are you German, perchance?

Do you have incredibly good overhead reflexes?

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Rustyshackilford@reddit

Forreal, whats with everyone mumbling. For the sake of ATC and your own safety. Enunciate clearly your intentions.

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coldnebo@reddit

my cfi can pronounce an entire readback in one syllable. 😅

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BagOfMoneyNoChange@reddit

Flair checks out.

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roadsterbob@reddit

Formation aerobatics has to be the most impressive skill. 5 minutes of tight formation will render you soaking wet with sweat. Formation aerobatics is a whole new level of intensity!

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R5Jockey@reddit

IYKYK.

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p1dfw@reddit

Predictable.

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Hodgetwins32@reddit

Genuinely any guys flying high performance piston twins for a living. Meaning regularly.

I feel very safe in the jets I fly, if you do things right, you’ll get home bar a literal catastrophe.

But twin pistons, when operating at the ragged edge of their performance, and flying to limits of the rules being it airframe or FARs, it can be dangerous when things go even slightly wrong. As professional pilots we don’t always have the luxury of setting persona minimums, the job dictates we perform to the extent of established rules, what’s explicitly safest, isn’t always excluded by the rules. I digress.

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Canadian47@reddit

I have about 500 hours in a Aerostar 601P, pressurized but without the upgraded engines. Agree 100%.

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zkoolie@reddit

Wouldn’t a low performance piston twin be more dangerous? They always say that the second engine is just there to fly you to the scene of an accident

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Professional_Low_646@reddit

Both have their issues. Low performance twins struggle after an engine failure because they lack power. High performance twins - turboprops too - struggle because the remaining engine is so powerful that the asymmetric thrust will get you in trouble really, really quickly.

With piston engines, there‘s also the fact that the higher performance puts a lot more stress on the materials used, and the engines often have additions like turbochargers that can break.

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aftcg@reddit

Can they use the rudder correctly? And, standard.

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NonVideBunt@reddit

The boring, uneventful kind of flying… I wouldn’t have said that 20 years ago … but yeah now that’s what I hope for.

The best type of pilot? One that’s standard, predictable, follows SOP, displays good headwork and judgement.

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Quiet-Lab1802@reddit

I’m partial to the kind that doesn’t kill me, personally.

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B_O_A_H@reddit

Aerobatics, I’d love to try doing rolls and basic stuff like that, but Skip Stewart ia crazy, cutting ribbons with the tail surfaces. It’s an incredible show but I don’t want to try anything that extreme.

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Ok_Twist_1687@reddit

By the book (FARs). By the numbers( within the pilot’s and the aircraft’s capabilities). Safe flying.

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Kemerd@reddit

Aerobatics. It’s tough flying with deadly consequences, and you are fighting your body every step of the way. Consequently, this includes military flying!

I’d put fire fighting and rescue flying right after that, very dangerous stuff.

And finally, I am impressed moreso when people maintain their planes! All the skill in the world means little if MX isn’t done right.

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JBR1961@reddit

Wise flying

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thattogoguy@reddit

The one that briefs well, has contingencies, doesn't try to impress, and avoids risks/distractions.

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Druken_sincerity@reddit

I actually enjoy those fire fighting tankers. Crazy shit

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Small_Chicken1085@reddit

Yea. Watching them drop their load. I’m thinking how do you calculate your maneuvering speed without rippin them wangs off?

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hdecece@reddit

The trick is to calculate Va before you fly rather than during.

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Druken_sincerity@reddit

I like a flight plan with some hair on its chest

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Druken_sincerity@reddit

Giggity

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Mrs_Fagina@reddit

The kind that gets me paid and doesn’t make me have to submit paperwork.

Also, the kind that doesn’t cowboy it to an outstation. I don’t care how long you can hold 250knots if it means we end up going around.

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Ornery-Ad-2248@reddit

Just a guy who knows SOP is chill, keeps me out of trouble

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lnxguy@reddit

I've been a bush pilot and a combat helicopter pilot, so I'd like to do some super fast high altitude stuff. Set a record for New York to San Francisco in a two place airplane.

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thewesley69@reddit

STOL competitors, I love watching National STOL

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highspeedpolar@reddit

Bush flying in West Papua / Night Carrier operations (Standard and STOVL operations for those who know…)

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m4a785m@reddit

Non ego flying. I don’t care or want to see you hand fly an approach in IMC at night in moderate turbulence please, I just want to go to the fucking hotel

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Raccoon_Ratatouille@reddit

Anything that gets me more pay, more days off and a better schedule

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space_rhinos@reddit

4th divorce captain vibes

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happierinverted@reddit

Oh what a good question :)

As an old instructor a really smooth flight is impressive; coordinated throughout, minimum radio use, glide-slope and speeds nailed without noticing pitch or power changes. A landing in the zone, at the speed, aligned throughout and efficient smooth breaking.

No flashy manoeuvres required, just butter all the way round.

As far as aerobatics? A perfectly coordinated aileron roll at 1G in a low powered aircraft is a thing of pure beauty to watch or fly. It should be the Great White Buffalo for every pilot imho :)

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NecessaryOk979@reddit

Landing a tail wheel airplane in a 25 knot or better crosswind.

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pachekini11@reddit

I always thought skydive pilots are some cool folks.

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exbex@reddit

Energy management. I don’t get why guys put the flaps out on a 20 mile final and then add power. Deck angle isn’t an issue, we’re still above 200kts.

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Top-BrilliantOps@reddit

Safe flying

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SubsidedRhyme11@reddit

Sitting in base, not being used on Reserve.

Now that I can cheers to

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grumpyoldman10@reddit

Cessna 195

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Small_Chicken1085@reddit

Tree, Fo-wer, and fife on the radio.

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Small_Chicken1085@reddit

Good super short/low approach in an old taildragger always impressed me.

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otterbarks@reddit

Using good ADM.

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SRM_Thornfoot@reddit

Some of the very nimble FPV drone flying videos I have seen blow my mind.

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elimanzz@reddit

Using my third leg to apply more right rudder

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554TangoAlpha@reddit

Getting a 2x pay trip is impressive

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rFlyingTower@reddit

This is a copy of the original post body for posterity:

These days we hear about and can easily watch every kind of flying but as pilots what impresses you that you wish you could have a go at (or maybe is a step too far for you or just not for you)?

For example is it low level fire fighting planes, fighter jets landing on carriers at night, being part of a 18+ hour ultra long flight nearly halfway round the world, the red bull air races, single seat bush pilot flying in remote Alaska, being on an Artemis mission etc?

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