It's time to sell the Tripacer.

I've accomplished everything I wanted to accomplish. I have 1200 hours of flight time, 250 hours of it in a twin (comparison: Continental Express hires copilots for their regional jets at about 800 hours, 100 of that in a twin). I've flown into and out of NYC a dozen times, including a few trips down the Hudson (both pre- and post-911). I've flown from Houston to San Francisco . I've been to Oshkosh, Sun and Fun, and Meigs Field (before they tore it down). I flew into Dallas-Fort Worth at peak time. On the other end of the spectrum, I've flown into more little grass strips then I can count, including one ultralight strip in Georgia where I cleared the trees at the end of the runway by less then 5 feet. I've done formation flying. I've flown IFR in a twin, and I've gone scud running in the mountains. I crossed the Rockies in an airplane with 150 horsepower - twice. I've made it through two partial engine failures and one landing gear collapse. I've done aerobatics in a Pitts, and flown United's 737 simulator (nearly crashed it, but that's another story). I've dodged thunderstorms over the Gulf, with no real radio contact and no radar, and I've flown over the water in the Florida Keys at 50 ft at 175 miles an hour. I (mostly) taught one person to fly, and a different person to fly instruments. I flew Angel Flight patients. I towed gliders for years, in aircraft that were sometimes less then airworthy. I'm rated in gliders, singles, and multi-engine aircraft. I have 200 hours of tailwheel time. I've disassembled an engine, changed a cylinder, and helped re-fabric two airplanes. I rebuilt the brake system on the Tripacer on the ramp at Van Nuys in an afternoon.

When I go to the airport now, I don't have a list of things I want to achieve anymore. I see a list of things I've accomplished, and things I have to do, but nothing I want to do anymore. So it's time to move on to something new that I do want to accomplish. It is not a moral failing to lose interest in something.

Gonna hurt like hell to sell her, though.

Tags: flying, introspection
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