Average age of pilots on the forum

[AVLJMA]

I'm not sure if the forum staff has the ability to run averages but it would be interesting to know the average age of pilots on this forum. I see a lot of guys my age (60s) and above.
I take comfort in knowing that 10 years from now I will still be flying. I think engaging in a hobby that requires skills on several levels keeps us young.

 

[vindibona1]

I'm not sure if the forum staff has the ability to run averages but it would be interesting to know the average age of pilots on this forum. I see a lot of guys my age (60s) and above.
I take comfort in knowing that 10 years from now I will still be flying. I think engaging in a hobby that requires skills on several levels keeps us young.

You can always set up a poll to figure out the age average.

 

[old man mavic]

i think the age demographic is largely based on how much time semi retired ,and retired members have to do their flying ,and also spend time editing their videos ,and also that reflects on the amount of time they have to spend on the forum itself
this hobby does take up a lot of time and when people are younger they have family and work commitments, that lesson considerably once they retire
of course that does not mean that we dont have grandkids and younger family members to assist ,but overall we are better placed to be able to give the time to this hobby that it requires,and not forgetting one more thing, we do tend if we are lucky ,to have more spare resources available, to afford the ever rising costs that this hobby involves

 

[Desert Drone Works]

I'm blessed enough to be in a position at a relatively young age to be able to enjoy this hobby. I do find that I'm usually one of the younger folks, even in my mid 30s (I look probably mid 40s being a little overweight and lots of gray though, ha!). Regardless, almost everyone I have met has been great irrespective of age.

 

[Maviac]

I think there was a poll like this here a year or two ago. But for what it’s worth: 43.

 

[AVLJMA]

i think the age demographic is largely based on how much time semi retired ,and retired members have to do their flying ,and also spend time editing their videos ,and also that reflects on the amount of time they have to spend on the forum itself
this hobby does take up a lot of time and when people are younger they have family and work commitments, that lesson considerably once they retire
of course that does not mean that we dont have grandkids and younger family members to assist ,but overall we are better placed to be able to give the time to this hobby that it requires,and not forgetting one more thing, we do tend if we are lucky ,to have more spare resources available, to afford the ever rising costs that this hobby involves

That all makes perfect sense. The grandkids love the drones. It makes me wonder what unknown gadget will be their hobby 50 years from now.

 

[Deleted member 77603]

55. Waiting for AARP drone insurance

 

[Sparc343]

42; the Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe and Everything.

 

[VenomXts]

I'm blessed enough to be in a position at a relatively young age to be able to enjoy this hobby. I do find that I'm usually one of the younger folks, even in my mid 30s (I like probably mid 40s being a little overweight and lots of gray though, ha!). Regardless, almost everyone I have met has been great irrespective of age.

Same, I am blessed as well being relatively "young" at 38 for this side of the hobby (im pretty old on my FPV side) lol.

 

[lensimages]

i think the age demographic is largely based on how much time semi retired ,and retired members have to do their flying ,and also spend time editing their videos ,and also that reflects on the amount of time they have to spend on the forum itself
this hobby does take up a lot of time and when people are younger they have family and work commitments, that lesson considerably once they retire
of course that does not mean that we dont have grandkids and younger family members to assist ,but overall we are better placed to be able to give the time to this hobby that it requires,and not forgetting one more thing, we do tend if we are lucky ,to have more spare resources available, to afford the ever rising costs that this hobby involves

Agree with OMN,I when working did not have the time for hobbies, drones were not invented when I was younger, but having prepared for retirement early in my career I can now enjoy my free time doing what I want, motorcycling and Drone flying. Am a retired Pro Photographer and find the images from my drones to be amazing. When I think back to the time when 36 images on a roll of film was quite expensive now I can take hundreds. Sat at my computer is also far easier than spending hours in my darkroom. Sending images to clients at the click of a button is in my eyes amazing. If I was granted a wish a would wish that digital photography was invented when I was a lot younger and the images I could have captured with a drone , again amazing, I have been up in Cherry Pickers, dropped my Nikon F5 from one, clients put me up onto scaffolding platforms, gosh if only I had my Inspire then, memories of the days of wet photography are wonderful but the ease of digital is brilliant, cheers Len

 

[TTP]

Next month I will be 85.

I use my drones to get out for a regular walk every day, so nowadays all my costs for drones have to be charged to my health account.

Now I am so lucky that I have good nearby areas to fly in, and we have not been prevented from moving around during the CV-19 Pandemic.

 

[JoelP]

Fortunately for me at 73 I am in reasonably good health. It allowed me to climb down a steep incline to retrieve my drone after it had a battery failure and landed prematurely in a National Forest zone in Idaho. Perhaps in another 10 years I might have written it off as a loss and not tried a retrieval. In general it is not a physically demanding hobby, but it is time consuming to travel to remote locations and to do the work required for postprocessing.

 

[PhotoDB]

Got my FAA license when I first started flying at age 72 - now I'm 74 and have added aerial photos to my commercial real estate portfolio. @JoelP - I did have to get my son to rappel off a cliff to retrieve one of my drones.

 

[lilewis]

I'm 80 and flying a M2P, but because of my aging eyes my VLOS is not good, so for the most part when I find a site I think might be interesting, or if a friend wants a photo of his property from above, I just go straight up, take a few 360 panos starting at 400 ft, then another pano every 100' down. I then pick the one I like best to save, and discard the others.

And sometimes when a storm is 10+ miles away I try to get above the tree line to film it on the horizon, then come home and grab screenshots of the good frames.

Occasionally when in wide open spaces will travel a bit and take some video but again, VLOS line of sight is always my limit because in addition to the regulations, I know my own weakness/limitations.

 

[theDRONEranger]

I’m approximately 344 years old. I give mine as dog years since many people in the past have referred to me as an SOB! (Retired military 24 + retired corrections 20 + now simply retired and hanging on by milking the system.)

Year 1 = 15
Year 2 = 9
Year >3 = 5

 

[SladeSteele07]

Age now or when we started?

 

[hychewright]

I'm not sure if the forum staff has the ability to run averages but it would be interesting to know the average age of pilots on this forum. I see a lot of guys my age (60s) and above.
I take comfort in knowing that 10 years from now I will still be flying. I think engaging in a hobby that requires skills on several levels keeps us young.

You know AVLJMA, I've wondered the same thing many times. I'm glad you posted this for us older pilots. I'm 72 and really love this hobby. I started building and flying RC airplanes many years ago as a young man. Then, got married to my lovely wife of 35 years and started a family so the hobby was put aside for 50 years or so. Now my children all grown and I have 12 grandchildren . Started the hobby again couple of years ago flying wings that I bought that was PNP. My health is good for a 72 year old. About 6 months ago I got interested in drones so I purchased a DJI FPV drone flying combo. Really love the digital HD DJI V2 goggles. They are so immersive, just like sitting in the cockpit. Since I like to build also I thought that I would give building my own drone (didn't realize there's so much to learn) a try. I purchased the XILO beginners drone bundle (with the Caddx air unit) by Joshua Bardwell. I got his youtube video on the step by step build of this drone. I have the frame put together and the motors on so far but before I start all the soldering part I'm getting a practice board to practice my soldering skills before I ruin a FC or ESC. I'm having to go slow at this because I'm not as sharp as I was in my 20's building airplanes. (lol) My goal is to build this drone and do cinematic flying. Yes, I agree with you 100% AVLJMA, at our age it helps keeps us young I think and helps exercise our brain! Happy and Safe Flying!

 

[AVLJMA]

Age now or when we started?

Both

 

[Dale D]

I'm not sure if the forum staff has the ability to run averages but it would be interesting to know the average age of pilots on this forum. I see a lot of guys my age (60s) and above.
I take comfort in knowing that 10 years from now I will still be flying. I think engaging in a hobby that requires skills on several levels keeps us young.

Proud to say I am 83, and into photography since age 8 years old. I've been through every phase, including my own dark room, enlarger, trays, etc. Started with pre-Nikon cameras,, then first Nikon, the Nikon F, and stayed on the Gear Acquisition Syndrome (GAS) pathways for years, but stopped at Nikon D750. Got into timelapse at age 75 and into drones age 78. Then video editing. I've been to over 100 countries, and to African safaris 13 times. Never had more fun than when I am flying the drone. So far, have resisted the mirrorless systems.

Dale
Miami

 

[AVLJMA]

You know AVLJMA, I've wondered the same thing many times. I'm glad you posted this for us older pilots. I'm 72 and really love this hobby. I started building and flying RC airplanes many years ago as a young man. Then, got married to my lovely wife of 35 years and started a family so the hobby was put aside for 50 years or so. Now my children all grown and I have 12 grandchildren . Started the hobby again couple of years ago flying wings that I bought that was PNP. My health is good for a 72 year old. About 6 months ago I got interested in drones so I purchased a DJI FPV drone flying combo. Really love the digital HD DJI V2 goggles. They are so immersive, just like sitting in the cockpit. Since I like to build also I thought that I would give building my own drone (didn't realize there's so much to learn) a try. I purchased the XILO beginners drone bundle (with the Caddx air unit) by Joshua Bardwell. I got his youtube video on the step by step build of this drone. I have the frame put together and the motors on so far but before I start all the soldering part I'm getting a practice board to practice my soldering skills before I ruin a FC or ESC. I'm having to go slow at this because I'm not as sharp as I was in my 20's building airplanes. (lol) My goal is to build this drone and do cinematic flying. Yes, I agree with you 100% AVLJMA, at our age it helps keeps us young I think and helps exercise our brain! Happy and Safe Flying!

I really enjoy the life stories attached to some of the answers. It's amazing that you came back to the same hobby type from 50 years ago. You must be adventurous because you skipped over the Mini 2, both Air models and went right for the FPV. Good luck with the drone building. I hope you post the finished product.
And 12 grandchildren? Christmas Day must be a sight to see. lol
Happy flying