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Is backcountry flying a sport?

My take - depends on what you’re doing. Baseball is a sport, but playing catch with my kid, although a skill in baseball, isn’t a sport. STOL contests clearly are sport oriented.
 
I generally consider a sport an activity in which score is kept and there is no effect on the basics of human existence no matter what the outcome is.

Yes, there is sport fishing, hunting, etc. But in general the fish and game sought will be consumed in order to fuel continued existence. It isn't done for financial gain.

Backcountry flying, off roading, hiking and the like would be considered a hobby.

Perhaps there should be a website called "backcountry flying afficionado dot com."
 
Beats me. There's sports and then there are things sportsmen (or women) do. Are those sports?

I wear a sport jacket for my day job, but not when I'm fishing. It's all very enigmatic.
 
Is cutting firewood “SPORT logging”?
Only if you manage to cut your fingers off. Then you make a quick video showing your fingers flying off into space, and of course include a clip of your bloody bandaged hand afterwards, and toss in a sympathetic girlfriend in the background for click bait. Then post that video on the internet so we all can learn from your experience. Otherwise it's just logging.

Jerry
 
Only if you manage to cut your fingers off. Then you make a quick video showing your fingers flying off into space, and of course include a clip of your bloody bandaged hand afterwards, and toss in a sympathetic girlfriend in the background for click bait. Then post that video on the internet so we all can learn from your experience. Otherwise it's just logging.

Jerry

Seems very specific...Is this a Youtube thing? Is the girlfriend there just to get likes? I wonder who this could be....
 
Wonder what Tom Ford’s take is on reckless “sport logging” posted on YouTube then monetized to the tune of $600-$3000 per month?:p
 
Shoot, I'd run out of fingers if someone is paying 3K a month to loose them.

Speaking from experience they don't grow back might want to think about hair. On second thought maybe we should both just sit back and watch the show.
 
Does flying in sporty conditions change the situation? Landings on those days can definitely feel more ... athletic


Sent from my iPhone using SuperCub.Org
 
“There are only three sports: bullfighting, motor racing, and mountaineering; all the rest are merely games.”

- Ernie Hemingway

maybe flying falls in with motor racing?
 
Well, flying does seem to get kinda sporty occasionally, at least based on a quick review of Youtube....

MTV
 
I read Sport Aviation, and I “Fly for Sport?” I think...lol....I fly for fun...is that Sport? I’m on the fence about some of the You Tube stuff out there. In my 35 yrs of flying we just went and did it....occasionally snapped a few pics...the stories afterward sometimes morphed into barn storming blarney...lol and there was no go pro to prove “how close a shave” it was. Ha ha....I do watch some of the You Tubers though....At first I liked the new 360 cameras people were using....now they annoy me slightly (and I’m not sure why) lol
 
I read Sport Aviation, and I “Fly for Sport?” I think...lol....I fly for fun...is that Sport? I’m on the fence about some of the You Tube stuff out there. In my 35 yrs of flying we just went and did it....occasionally snapped a few pics...the stories afterward sometimes morphed into barn storming blarney...lol and there was no go pro to prove “how close a shave” it was. Ha ha....I do watch some of the You Tubers though....At first I liked the new 360 cameras people were using....now they annoy me slightly (and I’m not sure why) lol
I watch a ton of YouTube aviation stuff... I hate the 360 cameras
 
I think flying is only a sport if you’re a Sport Pilot.
Otherwise it’s mostly Private
 
Well crap, beings I be the one the op was referring to, Let me expound!
I guess in the strictest terms of the definition , Sport might be stretching it to define the activity.
I reference the activity the same way I do when I am speaking of aerobatics. In that community everybody recognizes the competition as a sport and anything to do leading up to that ,IE....Practice, Ground training and coaching as part of the SPORT!!
We all use airplanes to accomplish this sport just like other pilots who just putt around do.
Well, By the same token we all love stol competitions (A Sport) And use the same mindset to describe the activities that pertain to it....IE Backcountry or Bush flying.
Oh wait... Hell, I can’t say back country and bush flying in the same sentence, that will piss off the serious Bush guys in Alaska. A lot of those guys take great umbrage to other pilots describing themselves as bush pilots if they don’t fly in the outback. Oh crap, what have I just done. Oh my, let me clean this up. I know, I know, No backcountry pilot is even near about as serious and good as a real bush pilot is. All they do is just play at what the real pilots do every day. And ascribing them the same skills and capabilities as the real bush pilots cannot be done.
Whew.... hope I fixed That little snafu up.
Getting back to if back country flying is a sport. To return to the aerobatics community, even the serious top level guys don’t begrudge the lower category guys for referring to their efforts to attain to their level as being part of the sport.
Most in that community are secure in their skill level and confidence in self ability that they don’t mind the lower level guys being a part of their unique and skilled club.
Occasionally a very insecure pilot will pop up and take issue with it... when that happens, usually one of the more gracious ,humble and seriously skilled pilots will put them in their place.
These top shelf PILOTS know that any other PILOT that attempts to better themselves and their skills are to be encouraged and not discouraged. They see the arrogant, immature criticizing of the insecure pilots for what it is....INSECURITY ON DISPLAY!!
Well Crap...Now we done drifted to studies in the Humanities. If I continue along that line, I for sure will hurt some of my super cub buddies feelings.... let me stop this post right here!


You might consider subscribing to this guys channel, He uses a ‘Throwaway Mount’ and he is secure enough in his skills, to put them on display for others to learn from...
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3IUtbLBiBeIpTZRuF_QQog
 
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All forms of flying is a SPORT. Unless you are only doing it for a pay check. I have known some in that category but they are in the minority.
 
[FONT=&quot] It’s transportation-just like my truck or boat. It’s just that it’s funner most of the time.[/FONT]
 
There is something to be said I suppose (though I don't know what that would be) for those pilots who risk it all to land on mountain tops, and not because they need a paycheck. Maybe they have too much time on their hands. I use my plane often enough in my crane business to PROBABLY claim it as a business expense, but don't. I prefer to not raise any red flags with the IRS, and like the thought that my flying is mostly just for the hell of it, and is something such a tiny percentage of the gen pub can do. The even more miniscule (YouTube aside) percent of that tiny percent who go off airport a lot is an even more exclusive club. I'd have to call it a sport I guess, a sport for the idle rich. That's what we are you realize, to the unwashed masses, Playboy's, and playgirls. Pretty funny when you think of how we actually view ourselves!
 
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