Any Pilots On Here??

[Old Red]

Okay, so a friend (more of an acquaintance) of mine got his pilots license. He first started with a Cherokee 180 which he still owns. He also bought a Piper 6-300. He put instruments equipment on the 180 and is learning to get is instrument license.

Anyway, none of that matter except in speaking with him it has peaked my interest in getting my pilots license. Single Engine. Other than learning something new, my ultimate goal would be traveling with the wife and kid. For example. This weekend flying from Western KY up to St. Louis to watch the Cats play in the SEC basketball tourney. Of course the weather is going to be bad so that would be Trip #1 I couldn't do. And at this point in my life at age 43 where I am grinding day in and day out at work and vacation time.....the flexibility of a private single engine plane I don't have as much. That same friend went out to the Rodeo in Oklahoma and ended up having to rent a car to get back home, then fly commercially out the next weekend to retrieve his plane.

Anyway, those are just thoughts in my head I dumped out on this post. I would love to fly the wife and kid to the beach next weekend or to the smokey moutains. But maybe this isn't practical...maybe single engine aircraft is mostly just for getting up in the sky and flying around to get a 100 dollar cheeseburger in an airport an hour away or something.

So any pilots on here? What do you do? Please school me on anything you guys and gals know about situations like this. I know everyone on here probably knows at least one pilot.

Thanks! I hope to get some responses here from just regular joes like myself.

 

[Teachu2]

It's an expensive, demanding hobby. If you don't have a passion for flying, it's a poor investment. It requires lots of time and money for training, medical exams, and maintaining your license, and owning a plane is costly as well. If you are thinking of it as a flexible transportation option, it's about as practical as a sailboat.

I hung up my flying career long ago, after earning my license and owning a Cessna 210RG. When I decided to have a family, that put the final nail in my flying career. I'd spent enough time assisting in air searches and had enough lucky days that I decided the risks and costs involved were not compatible with family life.

Now that I'm approaching retirement, I sometimes get the itch to fly again. I run the numbers, look at the time commitment, sleep on it, and the itch goes away. If I were to fly again, it would be an aerobatic hotrod, strictly for fun, two seats in line.

 

[mjarrels]

Off shore power boat racing may be cheaper. Lots of hoops to jump threw to maintain a pilots license.

mark

 

[flingwing1969]

Off shore power boat racing may be cheaper. Lots of hoops to jump threw to maintain a pilots license.

mark

I second the other two comments. I hold a commercial rotorcraft and fixed wing license and was an instrument flight instructor in the army. I have not flown in years, largely because of a loss of interest in driving airplanes in the sky over non-combat zones is really not that entertaining (that passion thing) and also because the regulations are a PITA and the expense of owning a plane is high (you know the old saying about how to make a small fortune don't you, start with a large one and buy an airplane).

If you are looking at getting a license to fly occasionally on trips to watch games, etc. Why not get a license and make friends at a local FBO, get checked out in their birds and rent one when you want to take a trip.

 

[kcflhrc]

Always thought I wanted to do this also, but life got in the way. It cant be cheap, the training, the rental and on and on. Literally thousands of dollars I didn't have then or do I have now.

 

[Teachu2]

Occasional pilots tend to be occasionally bad pilots. Hard to stay at the top of your game unless you play often for several years. Ask JFK, Jr.

 

[plowhog]

You could go to a local airport and likely find a demo ride program for about $50 or less. It's designed to expose you to the many factors of flying, airplanes, and obtaining a pilot's license.

I've owned 5 airplanes-- two Cessna 172's, a Cessna 182RG, Piper Malibu and Beechcraft Baron (twin engine.) I flew the 182RG to the Arctic Circle and back just for fun.

It's a fun hobby and you might like it very much. Renting planes is much cheaper in the long run, but you have to watch out for something. If you take a rented plane on a trip, most rental places will have a "daily minimum" such as 3 hrs/day. So if you fly 3 hours to the beach on Saturday, stay a week, and 3 hours home the billing might be a *lot* more than 6 hours.

Most of my flying was done in connection with business-- traveling to make presentations and meet people and officials. After I retired from that I found I have few places I wanted to fly to, much preferring to take my motor home, etc. Having said that, if I owned a floatplane right now I would probably use it a lot. I am seaplane rated and it is a BLAST!!

There are also lower cost alternatives. If you look at the Sky Arrow (sort of an ultralight,) or light sport aircraft or lots of stuff like that. Cheapest plane I ever bought was $13,000 (1968 Cessna 172) and most expensive was $385,000 (1986 Piper Malibu.) btw I flew the Malibu coast to coast in just nine hours with only one stop for fuel. That's hustling for a single engine airplane.

 

[bunyip]

Let mine go about 20 years ago when eyesight was becoming a problem, had a twin engine unrestricted licence and flew a Piper Navajo.
They started to develop a reputation for falling out of the sky with quite a few crashes in a short space of time so that helped the cause a bit.
As stated it is an expensive pastime with lots of hoops to jump through every year and you get the potential to make a lot of friends who would love a free ride but never offer their services free.
I also have a yacht which is not as expensive but would rate a close second, I also had an ex wife who cost more than the two put together.

 

[RNeumann]

I was fortunate enough to fly private on a regular basis growing up. We used the company plane. One of the owners had his license and would also use the plane. The owner nearly killed himself (more than one occasion) and my dad (one occasion). After that we only used the professional pilot. While it added a bit to the cost we still enjoyed the independence of the plane.
I’m not talking you out of getting your license but getting a basic license is like getting a drivers license that only works on city streets. You are extremely limited and the temptation is to always push the limits with visibility etc. Plus aviation is something that requires constant practice- it’s not something you just hope in and do on a moment’s notice every so often.

 

[HillStreet]

I got my private pilot certificate 22 years ago at age 43. I bought a Cessna 172F 15 years ago.

It is expensive but I am an ordinary working-stiff that happened to be retired. You can justify it by saying that people own horses, play golf and sail boats. Notice that I did not mention jet skis, motorcycles, 4-wheelers and snowmobiles—-because they are cheap.

I will tell you that aviation offers a lot of friendship, fellowship, mentoring, learning, skills improvement. It is a positive environment that you could only wish your kids are able to have.

My airplane brings me almost everywhere I want to go. It isn’t fast but it is comfortable. When I fly I am in awe, every single time. Some things you see are breathtaking, you should fly along the coast to Florida at 3000 feet. I have regularly and routinely traveled from Maine to Florida, SC, NC, WV, OH IL, IN, GA, KY, MD, PA, AL, MI, WI, MN, DE, RI, MA, NH, VT, NY, CT with more to go.

Paperwork is no big deal. You can register your airplane on line for $5. You need a physical regularly from 6 months to 3 years depending on age and medical classification. The airplane needs an annual inspection every year. An annual can really determine your future in aviation—-you may go flying with no “squawks”, or have to take a partner to share costs, or selling the airplane at a potential loss, or just junking it. There are a lot of tough stories out there.

I hope to never give up flying, but I will relinquish my wings when the time comes. I suppose it’s about freedom, independence, thrills, challenge. It is all of those things and many more, it is hard to describe. This is the best thing I’ve done.