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Post by AlanC on Oct 31, 2006 11:03:37 GMT -5
I am always late for everything. The latest being my mid-life crisis. I already married a young thing (25 years ago) so I'm mulling a small plane. My company and another firm are working the Coprs of Engineers. They for a long time and me trying to break in. The COE has districts in NO, Vicksburg, Memphis, Jacksonville, Mobile, etc. I might be able to write some of the expense off. I also have a hunting buddy that is an airplane mechanic who would be able to screen any potential used plane that I might look at. So....any of you guys fly? Or used to fly? I'm thinking something like a Cessna 172 or thereabouts. We have a brand new local airport but I don't know about stuff like insurance, hanger rates, etc. Hidden costs that a neophyte like moi would not expect. Usually, though, I look at somthing closely, realize that I could do it, then say "nah! too much trouble".
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Post by Doug on Oct 31, 2006 11:09:24 GMT -5
I have a license but I can't pass the physical any more.
Lots of hidden cost. Having a friend that is an A&P mechanic will help with some of those. Even when I was flying 10 yrs ago, regulations were attacking small planes bad, and now with the terrorist stuff I'm sure it's worse.
Get license and rent for a while.
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Post by Cribbs on Oct 31, 2006 11:29:36 GMT -5
Alan, I would say you first priority is to get the license and get some hours under your belt. Then I'll see about riding around the stratosphere with you singing Rocketman.
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Post by roylundelius on Oct 31, 2006 11:30:05 GMT -5
Hope you have big bucks man. Just the cost of fuel, makes a boat look like small potatoes cost wise. And the FAA inspections, licensing to many headaches.
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Post by lakeside on Oct 31, 2006 11:33:32 GMT -5
I have a pilots license for a small fixed prop, but it is not current and hasn't been for about 5 years. Just got out of it for a variety of reasons- but, mainly because I had nowhere to go fly to that could justify the cost of my ongoing training.
I agree with Doug, though, get your license first, then rent. Flying a small plane with VFR (visually as opposed to instrument only) is pretty cheap to do and alot of fun. Renting turns it into a fixed cost hobby, too. You know it will cost $100/hr or whatnot. Flying bigger, faster planes is where it starts getting expensive. But, nevertheless, I plan on getting back into it more one day once the kids are grown and gone. Then I'll have somewhere to fly to! Good luck.
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Post by Supertramp78 on Oct 31, 2006 11:34:07 GMT -5
Remember that joke about the ttwo happiest days in the life of a boat owner? The day he buys his boat and the day he sells it?
Same goes for planes.
Good friend of mine in the video business was a pilot. He purchased a small plane and then spent the next four years trying to get rid of it. He eventually became a commercial pilot in the New York state area but he doesn't own a plane anymore.
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Post by billhammond on Oct 31, 2006 11:36:48 GMT -5
"I have a pilots license for a small fixed prop, but it is not current and hasn't been for about 5 years."
Jeff, I HOPE the prop is fixed! I hate it when they come off!
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Post by lakeside on Oct 31, 2006 11:41:21 GMT -5
Bill, props for the larger planes have props that 'turn'. The individual props rotate as they turn. I don't recall the terminology for it. The 172 is a "fixed" prop. It doesn't turn. Just fyi. geez, editors.  |
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Post by billhammond on Oct 31, 2006 11:42:39 GMT -5
Bill, props for the larger planes have props that 'turn'. I don't recall the terminology for it. The 172 is a "fixed" prop. It doesn't turn. Just fyi. geez, editors. You mean pitch props? I thought you meant to say "fixed-wing" as opposed to chopper, is all. No slight intended, just trying to make a little word joke. |
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Post by t-bob on Oct 31, 2006 11:44:17 GMT -5
Not since I stopped taking LSD...
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Post by lakeside on Oct 31, 2006 11:44:52 GMT -5
You are probably right, its been awhile since I've thought about it or even discussed it.
Yes, Pitch Props! Thanks. No slight taken.
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Post by AlanC on Oct 31, 2006 11:44:57 GMT -5
You are helping immensely. Another thought is my number one daughter and her fiance/boyfriend are probably going to move to Jacksonville after they graduate from college in Dec. I dunno yet. My hunting buddy mechanic has looked around. I think he is a top notch mechanic who has worked in three or four middle eastern countries since I have known him. He works on props and jets and told me he is certified to do the inspections and repairs and sign off on the logs. He has found a few for around 30K that he said are possibilities. It is so rural here that it reminds me of Oh Brother's geographical oddity: being 2 weeks from anywhere. It was just a mid-life thought. I probably would take a bunch of lessons before buying but my friend wanted to get a plane to take the lessons...I dunno. I will probably drive out to the new airport, hang around for an hour, then beat it back home my thirst quenched. Did I mention that Little Red Faithful Wife wants to build a house?
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Post by roylundelius on Oct 31, 2006 11:53:36 GMT -5
There you go a helicopter want to see the big bucks go in a hurry. Man, you have to be a mechanic and a pilot to fly the egg beaters.
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Post by billhammond on Oct 31, 2006 11:57:50 GMT -5
My advice would be to first look for ground school at a local community college or even through community education programs. Take the courses for a private license, augmented by the amazing flight sims they have now for home computers.
If you're lucky, there is a Cessna school nearby that greatly discounts flight instruction. Get enough seat time to safely solo, then take some more lessons.
Finally, hook up with a flying club -- you'll get some flying time at least once a month and the cost won't be astronomical. Even better, you won't have to bear the hassles and costs of maintenance, insurance and hangar storage.
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Post by roylundelius on Oct 31, 2006 12:01:41 GMT -5
Bill, ever see Air Estate in Lake Geneva? The houses have a garage for the car and a hanger for the plane and every home has a taxi way to the runway. Neat idea.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 31, 2006 12:02:38 GMT -5
Mom and Dad have their license, and they have half ownership in two planes (does that make a whole?) so I can give you some second hand info.
Firstly, when you go to the flight center and see what it costs to get a license, add 50%. Their number is based on you being able to take the test in the minimum number of hours required by the FAA. Almost nobody is able to do this any more.
Renting makes a lot of sense, although may be tricky in your case where you'll want to use the plane for a couple of hours to get to Jacksonville, stay there over the weekend, then fly back.
30K is pretty reasonable for a 172 that has low hours on the engine since its last rebuild. The value of a plane rests greatly in how new or newly rebuilt the engine is. Your mechanic friend is a great resource for buying a plane.
Owning a plane is like taking a shop vac to your bank account. Buying a plane is cheap, owning one costs a fortune. The fuel is expensive, your plane gets torn into little tiny bits once a year for its annual inspection, which starts at around 2k and goes up depending on what they find. Every 3-5 years (I think) your engine needs a full rebuild or replacement, running over 10k (again, I think). It costs a fair bit to get into a hangar, but if you don't the value of your plane goes down pretty quickly when it is left out in the weather. Talk to your mechanic friend though, if you are in this for the long term it may make sense to actually buy a hangar.
There's also the rating game. When you get your ppl, there's always your instrument rating, multi-engine rating, complex aircraft rating, instructor rating, commercial rating, etc. etc. etc.
It's a real money hole.
Please note that all times and dollar figures are from what I remember from chatting with Mom and Dad, and should be confirmed with somebody that really knows, like your mechanic friend.
Cheers,
Paul
P.S. on edit, I forgot to mention insurance. I don't have any figures, but it can't be cheap...
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Post by billhammond on Oct 31, 2006 12:03:53 GMT -5
Yup, and there are some even closer to Chicago, straight west of the city, too. A lot of airline pilots live in those developments and commute to work by air in their Pitts Specials, etc.
Lucky bastids.
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Post by AlanC on Oct 31, 2006 12:06:24 GMT -5
Did I mention this is Boondock, USA, Uncle Billy? I hear the only instructor around is a Pentecostal Preacher. Now if he was a West Virginia snakehandler, I would have to decline being cooped up with him and Ole Dan the Eastern Diamondback in a small plane. But If all I have to do is hear about the soon-to-come rapture and dinosaurs on the Ark, well, I'm used to that and I can hang.
(But I will look for the nearest flight school)
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Post by billhammond on Oct 31, 2006 12:08:33 GMT -5
Did I mention this is Boondock, USA, Uncle Billy? I hear the only instructor around is a Pentecostal Preacher. Now if he was a West Virginia snakehandler, I would have to decline being cooped up with him and Ole Dan the Eastern Diamondback in a small plane. But If all I have to do is hear about the soon-to-come rapture and dinosaurs on the Ark, well, I'm used to that and I can hang. (But I will look for the nearest flight school) Well, Alan, in that case I might look into stamp-collecting. Aviation and backwoods approaches do not really mix very well, even if God is your co-pilot. Clear! p.s. Happy Birthday! R/C planes are cool -- go buy one! |
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Post by roylundelius on Oct 31, 2006 12:10:11 GMT -5
C- can always go a kit build. Avid Flayer, Kit Fox, etc. Some now use auto engines with a reduction gear. Go it alone, build your own.
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