Any Pilots On Here??

[MossRoad]

I never had a license. I grew up around airplanes. My best friend's father across the street was an aircraft salesman, and owned the local FBO at the airport. So I spent a lot of time in lots of different types of planes. Another good friend's father in grade school was also an aircraft salesman, and also owned an FBO in the next town north of here. And, our next door neighbors had no children, and owned their own plane. So I spent a LOT of time in small planes. I ended up working for both my friends' fathers for about 6 years. So I've spent a LOT of time around small planes, pilots, etc... until I was about 26. I loved to fly.

Here's what I'd suggest. As someone else mentioned, go take an introductory flight, and as mentioned, they are usually around $50. I just took my youngest daughter on one about 2 months ago. She loved it.

Here, we have a local flying club. They own two airplanes. And there are three active instructors. There are about 50 members of the club, I believe. You pay dues, pay your instructor, rent the plane(s) for instruction, etc... I think it's the least expensive way to learn to fly. And you can drop out anytime you decide it was just a fun fling, or you can continue. You can sign up to rent the planes and take them on local or cross-country flights.

It's something you may want to look into.

 

[Old Red]

This is fantastic guys. I have some more information to ad. At this point...for me anyway....would be that once I completed my training or while I was training and determined I really enjoyed flying...I would purchase my own airplane for just my wife, son and I. My intent would be to spend 50K - 100K on a plane....this is assuming I can get my investment back or a majority of it back...sort of like the used tractors I have been buying and use for a few years and get my $$ back out of them....If owning a plane is like buying a new pickup truck and it loses a lot of value then forget it....I seriously doubt this is the case since it appears I will be buying a 1970-1975 year model plane.

So anyway....I would own my own plane. Would like to purchase it during training so I could train on the plane I would own. I absolutely love the looks of the big 6 seater my buddy has over the 4 seater but he assures me that if it weren't for possibly taking his mom, dad, and his family he would have been perfectly happy and content with the 180. He said it is much more economical and gets him there just about as fast. A lot of people love the Cessna 172 it appears.

So my plan to fly from KY to Florida is totally doable and enjoyable to do? Correct? What is the ongoing costs of say a Piper 180? Can I get a really nice one for $50 grand that my family would be comfortable flying to Florida in? I do really enjoy speed and efficiency but if you don't gain a lot and it costs twice as much, then why do it.

The twin engines look cool but I am sure that is again a whole other category.

 

[fried1765]

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.

"Ask JFK Jr." That is the BEST piece of advice in this thread!

I spent 39 years flying, and have over 31,000 hours of total time.
I flew 11 types of airplanes from the T-34 in Navy basic training, (carrier landings in two other types), to the 747-400 from which I retired (age 60) in 2000.
Unless, and until, you obtain an instrument rating, have an aircraft with meaningful anti-ice capability, and have accumulated several thousand hours, with significant actual instrument time, you are really an accident looking for a place to happen.
Of course, if you are disciplined enough to fly only on CAVU days, flying a light aircraft can be really fun.
I have owned a light twin, and never did really trust the little bugger....but then, I will admit that I had been spoiled with other aircraft types long before that.
I would expand on the statement: "occasional pilots tend to be occasionally bad pilots"
My comment would be: Occasional pilots, occasionally kill themselves, and/or their entire families.

I was actually in the air on approach to BOS the very evening that JFK Jr. killed himself, his wife, and sister-in-law. The weather at MVY was well below what a pilot with his experience level should have considered to be acceptable. A low time pilot, with little to no instrument experience, and poor head work, needlessly killed three people. It happens all too frequently!

 

[PILOON]

I was a lucky one.
First plane was a Piper J3 and I earned my ticket on it. Upgraded to a Luscombe which I sold after one hr of flight time simply because I doubled my investment
Decided the ideal was a C170B on which I put many hours. I convinced my employers that I could cover my sales territory much more efficiently if I used my plane and they agreed.
That was back during expo in Montreal.
As I flew around my territory I probably introduced many dozens of clients to flying to the point that due to word of mouth I'd get requests for first flights from potential clients that I never could otherwise crack.
Sales were great.
A friend that was a aviation mechanic proposed to trade me even a C182 as he had a client that had his eye on my 170 as it took floats.
With that 182 I flew to Florida quite a few times and crossed Canada as well.
All in all I accumulated over 4000 hours and only crashed once, LOL as my crankshaft broke into 2 at 5000ft over a nice long farm field.
Being mechanically inclined I rebuilt that AC in my garage and hence earned my A&P ticket as I also had a RCAF trade in electricity as a 'summer job' and that combination qualified me for a ticket once I passed the tests.

If you have a somewhat flexible timetable and plan well, private aircraft is a practical transportation tool, or was so.
Purchase and ownership costs have however climbed dramatically since I stopped flying.
That C182 used 12 gals/hr of gas so it no longer a cheap hobby and todays regulations mandate all sorts of costly electronics that did not even exist back then.

With all my hours I only twice had to take a hotel due to weather, but as I said I selected my travel times carefully.

 

[feasant]

homebuilt/experimental

 

[rustyshakelford]

My fil is retired military and flys for a large commercial air carrier now. He bought a Cessna 210 with glass cockpit. Avionics were an easy 60k up grade. I’m wanting to get my private licesne and have been going with him every chance I get to get practice. FAA minimum is 40 hrs but nearly everyone goes over that. I’m hoping I’ll be comfortable enough that I’ll only need 40hrs since I’m already taking off and landing. He’s been working with me on instrument so that will be the next step once I get experience at the private level. I enjoy it but will say I don’t take my wife and son just yet. I have all the confidence in the world in my fil but would prefer to leave them on the ground

Brett

 

[plowhog]

My experience has been that a prudent, cautious pilot can mitigate almost all risks associated with flying except one. An engine failure shortly after liftoff in a single engine airplane means you will be contacting the ground soon and with few choices about where that contact will be. I always accepted that risk as very small, and it never happened to me. All other risks can be managed to some degree. I was instrument rated but still would cancel flights if I didn't like the weather. Risk management.

From Western KY to Pensacola, FL appears to be about 500 statute miles. Or about 425 nautical miles. I don't remember the exact specs, but that range, needing about 4 hours, I think is pushing beyond the useful range of a Cessna 172 without a stop for more fuel. Add a stop for fuel and that trip to the beach might require 5 hours.

My Cessna 182RG would be will suited to the task. 155 kts, 88 gals on board, and 13 gallons/hr means the trip would take under 3 hours, no fuel stop, and still have half a tank of fuel in case you wanted to divert to somewhere else due to weather. Beach locations are notorious for fog so a diversion is always possible.

I would check out the insurance angle as well. My insurance on the 182 was under $1,500 per year, the Malibu and Beech B55 twin were each $6,000 per year. That's a lot for purely hobby flying.

Finally, I would investigate a local flying club that owns an airplane. Planes need to be flown regularly as sitting on the ground for long periods causes things to break. It's counter-intuitive but true. I got to the point of dreading having to go to the airport to "warm up my engines" when I was quite busy doing other things and didn't really need to fly anywhere.

It is good you are asking questions and I would not be discouraged by the costs or alarmist responses here. Although expensive, there are many very wonderful opportunities with aviation, not to mention the mental challenges of learning something new with the pride of accomplishing it. You might visit aopa.org and look at membership.

I don't have an airplane now but still have a license and medical certificate. If I got back into aviation it might be with an Icon A5 or one of these:

Progressive Aerodyne Searey (@seareyaircraft) Instagram photos and videos

 

[orezok]

A little humor here... I have both a single engine and a glider rating. When I fly commercial I always stop by the cockpit and let the pilot know that if he loses one or both engines that I can help him out :laughing::laughing::laughing:

 

[Teachu2]

Don't be discouraged, but do be informed. Take some time to browse the NTSB's website.

By the time I graduated college, I had logged quite a bit of time. A close friend and classmate's father was a dentist in the nearby town of Tracy, and was pretty well off - enough to pursue his love of flying. He owned a beautiful Piper PA-28R. He liked to take the wife and kids to Tahoe for a day or two, when time allowed. On January 12, 1984, the good dentist loaded up the Piper with his wife daughter (son had other commitment and was staying home) and decided to take off in fog, climb out of it, and fly to Tahoe. They flew into the ground 200 yards off the end of the runway. A few days later, I was a pallbearer.

The NTSB:
Analysis
THE FLIGHT DEPARTED UNDER INSTRUMENT METEOROLOGICAL CONDITIONS, WITH
VISIBILITY RESTRICTED TO ONE QUARTER MILE BY FOG. THE CEILING WAS OBSCURED.
AFTER DEPARTURE WITNESSES HEARD THE AIRCRAFT MAKE WHAT APPEARED TO BE A
LEFT TURN. NEXT THEY HEARD THE ENGINE SOUND INCREASE FOLLOWED BY A LOUD
THUD. THE ACFT WAS FOUND WHERE IT HAD IMPACTED AN EMBANKMENT, NEXT TO A
ROAD ON RELATIVELY LEVEL TERRAIN, APPROXIMATELY 1/8 MI FROM THE DEPARTURE
END OF RWY 25. NO EYEWITNESSES TO THE ACCIDENT COULD BE LOCATED. AN
INVESTIGATION REVEALED THAT THE PLT HAD CALLED THE SACRAMENTO FSS BY
TELEPHONE. AT 0771, HE OBTAINED AN IFR CLEARANCE WITH A VOID TIME OF 0730.
THERE WERE NO FURTHER COMMUNICATIONS BETWEEN THE PLT & THE FSS. BEFORE
TAKEOFF, THE ACFT WAS PARKED ABOUT 2 MIN TAXI TIME FROM RWY 25. ACCORDING TO
THE FAA INSTRUMENT FLYING HANDBOOK, AC 61-27B, 5 MIN IS NEEDED FOR GYRO
INSTRUMENTS TO BE OPERATIONAL. HOWEVER, THE ACTUAL TIME ALLOWED BY THE PLT
(FOR THE INSTRUMENTS TO BECOME OPERATIONAL) IS NOT KNOWN.

Mistakes can be disasters very quickly in small planes. Even the most experienced pilots can experience mechanical failure, metal fatigue, or mental fatigue. Pressure to perform for our significant others can alter our judgement - we feel like failures if we abort our plan, when we promised. Incidents we live through are usually expensive. Those we don't live through....

It's not like driving a car - we don't generally have nearly as much experience, we're dealing with three dimensions and lots more variables, and it's much harder to walk away from an accident.

MINDSET-SKILLSET-TOOLSET, in that order.

 

[MossRoad]

This is fantastic guys. I have some more information to ad. At this point...for me anyway....would be that once I completed my training or while I was training and determined I really enjoyed flying...I would purchase my own airplane for just my wife, son and I. My intent would be to spend 50K - 100K on a plane....this is assuming I can get my investment back or a majority of it back...sort of like the used tractors I have been buying and use for a few years and get my $$ back out of them....If owning a plane is like buying a new pickup truck and it loses a lot of value then forget it....I seriously doubt this is the case since it appears I will be buying a 1970-1975 year model plane.

So anyway....I would own my own plane. Would like to purchase it during training so I could train on the plane I would own. I absolutely love the looks of the big 6 seater my buddy has over the 4 seater but he assures me that if it weren't for possibly taking his mom, dad, and his family he would have been perfectly happy and content with the 180. He said it is much more economical and gets him there just about as fast. A lot of people love the Cessna 172 it appears.

So my plan to fly from KY to Florida is totally doable and enjoyable to do? Correct? What is the ongoing costs of say a Piper 180? Can I get a really nice one for $50 grand that my family would be comfortable flying to Florida in? I do really enjoy speed and efficiency but if you don't gain a lot and it costs twice as much, then why do it.

The twin engines look cool but I am sure that is again a whole other category.

If you're going to own your own plane, be sure to be VERY diligent about knowing the cost of ownership and how many hours you'll have to fly per year to stay current in that plane. Inspections, hangar rental, tie-down, etc... it all ads up for something you may only use once or twice a year to save what? It takes me 18 hours to drive from here to the middle of FL. It takes about 5 hours to get half-way into Kentucky. So, about 13 hours driving from KY to FL. If you're lucky it'll take you 6 hours in the plane with a stop on the way. So you're saving 7 hours. But you're going to be spending WAY more money on fuel, landing fees, parking fees, renting a car when you get there, etc...

Not trying to talk you out of it. Just be sure you know all the costs up front.