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I tried tipping once in the States, and the FBO guy — an older gentleman — politely refused it. It was awkward, and it felt like I'd been patronizing him. Since then, I've avoided tipping in the U.S. except in obvious situations (like a shuttle driver taking me to the train station). In Canada...

When you consider the tens of thousands of assemblies that go into a large jet, maybe it's not so surprising. You'd need a lot of different kinds of specialists.

Lost comms doesn't constitute an emergency for a VFR flight landing at an uncontrolled field, but I think uncertainty about the manual gear extension qualifies

Just like the "normal" (or average) human would have one ovary and one testicle.

Also you live where your heart takes you. Even if somebody could prove to me logically that it would be better for me to live somewhere else (an impossible task in real life, because we wouldn't be able to agree on starting premises), I wouldn't leave Ottawa.

I wasn't replying to your post, but I do think there is a serious risk of overconfidence in rusty IFR pilots who think they still have the skills to get out of trouble if they end up in IMC, and fly closer to the edge, weather-wise, as a result. If your IFR skills are out of date, it's best to...

And the instrument-rated pilots who are years out of currency/recency are an even bigger menace, because of their overconfidence in a past skill that has long-ago atrophied.

Let's take a slightly different angle on this. As an instrument-rated pilot on an IFR flight plan, I experience the same sensations that a VFR-only pilot does when I enter solid IMC, especially when it's a low ceiling of solid stratus right after takeoff and everything just goes white. My body...

Interesting. So they don't always publish an MRA if it's higher than MEA? Or is MRA only for radio reception, not radar coverage? Now that you mention it, there is a section of airway over Northern Maine where Boston Centre loses me on radar (but not radio) when I'm close to MEA.

Once you're set up for level flight, you don't really need to read the glass gauges; you just need to scan the needle positions, which takes a tiny fraction of a second. I wrote this 16 years ago, but I think it's still useful. https://lahso.megginson.com/2005/05/19/analog-flying/

True, and you can get it over perfectly flat terrain as well, as you're further from the VOR station and the signal is less precise. If you pair your autopilot with a VOR enroute 30 or 40 miles from the station, you'll find afterwards that your GPS flight path is gentle scallop (or slalom)...

That is true. However, on an airway the OP will have radar coverage and radio contact as long as they fly at MEA (or MRA if it's higher), so they're still thinking along the right lines, even if the question needs a little refinement. To the OP: make sure you check the NOTAMs for navaid...

I made the mistake of fixating on the instruments when I started my PPL flight training 20 years ago. Chasing needles will always make for sloppy flying. When you're VFR, look outside at least 90% of the time, and use a quick glance the instruments occasionally just to confirm that your...

unfortunately, Unfortunately, it doesn't work that way around here. when the shop is waiting for parts to come in, they usually push a plane outside to make room, so my plane would probably be outside for most of the 4 months anyway. The corporate hanger sounds like a great deal. that's less...

Different ways of raising kids. I know someone who spent >CA$20k/year on each kid just for sports (competitive junior downhill skiing and competitive junior soccer). That was a decade ago, so someone would be spending more now. Little League and swimming cost us maybe CA$500/year each...

Different countries I guess. They cost us maybe CA$5,000–10,000/year each when they were in university at first to help with living expenses (they'd already saved up a lot, and tuition is only CA$7,000–$8,000 here, even going to Canada's top 2 schools as they did), but both were fully...

I think owning a plane has put me (much) further behind on savings than raising 2 kids and helping them through university. That CA$8–15K/year I've paid since 2002 to keep the plane flying might be over CA$500k now if invested in ETFs tracking the US major indices (just a guess, but probably...

Yes, that's much better. :)

My advice is not to do those calculations. Renting and owning are such different experiences that you can't compare them. Think of owning as a commited monogamous relationship, with all its ups and downs, and renting as casual hookups with different planes. Choose your lifestyle. :) (Following...

Corrected — thanks!