Best career to justify owning your own plane?

weilke said:
There seem to be plenty of lawyers who use aircraft to get around. Depends on what kind of clientele you serve not much need for a plane if all you do is DUIs and evictions at the local courthouse.
Click to expand...

Flew for a trial lawyer in his Cheyenne II. Had an additional business of race horses too that we used the Cheyenne for.
 
Last edited:
mkosmo said:
It has nothing to do with the bill. The USSS won't even let the President drive a car on a public road.
Click to expand...

I don't think any of the candidates actually pilot their planes. So the driving a car analogy is a bit off.

Now, if they were to lease back their plane and cost of operations on a per trip basis, that would make some sense. "Business use of personal 757" and they just record taking the security detail and entourage to the G7 meeting. Then, when they go on vacation they only charge back the security details travel.

WOW! Just think of how they can waste the savings!
 
Most any type of consulting work, if clients are spread apart and billing is sufficient . . . I know several.
 
rolivi said:
I don't think any of the candidates actually pilot their planes. So the driving a car analogy is a bit off.
Click to expand...
Well, right, but imagine we elected a pilot. Somebody who enjoyed boring holes in the sky in their J3 cub. My question was more of a what-if.
 
We've done it three times.

D Eisenhower was a pilot. G HW Bush and G W Bush are certificated pilots (but I doubt they have current medicals).
 
rolivi said:
We've done it three times.

D Eisenhower was a pilot. G HW Bush and G W Bush are certificated pilots (but I doubt they have current medicals).
Click to expand...

Neither Bush shows a medical in the database. W holds CP-ASEL/AMEL and IR-A. HW holds CP-ASEL. I doubt either one of them flew when they were in office. My question is whether or not they'd be allowed to, or if they'd be prohibited in some way. Would you give up flying to serve as President of the United States?
 
I own a technology company and we have several customers scattered across the midwest. I also attend several conferences around the country each year.
That's my justification anyways. ;)
 
An aircraft mechanic. Fly it by day. Work on it by night.
 
Bank/Credit Union Examiner. You are constantly flying to new financial institutions and are required to be on site for 1 - 2 weeks at a time. Even better, be an IT Examiner, they are in high demand and short supply at the NCUA. Of course, I have no idea what the pay is like.
 
Flying for work typically meant you have to fly, and that isn't always a good idea. The idea of finding a job you love that pays well enough that you can fly for pleasure when and where you want to was much more appealing to me. That's the routei took and I have no regrets. Flying never turned into a "job" for me and that's the way I prefer it.
 
Don't have to be rich to own a plane. Almost anyone can do it if you can adapt your plane to your earnings. A C152 would not cost much more to own than new car per year. But most people want the new car, or the ATV, or the RV or the….

I own vintage Turbo Commander and am self employed in film business. It's probably at the upper end of my affordability, but it's important to me, so I forego other things for it. Drive an old car and live in smaller house etc. Some of the people I know of who own aircraft are:

Yak - Cameraman
Cherokee - Cameraman
Aerostar - Farmer
Arrow - Video playback
Turbo Commander - Airline Pilot
Turbo Commander - Winemaker
Turbo Commander - ex Wall St
Turbo Commander - Anesthesiologist
PC12 - Owns big syrup company
Citation 560 - Runs ice machine service company
C310 - Programmer
Twin Comanche - Sheriff
MU-2 - Electrical engineer

So, as you can see, they come from all walks of life. Even supposedly expensive turbines or twins are owned by people you wouldn't think necessarily would be able to afford it. Yet, they do.
 
Last edited:
Anything where you're not working for someone else.
 
mkosmo said:
Neither Bush shows a medical in the database. W holds CP-ASEL/AMEL and IR-A. HW holds CP-ASEL. I doubt either one of them flew when they were in office. My question is whether or not they'd be allowed to, or if they'd be prohibited in some way. Would you give up flying to serve as President of the United States?
Click to expand...
W flew out to a carrier. Rumors were he had the controls for part of the trip. SS had one guy on board.
 
Clark1961 said:
W flew out to a carrier. Rumors were he had the controls for part of the trip. SS had one guy on board.
Click to expand...
Yeah, but that was a PR stunt that put him in the airplane. Once in the air, I'm sure being in close proximity to the President like that changes the atmosphere some, pilot to pilot. No way he was on the controls for the trap, though. I sincerely doubt USSS was onboard the aircraft... you wouldn't be able to fit an extra in an S-3.
 
I think if I had a 747 at my leisure I could get over not flying a Cub for a few years.

In the end, the USSS can't handcuff the President if he truly wants to do something. But it'd be a nightmare for a President to fly his own plane just on the basis of the TFRs needed.
 
'Justify' as in just owning one or 'justify' as a legit business tool ?

I believe anyone who is taking care of his other financial obligations should feel free to own a plane, jetski, second home RV or whatever.

As for using it for work, a good number of suggestions have been made. Anything that requires regional travel >150 miles can be done by personal aircraft.
 
Bonchie said:
In the end, the USSS can't handcuff the President if he truly wants to do something. But it'd be a nightmare for a President to fly his own plane just on the basis of the TFRs needed.
Click to expand...

Those TFRs are not needed. The most bizarre ones were the 'bus tour' TFRs that cover multi state areas.
 
Retired.
"I need my own plane so I can fly whenever I want."
See? How can anyone argue with logic like that?
 
stratobee said:
Don't have to be rich to own a plane. Almost anyone can do it if you can adapt your plane to your earnings. A C152 would not cost much more to own than new car per year. But most people want the new car, or the ATV, or the RV or the….

I own vintage Turbo Commander and am self employed in film business. It's probably at the upper end of my affordability, but it's important to me, so I forego other things for it. Drive an old car and live in smaller house etc. Some of the people I know of who own aircraft are:

Yak - Cameraman
Cherokee - Cameraman
Aerostar - Farmer
Arrow - Video playback
Turbo Commander - Airline Pilot
Turbo Commander - Winemaker
Turbo Commander - ex Wall St
Turbo Commander - Anesthesiologist
PC12 - Owns big syrup company
Citation 560 - Runs ice machine service company
C310 - Programmer
Twin Comanche - Sheriff
MU-2 - Electrical engineer

So, as you can see, they come from all walks of life. Even supposedly expensive turbines or twins are owned by people you wouldn't think necessarily would be able to afford it. Yet, they do.
Click to expand...

That's my experience as well. I see people from all backgrounds owning all sorts of planes.

If your icy Citation friend is who I'm thinking of, he also owns a very nice 310. :)

I'd say most of the people I know who own capable traveling machines (twins with de-ice, turboprops, etc.) own their own business and use the planes at least to some degree for business use (typically 50% or more). The common thread is they have to travel for business regularly due to multiple locations, etc. They all end up doing some level of personal travel with the machine as well. Some have the machines as strictly personal (their businesses don't require travel), and for them it's just about the fun aspect but they happen to like more capable aircraft or need it to do the personal trips they want to do on the schedules they want/need to meet. Sometimes the personal aircraft allows these people to make weekend trips that they otherwise couldn't do to visit family far away, go to the beach for the weekend, etc.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top