GA aviation

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This is an open ended question.

What do you like about GA Aviation that drives you to put up with the rules, regulation, and costs associated with it?

Thanks.
 
I don't put up with rules or regulations and my costs are miniscule.
 
Unregistered said:
This is an open ended question.

What do you like about GA Aviation that drives you to put up with the rules, regulation, and costs associated with it?

Thanks.
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Why are you posting as "unregistered"?
 
Unregistered said:
Because I know people including my CFI that follows this forum and I want to stay anonymous .
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OK, it just seemed like that was an innocent question with no possibility of any consequences to the poster.
 
Because I enjoy the challenge of flying, the reward and personal fulfillment I get from it, and it is handy for getting from A to B.

It's not for everyone, though.
 
Unregistered said:
This is an open ended question.

What do you like about GA Aviation that drives you to put up with the rules, regulation, and costs associated with it?

Thanks.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure that I see the rules as significantly taking away from the experience, and I fly under some of the most restrictive airspace rules and regs in he US (the Washington, D.C. FRZ).

As far as costs...it's still cheaper than therapy...I think.
 
Unregistered said:
This is an open ended question.

What do you like about GA Aviation that drives you to put up with the rules, regulation, and costs associated with it?

Thanks.
Click to expand...

I love to fly. I love the freedom I have to go when and where I want to, with very few limitations.
Rule and Regulations: most are pretty common sense, a few aren't and a couple are downright strange, I follow them the best I can and try to err on the side of common sense. :D
Costs: Rule number one of being a happy airplane owner is NVER add up the true cost of flying. :D It's much better to convince yourself it costs what you tell your spouse it costs, instead of the actual cost.;)
 
Brad Z said:
I'm not sure that I see the rules as significantly taking away from the experience, and I fly under some of the most restrictive airspace rules and regs in he US (the Washington, D.C. FRZ).
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The one thing I'll point out is that I almost never fly without being IFR or flight following. There are many reasons for that, but one of them is not wanting to bust a pop-up TFR or restricted area by accident. There were a lot fewer of those in the past, from what I understand.
 
N747JB said:
I love to fly. I love the freedom I have to go when and where I want to, with very few limitations.
Rule and Regulations: most are pretty common sense, a few aren't and a couple are downright strange, I follow them the best I can and try to err on the side of common sense. :D
Costs: Rule number one of being a happy airplane owner is NVER add up the true cost of flying. :D It's much better to convince yourself it costs what you tell your spouse it costs, instead of the actual cost.;)
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Too sensible a post, you should have added....." But on the other hand" and then gone off into the weeds about " that darned govmint" etc.
 
Unregistered said:
This is an open ended question.

What do you like about GA Aviation that drives you to put up with the rules, regulation, and costs associated with it?

Thanks.
Click to expand...

Rules Regs: There is enough risk with Flying that we need everyone working with the same set of rules so that we can be as safe as possible. Not unlike driving a car and we all agree to obey traffic laws.

Costs: Yes, it isn't cheap, but for what it is, it's not unaffordable. And there are many ways to keep costs reasonable.
 
Original Poster here.

Forget the reason I created this thread unregistered. I have my reasons.

Anyway I love the freedom of flying when I get out of the more restricted airspace. I love saying I'm a private pilot and being proud of the fact. I have loved all aviation of some sort when I was very young. I wish however I could fly endless amount of time without thinking about how much I have on the Hobbs. I fly Radio control airplanes as well so that is very cheap flying in comparison. I could go out to the airport and just hang out and listen to the sights, smells and sounds of the airport activity and not even fly. I can spot an airplane from the ground miles away where most people wouldn't even pay any attention. I live near 3 GA airports and always looking up seeing what is flying over head. Rules, Regs, and cost is what it is to have the pleasure for flying.
 
Move to a reliable paraglider flying site. Tons of freedom, lots of airtime, cheaper then RC planes. Of course you have to love flying and not the idea of flying. I think many love the latter and tolerate the former.
 
Based on post #14, I guess I'm not understanding the reason for the original question.
 
Oh.

Then I'll add the "time machine" aspect. Especially going places within Texas.
 
I enjoy light aerobatics and being able to travel great distances much quicker than driving. Plus the feeling of watching the world from above and breaking ground on takeoff is very appealing to me. We did a 10 hour drive in 3 hours in the Arrow to see my son's maternal grandparents for his 1st birthday. The smile in my wife's face after getting there and back so quick and her support of my avocation makes it really worth the cost and life choices incurred to afford said choice. It's also a great potential avocation to share with my son if he were so interested as an adult.
 
For once you have tasted flight you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skywards, for there you have been and there you will long to return
 
Unregistered said:
This is an open ended question.

What do you like about GA Aviation that drives you to put up with the rules, regulation, and costs associated with it?

Thanks.
Click to expand...

I have an easy life and it provides me with a challenge. I've mastered most every hobby I've ever taken on, became bored with it and gave it up. That, I am convinced, will NEVER happen with aviation.
 
Not only the flying which is great but the people I've met thru flying. Amazing folks. U2 pilot, now major airline pilot, his dad flew recon during height of Vietnam war in an A3, the FBO who had flown corsairs during WW2, flew his aero commander shrike, which he used as a daily commuter, like a fighter when alone. Close pal who originally ran a gas station, said enough of that, learned to fly, became eventually a demo pilot for aero commander, ATR, 14000 hours, also many hours as CFI. Another FBO who died in a Pitts at an airshow, many many hours, AI, GI bill WW2, went to embry riddle became well known as aircraft repair pro. And acro pro. It goes on. Great people, and many more. Wonderful memories, like coming over the Chesapeake bay from national airport, at 1400 ft, in the right seat. FBO , left seat, no passengers in the shrike, suddenly drops to 50 feet and buzzes a water mans boat, then another, pulls up and shortly greases it in a very tight pattern at his airport. Just great memories! ( he checked me out in my Stearman and said " be careful in that old girl, you don't know where it's been") I listened.
 
It's a ton of fun and I'd probably strangle someone if I was stuck in a cubicle for 8 hours.

Plus, someone once told me that if I find something I like to do I will never have to work a day in my life. Now...I've learned that's a bit of a stretched truth but I love what I do.

I think for the leisure folks it's similar to boats. Gas is expensive, surrounded by drunk teenagers (on the coast), and some cop wants to check if you caught a legal size fish. Why do you still go? Because it's worth it.
 
Unregistered said:
This is an open ended question.

What do you like about GA Aviation that drives you to put up with the rules, regulation, and costs associated with it?

Thanks.
Click to expand...

Flying through the air with the greatest of ease and no visible means of support.
 
I enjoy watching the ground below me get further and further away while the scenery in front of me is constantly changing. I am blessed to have met a caravan (keeping it aviation) load of great people and all that involved.
Is flying cheap? Not a chance but it was something we spent money on with a smile on our face.
Are the regs onerous? Not really but some sure do leave me scratching my noggin' :yes:
 
I love the solitude. I love the challenge and discipline. I love the view. I love the travel. I love the airports and all the airplanes. I love the ability to travel long distances in a short time.

The rules we have to follow while we fly are fine. My only beef is with the VIP TFRs. Those are crap. Now the rules to do with ownership and maintenance and the medical... well those could use some fixin'!

The cost is what it is. It is insane expensive, but as long as I can afford it and I'm still having fun doing it, I will continue. The day the fun ends, a for sale sign goes on the plane and I'll have no regrets what so ever.
 
Ted DuPuis said:
The one thing I'll point out is that I almost never fly without being IFR or flight following. There are many reasons for that, but one of them is not wanting to bust a pop-up TFR or restricted area by accident. There were a lot fewer of those in the past, from what I understand.
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Same here. But more to the point, I enjoy being able to use the 'system' as much as I please. Rules and procedures are required but safe and efficient transportation is the gift. One can see 'restricted airspace' and onerous rules and regs but I see access to congested areas and facilities to do the things I want, when I want. Though all that can be done quite nicely in say a PC12, I can do that in a kit plane that I built and while launching it from the grass strip out back. Can't get much better, or cost effective, than that. Love it all!
ClimbnSink said:
Move to a reliable paraglider flying site. Tons of freedom, lots of airtime, cheaper then RC planes. Of course you have to love flying and not the idea of flying. I think many love the latter and tolerate the former.
Click to expand...
I spent much of my flying time chasing other sailplanes, occasionally leading others. But the best part of that time was on the ground, every weekend, hanging out at the sailport/airport, with like minded glider guiders. Hang glider, paragliders, ultralights, even RC. If you love flying, there's spot for you. And if you fly a lot, long enough, the sweet spots will likely move around a bit.
 
It's so hard to say what "the" reason is because there are so many.

Everyone's had dreams about flying - We get to live them. For centuries, people have looked skyward to the birds and wondered what it'd be like to fly. Many people dedicated their lives to pursuing the dream of flight, and many lost their lives in that pursuit. Now that we can do it, and do it quite safely, it seems crazy that not everybody does it!

I love learning. There's never a shortage of learning opportunities in aviation, whether it be the intricacies of regulations, the stats on the latest sleek bird, how to identify various aircraft, all the history behind aviation... And it's pretty cool to be able to go out to Fisk during Airventure to talk with (during the airshow) and observe the controllers, and when one says "Anyone know what that one is?" be able to spit out "Anderson-Greenwood AG-14!" I'll never tire of learning more about aviation and passing what I've learned on to others.

I love operating machinery. I have an engineering degree, but I've been obsessed with machines since I was little - I was always excited about getting to use the lawn mower, then the lawn tractor, then the snowblower, etc... Then I drove cars, then buses, then trucks. Airplanes are complex machines, and I like to not only fly them, but also manage all the systems.

I like mental challenges. It's fun for me to calculate descent profiles in my head, for example. No shortage of potential in aviation here either.

I love variety - The spice of life. There are so many vastly different things we can do in aviation, and I've loved all the ones I've tried. Gliders, seaplanes, aerobatics, pumpkin bombing, jets, turboprops, fly-ins, $100 hamburgers, business travel, pleasure travel, etc. etc.

Speaking of travel - That's another thing I really enjoy. And there's no better way to do it than GA. Yes, there may be times I can't go, but for most of those times I wouldn't even be going if I had to drive or fly on the airlines. For those "gotta be there" situations, I like to leave early enough that I could use an alternate method of travel if I had to. In 10 years and 1200 hours, I don't think I've had to yet. I even decided to fly somewhere I was originally going to drive due to icy roads (sky had cleared up after the storm but the roads were still a mess). I figure that in the Mooney, I can beat the airlines anywhere east of the Rockies, and I can have way more fun doing it. Now that I'm married, it's even cheaper sometimes (plane costs the same, airlines cost 2x as much). When there's kids in the picture, that'll tilt things even more in favor of GA.

And, of course, the wonderful feeling of freedom and pure joy that we all get from being up in the sky, away from normal life and its problems, with the view of the gods. It simply can't be beat.
 
What's not to love about Flying??


I love being in planes, around planes, I love touching planes, I like watching planes, I love flying RC planes, I love being on commercial planes, I love the smell of AvGas before and after it is burned, I love that little moment when you are on the numbers just about to push the throttle and thinking "I'm really going to do this??" Then I do it.

I love listening to old pilots tell stories. I love listening to new student pilots talk about being afraid of bumps and thinking they will never figure out how to flare properly (like I used to).

I love the way planes smell on the inside (especially old ones). I get a buzz every time I turn base to final and I'm lined up perfectly.

I love getting on top of a scattered layer and suddenly visibility is endless and the air is smooth.

I love $100 hamburgers and sharing flight with those that are willing to go grab one with me.

I love that in 15 minutes I am dropping the kids off at my moms and my wife and I are going to go take a sunset flight to wherever the weather will let us (which may just be the pattern tonight).

I love arguing with my dad about who gets to be PIC when we fly together.

I love that I am able to do it. It just seems crazy that I am fortunate enough to be able to do this at all.

Flying is amazing.
 
Or the major airline pilot at the local airport who can really put His 180 decathlon thru its paces and his 16 year old son who is now very good with it , his dad with big smile in the back seat. It's been a wonderful experience for me. I really miss those who have gone. Great pals.
 
Just got back.
Wife let me do stalls, Steep Turns, Slip to landing.
And she has scheduled her first flying lesson.

The fun continues!
 
Unregistered said:
This is an open ended question.

What do you like about GA Aviation that drives you to put up with the rules, regulation, and costs associated with it?

Thanks.
Click to expand...

Name something that doesn't have rules, regulation and costs associated with it.

Dan
 
Original poster here.

Keep the comments going. Love to hear all the stories about the love of GA flying and how the rules, cost, and regs haven't spoiled it.
 
What do you like about GA Aviation that drives you to put up with the rules, regulation, and costs associated with it?
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Travelling is good. GA is twice as fast as driving, and doesn't require one to get to the airport > 1 hour early to deal with "security," get felt up or viewed nekkid after making sure all liquids are in small, approved, transparent containers. If I want to take a rifle to a competition I don't need to get it approved, viewed, checked, and see a $400 round-trip increase in ticket cost for oversized baggage as a result. It's nice to be able to say "hey Honey, how about we go to XXXXXX this weekend" and just make it happen.
 
Derek Zeanah said:
GA is twice as fast as driving
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At least. Even a 172 is twice as fast as driving, though it's more like tied in the first hour because you still have to get to the airport and preflight.

In the Mooney, all else being equal it's about 3x as fast as driving on a normal day.

If there's odd terrain or water between you and your destination that makes the roads less direct than normal, you get even more of a boost. I can get to lots of places in Michigan in an hour or less in the Mooney that would take 8+ hours to drive to.
 
flyingcheesehead said:
If there's odd terrain or water between you and your destination that makes the roads less direct than normal, you get even more of a boost. I can get to lots of places in Michigan in an hour or less in the Mooney that would take 8+ hours to drive to.
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And at least one that you could not drive to at all. ;) (More than one, depending on your definition of "drive to".)
 
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