Hobby Flying

DFH65 said:
I have only ever flown for fun. I have never flown to get somewhere. Although I have flown with others to go somewhere the math just doesn't work for me to rent a plane to travel. Maybe someday it will.

Mostly it is just flying for the fun of it.
I take a lot of people for rides.
I have flow to pancake breakfasts.
I have flown to airshows.

People spend all sorts of money on hobbies, I was at a model rocket launch at our airport recently the amount some of those guys spend for a few seconds of flight and they are not even on-board is crazy. Ever talk to a guy into racing stock cars? Dragsters? Classic Cars? Have a membership at a golf course? Ride horses? Motorcycles?

There are lots of ways to spend money on hobbies.
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Yeah- that is the only other thing I would consider- golf course membership. And at least from a flying club option- -somehow flying seems to be on par (sorry pun) or even cheaper. Plus, I could get out to the field, fly around for a bit (also maybe with some of the kids which doesn't happen with golf), AND be back before a normal round of golf would be over. Win? I think so.
 
pkuhns said:
So you don't have your PPL yet? Have you solo'ed? I haven't read the other posts.

Apparently you need to do this; who cares about the logic of any of it.

That said, the smartest thing I've ever done in my life is a) have kids and b) buy my plane. The wife has never flown with me; the 7-year old could care less about flying and never goes any more unless bribed (ice cream). None of it makes any sense from any angle but so what.
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No- I've not even started training yet. I've been up with several other GA pilots over the years, and been on one Discovery flight. About to take another one a week from Saturday.

One daughter, I'm absolutely sure I could bribe with ice cream or sweets of some kind- heck, even a candy bar at the FBO would be enough!
 
AggieMike88 said:
Charity flying. First it was Pilots N Paws flights which helped in a big way to build cross country time and general experience. Then once I had the minimum time, I joined the local Angel Flight organization, helping to transport medical patients to/from the regional medical centers around the state.

I also participate in EAA's Young Eagles program, and a few other events that expose teenagers to the joys and fun of aviating.
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Ultimately I'd love to do Angel Flights. Seen a lot of folks battling some tough stuff, and to help them get where they need to be would be a privilege for sure.
 
>> No- I've not even started training yet. I've been up with several other GA pilots over the years, and been on one Discovery flight. About to take another one a week from Saturday.

Sailing is WAY more social. And much easier to get the family into. Richard Bach and his books sum up flying: it's for the soul, not for the company.
 
wdewg88 said:
No- I've not even started training yet. I've been up with several other GA pilots over the years, and been on one Discovery flight. About to take another one a week from Saturday.

One daughter, I'm absolutely sure I could bribe with ice cream or sweets of some kind- heck, even a candy bar at the FBO would be enough!
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Bring her on a couple of training flights(if she isn't likely to get sick). I brought my 7 year old on a few and she enjoyed it. We couldn't do any maneuvers that would phase her, she loves roller coasters. I never even had a plan I just did a discovery flight, that was fun, set up another '1st hour training' flight, that was fun, am I trying to get a pilot cert? Who knows, but when can I go again, that was fun, rinse, repeat, just having fun flying as my time budget allowed, eventually 2 years later, I was doing the check ride. (might as well right, have the hours, all the requirements knocked out)

Now what? Go give some rides, keep doing it, whenever you can. Fly to lunch somewhere.
 
Since one of my planes is a Piper J-3, many of my flights are just local looking at things or flying to a friend's place to visit. It is rare it gets more than 30 miles from home base. I have taken it cross country, but driving is typically just about as fast. I took it to Oshkosh in 2012 with several other Cubs for 75th Anniversary of the Cub. It was great fun, but very slow.

My other plane is an RV-4...which is good for cross country, but I also fly locally much of the time. Due to some internal (family) turmoil at my previous home base, I had to change airports last year. That unfortunately put my J-3 over an hour's drive away. My RV-4 is about 15 minutes away. So, for the same hour and fifteen minutes, I can drive down to fly my Cub or I can fly the RV which takes 15 min to get to hangar, 20-30 minutes to open hangar push plane out, pre-flight final weather check before launching and another 20 minutes to fly down. Same time spent, but I'm flying both planes that way! :D

I do occasionally make trips in the RV-4. I've flown down to Birmingham to visit my daughter a couple of times. It is a 1 hour flight vs 3.5 hour drive. My brother and I took it to Calhoun, GA to look at a Pitts he was considering buying. Averaged 1.6 hours each way vs 6 hours driving. In fact, we left at 9:30am and were back home at 3:30pm after looking at the plane, visiting with some other folks and eating lunch.

I still make a bunch of local flights in the RV-4 where I fly to a fly-in, visit another field, fly somewhere for lunch or such. Bottomline, 80+% of my flying isn't going anywhere in particular...and often the RV is for a mild acro flight before going to get $3.30 100LL at Ripley, MS (25M).
 
jordane93 said:
Go to local airports and get some food. That's what I do for 99% of my recreational flying.
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Burger runs, concert runs, fly-in breakfast runs, playing poker runs, etc. And the occasional vacation run coming up in Oct.

Anything within a two hour+ range is now a reasonable possibility.
 
wdewg88 said:
For those that have licenses and don't fly for business purposes- -what sorts of flights are you doing and how often are you taking these trips?
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For proficiency I try to fly 4 hrs/mo.. that usually means I'll plan one XC flight with friend or family per month, then some weekly pattern bouncing. My problem is, that as much as I like flying, I quickly found the "go up for 1 hr and land" sightseeing thing to get boring and once the initial thrill of "I'M A PILOT NOW!" wore off I had a hard time staying motivated to keep flying. Planning monthly cross country trips as missions keeps things new and interesting. We'll (wife or friends) pick a new airport / town and go exploring for the day. It makes it fun as you are not just strictly flying, but also using your license to get somewhere as a tool

wdewg88 said:
What else do you all do with a PPL?
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Working towards my IR has been a good motivator. I'd love to be able to plan a trip a month or two out and take 3-5 days off and do longer XC trips. I find 300-400 nm to be the GA sweet spot. Those trips are wayyyyy too long to do by car, but not quite far enough to deal with the hassle of commercial air travel.. which door to door time the GA seems faster for those trips, at least in my case. Plus with GA you can get into a small town airport.. IE, you can fly into Livermore (LVK) vs Oakland or SFO. The challenge is, without an IR it makes planning that far out questionable, even in someplace like CA
 
Tantalum said:
For proficiency I try to fly 4 hrs/mo.. that usually means I'll plan one XC flight with friend or family per month, then some weekly pattern bouncing. My problem is, that as much as I like flying, I quickly found the "go up for 1 hr and land" sightseeing thing to get boring and once the initial thrill of "I'M A PILOT NOW!" wore off I had a hard time staying motivated to keep flying. Planning monthly cross country trips as missions keeps things new and interesting. We'll (wife or friends) pick a new airport / town and go exploring for the day. It makes it fun as you are not just strictly flying, but also using your license to get somewhere as a tool


Working towards my IR has been a good motivator. I'd love to be able to plan a trip a month or two out and take 3-5 days off and do longer XC trips. I find 300-400 nm to be the GA sweet spot. Those trips are wayyyyy too long to do by car, but not quite far enough to deal with the hassle of commercial air travel.. which door to door time the GA seems faster for those trips, at least in my case. Plus with GA you can get into a small town airport.. IE, you can fly into Livermore (LVK) vs Oakland or SFO. The challenge is, without an IR it makes planning that far out questionable, even in someplace like CA
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Yeah- that is what I was sort of afraid of- -that just going up to sight see may get boring after a while. But that's a good idea to pick XC to go and explore as a remedy. Thanks
 
wdewg88 said:
Yeah- that is what I was sort of afraid of- -that just going up to sight see may get boring after a while. But that's a good idea to pick XC to go and explore as a remedy. Thanks
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Which is why I enjoy doing the Pilots-n-Paws activities. Gets me out of the home area, helps to flex the flight planning muscles, and then the fun of operating at a new-to-me airport.
 
wdewg88 said:
Everyone has been great in replying to my other questions- so I'll throw one more out. For those that have licenses and don't fly for business purposes- -what sorts of flights are you doing and how often are you taking these trips?

I would envision that if/once I get my PPL, I'd hopefully join a club with a few C172s. Then I would fly on the weekends, perhaps on the one off during the weeks when work is not busy. Likely my wife and 1 of my 3 daughters are not going to be passengers due to fear of flying commercial, much less GA. That rules out day trips to the beach. Plus with 5 of us, a C172 doesn't have enough seat belts- -no matter that we'd be fine based on W&B.

So, at best, we are talking the 2 younger girls and their Dad flying to a couple of pancake fly-ins, some sunset flights to sight see, and flights out to the training area to stay proficient. Maybe even fly to see my folks (about 1.5 by car- so only 30-40 min by plane), or the occasional college football game a state over?

What else do you all do with a PPL? I'm trying to build a case in favor of it.

Thanks!
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No one flies with me. Had a few friends who wanted to go up shortly after I passed my checkride, but after those initial few, that's been it. My husband has never been up with me and doesn't intend to. My kids are too young to really take anywhere for much. For the most part, I just do solo lunch trips and spend the time there/back enjoying the freedom and beauty of flight.

I have no real goal with it, flying is just something I always wanted to do and so I am doing it. I would like my instrument rating, just to add more safety stuff to my bag. Maybe one day I'll become a CFI and teach on the side. Maybe one day when my kids grow up, I'll go work for a regional. Who knows, who cares. Like I said, I'm just doing it because it's what I want to do and I enjoy it.

I do intend to fly for a local charity org once I have enough hours under my belt. That will add a bit more "purpose."
 
AggieMike88 said:
Which is why I enjoy doing the Pilots-n-Paws activities. Gets me out of the home area, helps to flex the flight planning muscles, and then the fun of operating at a new-to-me airport.
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Do they take relatively new pilots? A brief flip through the site seems like the answer is yes.
 
I fly primarily for travel. My wife is finally starting to realize the greater variety of weekend getaway destinations our plane offers us. Of course, I'd be happy doing $100 hamburger runs, but I worked hard to lose weight and don't want to put it back on. So I'm taking up golf so that I can fly somewhere and play golf. (Then eat that $100 hamburger!)
 
wdewg88 said:
Do they take relatively new pilots? A brief flip through the site seems like the answer is yes.
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Yes. Since PnP works more as a communication medium between folks requesting rides for the pets and the pilots who do the flying, their experience requirement is that you are properly licensed, certificated, and current on all requirements. And a newly minted PPL can do the mission.

I also recommend someone new to PnP fly a mission as a helper, if possible. While it's not a difficult mission to execute, working with someone else who has done a few helps add experience and wisdom before you do one solo.
 
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wdewg88 said:
Do they take relatively new pilots? A brief flip through the site seems like the answer is yes.
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Dogs don't care how many hours you have, I did my first PnP flight with a month old certificate and about 60 hours.

Bill Jennings said:
Hah, the George(tte) Thorogood of the skies...
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"I fly aloooone, yeahhhhh with nobody else.....you know when I fly alone, I prefer to be by myyyyself".
 
AggieMike88 said:
Yes. Since PnP works more as a communication medium between folks requesting rides for the pets and the pilots who do the flying, their experience requirement is that you are properly licensed, certificated, and current on all requirements. And a newly minted PPL can do the mission.

I also recommend someone new to PnP fly a mission as a helper, if possible. While it's not a difficult mission to execute, working with someone else who has done a few helps add experience and wisdom before you do one solo.
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That's also a good way to get connected to other folks with planes, and a good way to get up in the air inexpensively.

And what daughter wouldn't be proud to say her dad helps abandoned doggies find homes?
 
Cajun_Flyer said:
Maybe one day I'll become a CFI and teach on the side. Maybe one day when my kids grow up, I'll go work for a regional. Who knows, who cares. Like I said, I'm just doing it because it's what I want to do and I enjoy it.
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Ah, so that's your retirement plan too? :)
 
Cajun_Flyer said:
No one flies with me. Had a few friends who wanted to go up shortly after I passed my checkride, but after those initial few, that's been it. My husband has never been up with me and doesn't intend to. My kids are too young to really take anywhere for much. For the most part, I just do solo lunch trips and spend the time there/back enjoying the freedom and beauty of flight.

I have no real goal with it, flying is just something I always wanted to do and so I am doing it. I would like my instrument rating, just to add more safety stuff to my bag. Maybe one day I'll become a CFI and teach on the side. Maybe one day when my kids grow up, I'll go work for a regional. Who knows, who cares. Like I said, I'm just doing it because it's what I want to do and I enjoy it.

I do intend to fly for a local charity org once I have enough hours under my belt. That will add a bit more "purpose."
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Just call this guy. He'll obviously fly with anyone.

 
Ryanb said:
I'll never understand the logic behind people who have a fear of flying commercial, it's just plain weird to me.
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Dude no joke I get nervous on commercial flights...freaks me out that I can't see in front of me. I really don't like sitting in the back not knowing what is going on lol
 
CC268 said:
Dude no joke I get nervous on commercial flights...freaks me out that I can't see in front of me. I really don't like sitting in the back not knowing what is going on lol
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Ha, I getcha there. I get that way if I ride backseat passenger while somebody else flies GA. I don't like being controlless sitting in the back. Doesn't bother me in an airliner.
 
I can probably sum up the main reason I have any of my (limited) hobbies in one word - adventure.
If something isn't very adventurous I lose interest pretty quick.
That's the great thing with flying so far. Just learning is quite an adventure, and being a total noob right now at 30 hrs, even pattern work with crosswinds is an adventure, but soon those will die off, but others will take their place. Florida? Denver? Seattle? Bahamas? Yes please.
Eventually I'll venture to the back seat with autopilot on, and a monkey on the dash to keep a lookout. But for now, it's solo cross countries.

As far a the wife goes, tell her you're going to take her to various malls on your flying adventures.
(Then, start a secret bank account... for backup!)
 
Cajun_Flyer said:
No one flies with me. Had a few friends who wanted to go up shortly after I passed my checkride, but after those initial few, that's been it. My husband has never been up with me and doesn't intend to. My kids are too young to really take anywhere for much. For the most part, I just do solo lunch trips and spend the time there/back enjoying the freedom and beauty of flight.

I have no real goal with it, flying is just something I always wanted to do and so I am doing it. I would like my instrument rating, just to add more safety stuff to my bag. Maybe one day I'll become a CFI and teach on the side. Maybe one day when my kids grow up, I'll go work for a regional. Who knows, who cares. Like I said, I'm just doing it because it's what I want to do and I enjoy it.

I do intend to fly for a local charity org once I have enough hours under my belt. That will add a bit more "purpose."
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Do you have that friend that wants to go(allegedly) but seems to come up with a lame excuse every time, like I have a hair appt., uh, I would but I have to go buy a thing for the thing, i just got your text(the next day) etc... haha... I have one of those. Mostly I just get crickets when I put it out there..... anyone, Bueller?
 
I fly because I hate driving. My wife was nervous on our first few flights together, loves it now, and is a big help with radios, etc. War Damn!!
 
Well I am just about done with my PPL. Checkride is Aug 10. I started a thread on here about how the wife was not supportive etc. Well it looks like things have changed a bit. We just put a contract on a vacation beach home in Port Aransas. Literally could walk to the mustang island airport. So the wife actually liked the idea of going to the beach house via plane. I also made the mistake of showing her a SR22 in person. She wanted to actually go and fly in the SR22. So I feel much better about travels post PPL with the wife. So I would do the typical Fredericksburg, tx flight into T82 trip, and flight to KRAS. Then I have plenty of friends that would ride with me for a burger.
 
My wife shared a number of my Taylorcraft adventures in our younger days, but now has no interest in flying. That's OK, it means I can buy cheap single seat airplanes.
 
exncsurfer said:
Do you have that friend that wants to go(allegedly) but seems to come up with a lame excuse every time, like I have a hair appt., uh, I would but I have to go buy a thing for the thing, i just got your text(the next day) etc... haha... I have one of those. Mostly I just get crickets when I put it out there..... anyone, Bueller?
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Yeah, pre-checkride EVERYONE wanted to go up with me once I was "officially" a pilot. Once I became so-called official, though, the crickets started chirping. All the big brave men eager for some fun in a single engine turned into small cowardly little boys with a million excuses why they couldn't go up. For whatever reason, the only takers I've had have been women... an ex-coworker, a current coworker's wife and my best friend who was in town one weekend. The ex-coworker has gone up with me a few times and even got her husband in the plane with us once, but that's all been well over 6 months now... their lives got busy with a new house.

Sometimes I actually hit up my CFI, now a good friend, to go up with me so I can have company. Thankfully he doesn't charge me anymore, although I insist on it when I want him to teach me something.

I just signed up for a spin recovery and basic aerobatics course in a super decath next month, so that should spice things up a bit.
 
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I learned long ago that most of the people I know have no interest in light aircraft. Then one day at work one of the accountants wanted to go. He called me back a little while later and asked if he could bring his wife, who was about eight months pregnant. It all went fine but I was on high alert the entire flight.

Then around 2012 or so my son, who was in 8th or 9th grade asked if he could bring a friend to OSH. I told him it was fine with me but both parents would have to tell me they were cool with it, which was not going to happen in this life. By the end of the day both parents had called me and said it was fine...
 
I guess I'm lucky. My wife loves flying with me. I have quite a few friends and coworkers that line up to go for the next flight. Even my wife has brought along a number of her friends who want to do it again. I don't remember the last time I had less than two passengers on board besides proficiency/training flights. The majority of my flights involve flying to Nantucket, Martha's Vineyard, or Block Island for the day as well as an occasional sightseeing flight over Boston. Flying is a blast no matter what, but it's a lot more fun when you can share it with other people.
 
Cajun_Flyer said:
I just signed up for a spin recovery and basic aerobatics course in a super decath next month, so that should spice things up a bit.
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If you're considering CFI down the road, get the spin endorsement while you're at it...
 
Hunter said:
I fly because I hate driving. My wife was nervous on our first few flights together, loves it now, and is a big help with radios, etc. War Damn!!
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WDE! Is that your C182? Good looking bird
 
I fly a little for work and make a trip to Canada every year. Sometimes I give people rides but most of the time it's just me, screwing around in my LSA off my grass strip.
Plane.JPG
 
I did all the "poking holes in the sky" trips I could do, then they started getting boring.

So I did a bunch of shorter cross countries, that was fun for awhile... went everywhere I could think of to go. Then that started getting boring, I ran out of places to realistically fly to. It also was not super fun to just go fly by myself. It was fun, don't get me wrong, but not the most awesome thing I've ever done.

I got my instrument rating, kept flying.

I realized things were getting boring, looked into clubs. The only one I could afford didn't encourage people taking the planes overnight (it was strongly discouraged). What's the point?

Tried to keep flying, tried to fly with the family, realized they didn't like it, and if something goes wrong, now I'm risking their lives for me to have my fun. I'm not totally risk averse, I'd still like to take my kids up again; I'd have to regain proficiency to where I knew I could put it down in any field I wanted. Haven't flown now in well over a year, so now I doubt my abilities.

So I flew by myself some more, and I still love it... but really, how much money am I spending to do what again? And how much do I have to spend and how much time do I sink in to staying proficient?

So I would still love to go up flying again, but I've kinda "let it go, let it go". One flight would be a great day on a pontoon with the family and/or friends. Everybody has a great time, not just me.

I've returned to dirt bikes. They are WAY cheaper in every way, I get to go have fun, it's social, and if I don't ride for a month, I'm not worried about being able to ride properly again. I don't need recurrent training, I just ride.

I love flying, can't wait to go up again, but the costs just aren't working out for me right now, and the reasons to go aren't working either. I hope that changes one day again.
 
StevieTimes said:
I did all the "poking holes in the sky" trips I could do, then they started getting boring.

So I did a bunch of shorter cross countries, that was fun for awhile... went everywhere I could think of to go. Then that started getting boring, I ran out of places to realistically fly to. It also was not super fun to just go fly by myself. It was fun, don't get me wrong, but not the most awesome thing I've ever done.

I got my instrument rating, kept flying.

I realized things were getting boring, looked into clubs. The only one I could afford didn't encourage people taking the planes overnight (it was strongly discouraged). What's the point?

Tried to keep flying, tried to fly with the family, realized they didn't like it, and if something goes wrong, now I'm risking their lives for me to have my fun. I'm not totally risk averse, I'd still like to take my kids up again; I'd have to regain proficiency to where I knew I could put it down in any field I wanted. Haven't flown now in well over a year, so now I doubt my abilities.

So I flew by myself some more, and I still love it... but really, how much money am I spending to do what again? And how much do I have to spend and how much time do I sink in to staying proficient?

So I would still love to go up flying again, but I've kinda "let it go, let it go". One flight would be a great day on a pontoon with the family and/or friends. Everybody has a great time, not just me.

I've returned to dirt bikes. They are WAY cheaper in every way, I get to go have fun, it's social, and if I don't ride for a month, I'm not worried about being able to ride properly again. I don't need recurrent training, I just ride.

I love flying, can't wait to go up again, but the costs just aren't working out for me right now, and the reasons to go aren't working either. I hope that changes one day again.
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I get all of this. I'm a little afraid this would happen to me. Thanks for the reply.
 
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