Hobby Flying

...having said that, it was totally worth it!

Flying is an adventure, the whole process. Learning to fly, flying, all of it is great. I wouldn't trade having done it! I say do it, go have some fun, and if you walk away afterwards, great! You did it and had a great time with memories you'll never forget.

No regerts.
 
StevieTimes said:
...having said that, it was totally worth it!

Flying is an adventure, the whole process. Learning to fly, flying, all of it is great. I wouldn't trade having done it! I say do it, go have some fun, and if you walk away afterwards, great! You did it and had a great time with memories you'll never forget.

No regerts.
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I'm with you on the part involving family and completely understand the rest. You have the right attitude about these things in life!

For now, it's still fun for me. If it gets less so, I'll shake it up. If that gets dull, I'll keep trying new things as much as I can afford. If at any point it isn't a passion anymore or isn't financially possible, that's OK. At least I did it and had a blast for a while.
 
StevieTimes said:
...having said that, it was totally worth it!

Flying is an adventure, the whole process. Learning to fly, flying, all of it is great. I wouldn't trade having done it! I say do it, go have some fun, and if you walk away afterwards, great! You did it and had a great time with memories you'll never forget.

No regerts.
Click to expand...

Since this is the one place I've never said it, I miss living in a country where people lust for adventure!
 
CARLOS W said:
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.
Click to expand...
One bonus to your KRAS homestead.... you can frequently hit @Jay Honeck up for beers, burgers, and flights in his RV-8.
 
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.
Click to expand...
This post is thoroughly depressing. Good post though, keeping it real. I hope you get your flying mojo back one day. I don't get to fly enough to get bored so maybe that is a benefit that I hadn't considered, I'm starving so I stay hungry.
 
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!
Click to expand...

I've been thinking about your post for a few days...

I decided that the answer is, "If you have to build a case for it, something is wrong." :)

I've seen lots of analysis of "when to buy" over the years... (all the "pundits" say 100 hours a year flying, minimum... which I translate into "two hours EVERY weekend, or longer flights that mean you don't fly EVERY weekend")... but the end game of that decision is really this: Do you want airplane keys in your pocket so you can go fly whenever the heck you feel like it? Because that's the REAL reason to own... other than being mildly annoyed by your own airplane when it's grounded for maintenance.

And I've seen lots of reasons to go flying in "mission" format... the $100 (nowadays, $200) Hamburger Run, trips, just messing around in the pattern, sightseeing, etc... and I've come to figure out at all of those exist or don't in rentals OR owned aircraft... so unless you have a need to be gone for long periods of time with the airplane (since most places will either charge a minimum number of daily hours or similar, and will start squawking if you're gone with their airplane for two or three weeks...) or a need to equip the aircraft in some special way that only you like (maybe you're a hard-IFR traveller and want solid backup systems and the very best IFR tools)... none of them seems to REALLY apply to the "own or don't own" question.

So now you're down to... "Become a pilot, or not?" ... and that one... just falls to "Who do I want to be?" after you try to figure out all of the above... the only time I would really caution someone NOT to become a pilot is if they absolutely KNOW they don't have, or won't make time to stay reasonably proficient... in that case... you're raising risk to yourself and passengers.

Clear as mud, eh? Just sayin'... in the end, it's just "Who do I want to be, and what do I want to do?"

Having been an owner now for a while, I'll fight pretty hard to STAY an owner... I love the flexibility of "keys in my pocket", even with an occasional blip in the schedule because my co-owner is flying... it bugs me a whole lot less knowing it's not someone "anonymous" on a rental schedule that I'm waiting on... it's someone who cares about the airplane as much as I do.

And having been a pilot for much longer... I just want to be a pilot. I can't really justify it financially at all. In fact, fiscally it's stupid. It's just what I want to do/be.
 
StevieTimes said:
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.
Click to expand...

It sounds like if you could get costs way down maybe it would be more fun?

Any sailplane places nearby? It's really a LOT cheaper once the rating is earned and pretty cheap during earning the add-on. And quite a lot of fun and a way to do something completely different... but not completely different... if you know what I mean.

And as long as nobody is waiting for the aircraft, it's one of those weird twists of aviation that the better you get at it and finding lift, the cheaper each flight hour gets...
 
denverpilot said:
I've been thinking about your post for a few days...

I decided that the answer is, "If you have to build a case for it, something is wrong." :)

I've seen lots of analysis of "when to buy" over the years... (all the "pundits" say 100 hours a year flying, minimum... which I translate into "two hours EVERY weekend, or longer flights that mean you don't fly EVERY weekend")... but the end game of that decision is really this: Do you want airplane keys in your pocket so you can go fly whenever the heck you feel like it? Because that's the REAL reason to own... other than being mildly annoyed by your own airplane when it's grounded for maintenance.

And I've seen lots of reasons to go flying in "mission" format... the $100 (nowadays, $200) Hamburger Run, trips, just messing around in the pattern, sightseeing, etc... and I've come to figure out at all of those exist or don't in rentals OR owned aircraft... so unless you have a need to be gone for long periods of time with the airplane (since most places will either charge a minimum number of daily hours or similar, and will start squawking if you're gone with their airplane for two or three weeks...) or a need to equip the aircraft in some special way that only you like (maybe you're a hard-IFR traveller and want solid backup systems and the very best IFR tools)... none of them seems to REALLY apply to the "own or don't own" question.

So now you're down to... "Become a pilot, or not?" ... and that one... just falls to "Who do I want to be?" after you try to figure out all of the above... the only time I would really caution someone NOT to become a pilot is if they absolutely KNOW they don't have, or won't make time to stay reasonably proficient... in that case... you're raising risk to yourself and passengers.

Clear as mud, eh? Just sayin'... in the end, it's just "Who do I want to be, and what do I want to do?"

Having been an owner now for a while, I'll fight pretty hard to STAY an owner... I love the flexibility of "keys in my pocket", even with an occasional blip in the schedule because my co-owner is flying... it bugs me a whole lot less knowing it's not someone "anonymous" on a rental schedule that I'm waiting on... it's someone who cares about the airplane as much as I do.

And having been a pilot for much longer... I just want to be a pilot. I can't really justify it financially at all. In fact, fiscally it's stupid. It's just what I want to do/be.
Click to expand...

Thanks DP- that sums it up pretty well. I'm hoping that the next discovery flight will definitely answer the "Who do I want to be" question. To translate the interest and desires I've got on the ground into tangible stuff in the air. If so, then I'll likely do it. Being proficient is a big key. I won't undertake it unless I have a good plan to stay sharp.
 
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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The thing about fear is, it's not always rational.

I used to have at least some fear of flying commercially, even though I knew that it's safer than driving, but I never let it stop me from getting on an airliner. I think the feeling of not having any control over the outcome had something to do with it.

Those fears went away after I became a pilot. Flying GA has gotten me used to rationalizing an activity that is less safe than driving, plus just knowing more about it probably made a difference too.
 
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wdewg88 said:
Thanks DP- that sums it up pretty well. I'm hoping that the next discovery flight will definitely answer the "Who do I want to be" question. To translate the interest and desires I've got on the ground into tangible stuff in the air. If so, then I'll likely do it. Being proficient is a big key. I won't undertake it unless I have a good plan to stay sharp.
Click to expand...

Let me address this.......Learning to fly is sort of like a relationship, its a commitment. It wont always be fun, you WILL want to quit at some point and have to push through it. Also, for me anyway, the image, or vision, or whatever you want to call it, that I had in my head since I was a kid was really not anything like real flying. The movie that played in my head for years was action flick, real flying is a documentary. As far as not doing it unless you have a good plan to stay sharp, well......I'll leave you with the sage words of Mike Tyson, everybody has a plan till they get hit in the mouth. If you do decide to pursue your certificate, I don't know the real numbers, but you will join a very, very exclusive club. Good luck to you!
 
Mike Smith said:
I don't know the real numbers, but you will join a very, very exclusive club. Good luck to you!
Click to expand...

From Wiki, should be close enough for government work:

"As of the end of 2015, in the US, there were an estimated 590,039 active certificated pilots.[19] This number has been declining gradually over the past several decades, down from a high of over 827,000 pilots in 1980. There were 702,659 in 1990 and 625,581 in 2000. "
 
Mike Smith said:
I'll leave you with the sage words of Mike Tyson, everybody has a plan till they get hit in the mouth.
Click to expand...

6d8b0f3f554e35c803f3b197bd93616b.jpg
 
Mike Smith said:
...I'll leave you with the sage words of Mike Tyson, everybody has a plan till they get hit in the mouth.
Click to expand...

Has everyone heard the story of Tom Segura meeting Mike Tyson on an airplane?

Mr. Tyson seems to be a really nice guy!
 
wdewg88 said:
Thanks DP- that sums it up pretty well. I'm hoping that the next discovery flight will definitely answer the "Who do I want to be" question. To translate the interest and desires I've got on the ground into tangible stuff in the air. If so, then I'll likely do it. Being proficient is a big key. I won't undertake it unless I have a good plan to stay sharp.
Click to expand...
+1 on importance of proficiency. Flying is far more fun and relaxing (also safe) if you maintain it.

On your original question- I'll echo what many have said: personal flying can definitely be timesaving and useful, and allows trips that would be difficult or impossible without it, but I think it gives you a lot that has nothing to do with utility. It is an enjoyable discipline and skill that relatively few possess. Doing it well gives a lot of satisfaction. Flying lets you see the world in a completely different way. It never gets old for me.

I learned when I was 16 (late 50's now) and flew for a living for a few years in my 20's. I have always owned or partnered in one aircraft or another. I lived in Alaska most of my life; living there, the utility of an airplane is obvious; 85% of the state is inaccessible by road. There are endless villages, remote lodges, beaches, airstrips, lakes, rivers, etc. for destinations.

But, a couple of years ago, I moved to New Mexico and sold my aircraft partnerships in Alaska. I thought that I would maybe be sensible and stay out of aviation in the new town. Save the money, etc. My wife thought it was a good idea; she used to fly with me a lot when we were younger, but much less in the past 10 yrs or so. So, I sat on the ground for about a year. Long story short, I soon found there was something big missing in my life. I bought another airplane. I work away from home a lot and there are periods of time when all I have is an hour to quickly ride my motorcycle over to the airport and get up in the air for 45 minutes and then zip back home. But that is one effective hour of therapy! I've decided that I will stop flying when I have to, not before. :)
 
I told my wife I was thinking of taking flying lessons. She said "Okay, if you want to". I then told her that I started yesterday.
That was twenty years, two planes, coast to coast and to the Bahamas by our planes ago. Most of our friends are from aviation. My wife is very proficient with managing the radios and ForeFlight.
I know a lot of people who spend more on golf than we do on flying.
 
I recall wanting to learn how to fly from a very young age, despite not really having much (if any) exposure to airplanes. Born in US, but spent a good # of years outside; not from a 'well to do' family and knew no pilots - never knew private flying was even a 'thing'...only ever knew about flying for the Air Force or commercial airlines. Moved back to US as a teen but never gave learning much serious thought until mid 20s, and started looking up the cost, etc at that time. Seemed pretty expensive so I didn't pursue it but as the years went by I came back to look at the cost again and again [every couple years] and each time it was higher [obviously]. Eventually 3 years ago seeing the cost had pretty much doubled from when I first looked, I decided I would forget about the $ aspect and just go for it. I had no idea what I had signed up for, just that I would need to be dedicated and be confident in knocking it out. Took me around 6 months and 75 hours total flight time to finish with a very hectic work schedule.

Prior to getting the private rating, I expected that I would be taking many impromptu weekend trips by renting from the local flight school and going out to nearby cities. Little did I know - rental availability, weather, etc all lining up is a rare occurrence. In the last 2.5+ years since earning my wings, I've only taken 2 out of town weekend trips. Most of my flights tend to be to 1 of 2 local destinations for breakfast. In that time, I've only flown 45 hours total - which ain't much! If my schedule allowed, and weather/rental availability lined up, I'd like to have done quite a bit more than that. There have been times I've gone almost 3 months without a flight - sometimes following a layoff like that I'll grab a CFI to practice some things, and other times I won't. One thing I have surprised myself with is that in those short amount of hours, I've managed to take up 20 different passengers - family, friends, coworkers, and they've all enjoyed it.

I wouldn't say I have a PASSION for aviation - though I definitely enjoy it. I rarely go up by myself anymore just to look around. My favorite flying is taking up 'first timers' who have that wide eyed wonder at the magic of flight. I don't regret any of the $ I've spent on this hobby - I'm glad I went for it and hopefully can continue to fly and learn more skills - perhaps Instrument rating at some point in the future.
 
This is my idea of hobby flying. A friend bought this as a project and ended up contracting it out for completion. He and my brother (has owned several Stearman) brought it home from Tallahassee. It is beautiful. Owner is former Naval Aviator now FedEx Captain. This is his fun plane.

I flew my RV over to watch them arrive and to see it up close.

c6b75e5337f0b5b6bdd49aff7ffa9b5f.jpg



Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
CARLOS W said:
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.
Click to expand...

Very cool Carlos, I'm glad it seems like it is going to work out that she appreciates the benefits too. She may even get to love it!

I'm just finishing up ground school, and it occurred to me that though my wife has been supportive since day one, and she is eager to fly with me, you never know until they get up there. If she gets motion sickness, etc. it might turn her off a little. I sometimes get motion sickness but the prize is worth the discomfort, and I am hopeful it will get better and better with experience. For her, I just hope it is a pleasant experience and for the first few flights I will make sure to fly short trips and not fly if I think there is possibility of turbulence (assuming I can make that evaluation, making sure it is in the morning or afternoon).

I am kind of old to be learning, 60 and will be 61 in October. I am not sure if my son and daughter have confidence flying with me, so I have thought a good deal about this and decided when I get my PPL, I will fly solo until I feel more sure of my abilities. And I will tell my family and friends that...

"My feelings will not be hurt at all if you don't want to fly with me, but you are totally welcome to if you want to. And you can always change your mind, to go or not. I do promise though that I will never take you up in the plane if I feel like I am not "sharp" or "on my game" even if it means cancelling a planned flight."

I am so looking forward to it though!
 
denverpilot said:
I've been thinking about your post for a few days...

I decided that the answer is, "If you have to build a case for it, something is wrong." :)

I've seen lots of analysis of "when to buy" over the years... (all the "pundits" say 100 hours a year flying, minimum... which I translate into "two hours EVERY weekend, or longer flights that mean you don't fly EVERY weekend")... but the end game of that decision is really this: Do you want airplane keys in your pocket so you can go fly whenever the heck you feel like it? Because that's the REAL reason to own... other than being mildly annoyed by your own airplane when it's grounded for maintenance.

And I've seen lots of reasons to go flying in "mission" format... the $100 (nowadays, $200) Hamburger Run, trips, just messing around in the pattern, sightseeing, etc... and I've come to figure out at all of those exist or don't in rentals OR owned aircraft... so unless you have a need to be gone for long periods of time with the airplane (since most places will either charge a minimum number of daily hours or similar, and will start squawking if you're gone with their airplane for two or three weeks...) or a need to equip the aircraft in some special way that only you like (maybe you're a hard-IFR traveller and want solid backup systems and the very best IFR tools)... none of them seems to REALLY apply to the "own or don't own" question.

So now you're down to... "Become a pilot, or not?" ... and that one... just falls to "Who do I want to be?" after you try to figure out all of the above... the only time I would really caution someone NOT to become a pilot is if they absolutely KNOW they don't have, or won't make time to stay reasonably proficient... in that case... you're raising risk to yourself and passengers.

Clear as mud, eh? Just sayin'... in the end, it's just "Who do I want to be, and what do I want to do?"

Having been an owner now for a while, I'll fight pretty hard to STAY an owner... I love the flexibility of "keys in my pocket", even with an occasional blip in the schedule because my co-owner is flying... it bugs me a whole lot less knowing it's not someone "anonymous" on a rental schedule that I'm waiting on... it's someone who cares about the airplane as much as I do.

And having been a pilot for much longer... I just want to be a pilot. I can't really justify it financially at all. In fact, fiscally it's stupid. It's just what I want to do/be.
Click to expand...

I also have been thinking of th OP and his points. I'm just finishing up ground school, have only eleven hours flying time, and grew up with flying (my dad was a GA pilot).

I think I hit on a good point earlier in this thread. With boats.

Just last year, end of summer, I bought my first sailboat (in Norway, an Askeladden 14' combi sailboat) and just this summer figured out how to deploy a buoy, for mooring, and then...got the boat in the water and me and my son tried to sail it on the small lake where we have a cabin. It was SO cool. We both have no sailing experience, but have read up on the theory. It was tricky to get the mainsail up, but we managed, and suddenly...we were sailing. Next trip out a few days later when there was some good wind, we managed also to get the jib deployed.
It was SO cool now the whole family is obsessed with sailing, but there is no purpose. We could take a trip to a destination, but really the whole point is how cool it is to test yourself, use the wind, and get better and better at sailing. How weird it is when you have a tailwind, and it feels like you are stuck when actually we are going at a good clip, and just the experience.

There is no purpose, except for just experiencing it.

To get to fly takes a lot more details kowledge, but it is often the same thing, it's just cool (or not, depends on your viewpoint).
Of course, I'm no sailor yet...just managed to get the boat moving, where an experienced person would have gotten lots more out of the boat. Also, it's a small boat, very little expense (and no fuel...we have oars for when the wind dies out) vs. flying.

But in the end there really is only one question...do you love it or not?

The answer can change over time too.
 
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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?
Click to expand...

I learned in 2006 in a modified C-152 - total cost about $5500. Am at about 750 hours now - 100 night and have not completed IR yet (have the hours, but not real useful here in the desert SW). About 600 of the above hours are in my Tiger and was flying 100 hrs a year until the last 2 years which declined as I run my own business (medical) and things have gotten harder.

My wife got me into flying as she thought I needed a hobby. She bought golf clubs as a surprise present, but I really don't enjoy it. Started flying as I thought it'd be nice to visit my son when he reached college age if he wasn't too far from home. Fast forward 10 years, and he is now in Austin (9+ hr drive vs. 3:40 flight). I am able to run my business and occasionally (once a month) get Friday afternoon off which allows me to work Friday and arrive in Austin at dusk from April-Sept. Due to time change, as long as I'm wheels up by 5pm Sunday departing Austin, I'm still in daylight arriving home.

Prior to his leaving for college (since his 4th grade), we've done a TON of father-son trips all over the SW including 4-5 Disney trips, Catalina 3 times, Yosemite, PHX for hockey games (2 hr vs 7 driving). ABQ zoo, San Antonio Alamo, Zoo and Sea World multiple times. My wife will fly local only or 1 hr trips. She meets us on the long trips via Southwest Airlines frequent flyer points (California-Austin-San Antonio).

Additionally, in high school it enabled us to see the football team play in the playoffs (he was at an FFA meeting in Big Spring - no way to do it unless I picked him up and flew to Lubbock) - same for a basketball playoff game in La Mesa TX near Lubbock. That last game the school was penalizing students that left before noon to attend that game (7 hr drive). Due to high winds, I made it under 2 hrs *AND* got a heads up at 7500 feet that the Super Fortress Fifi would be passing under me at 6500 and to stop descent (awesome sight) - I picked him up at school at the normal 3:30 release for a 7 pm game - courtesy car at airport. Had people at the game asking if they could ride back as they weren't staying the night and facing 14 hrs of driving for that game round trip.

I flew at Father's day and July 4th to see him. His girl friend lives in Lubbock and was working until 6pm. I flew Friday pm El Paso to Austin (fueled Llano) and then flew with him to Sweetwater TX (so she wouldn't have to drive alone 6 hours) and dropped him off there (couldn't get closer to Lubbock due to storms). Austin to Sweetwater a little over an hour ... driving took them a little over 4 to get back to his apartment.

I love flying with him, we've done a TON together and he handles the plane well ... on the last trip he indicated he wanted to get his PPL next summer:):):)
 
I'm still working on my Sport Pilot. My 'after cert' plan is to hit every non-towered airport that's within a half tank of gas (about a 240 mile radius in the Skycatcher). Why? Why not! I also plan to spend time getting better at flying so I'll continue to practice maneuvers, landings, and working the pattern (especially when there's more than just a little traffic). I may eventually go for Private but for now, day flying VFR works fine for me.
 
Doug F said:
I'm still working on my Sport Pilot. My 'after cert' plan is to hit every non-towered airport that's within a half tank of gas (about a 240 mile radius in the Skycatcher). Why? Why not!
Click to expand...

I did a lot of that and noticed a bunch of the new guys did as well immediately after PPL. I don't anymore having landed at a lot of pretty remote fields (runway only no buildings) ... once you own your own AC, the thought of cost of repair if there's a maintenance issue dampens some of those stops;)
 
If you want to do something with your family, buy a boat. if you want to be alone, buy a plane.
 
Doug F said:
I'm still working on my Sport Pilot. My 'after cert' plan is to hit every non-towered airport that's within a half tank of gas (about a 240 mile radius in the Skycatcher). Why? Why not! I also plan to spend time getting better at flying so I'll continue to practice maneuvers, landings, and working the pattern (especially when there's more than just a little traffic). I may eventually go for Private but for now, day flying VFR works fine for me.
Click to expand...

Are you equating non-towered with no gas? That's not the case.
 
Doug F said:
I'm still working on my Sport Pilot. My 'after cert' plan is to hit every non-towered airport that's within a half tank of gas (about a 240 mile radius in the Skycatcher).
Click to expand...

You know you can use almost a whole tank of gas both directions, minus VFR reserves, of course. :)
 
denverpilot said:
You know you can use almost a whole tank of gas both directions, minus VFR reserves, of course. :)
Click to expand...
Depending on weight, it may or may not be permissible to take off with that much fuel in a Skycatcher.
 
Doug F said:
I'm still working on my Sport Pilot. My 'after cert' plan is to hit every non-towered airport that's within a half tank of gas (about a 240 mile radius in the Skycatcher). Why? Why not! I also plan to spend time getting better at flying so I'll continue to practice maneuvers, landings, and working the pattern (especially when there's more than just a little traffic). I may eventually go for Private but for now, day flying VFR works fine for me.
Click to expand...

I flew to every casino in mn. It was fun.
 
tinerj said:
If you want to do something with your family, buy a boat. if you want to be alone, buy a plane.
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Completely disagree.

If you want to see the country with your family, buy a plane. If you want to stay drunk every weekend, buy a boat.

I live in the boating capital of Texas. There are $60 million worth of yachts docked just a few blocks away. Most are floating bars that seldom seem to move.

Sent from my SM-T700 using Tapatalk
 
redhandle said:
Maybe it's the difference between a claustrophobic tube where you can't really see anything and have no knowledge and no control over what's happening, vs. big front window where you see everything the pilot sees, know whats going on and have some input over the conduct of the flight itself.
Click to expand...

That's exactly it. My wife hates flying commercial for that very reason. She has no problem flying next to me in our LSA.
 
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