How do we (you) afford to fly?

50% or more of my travel is for business. The other half is subsidized by my business.
 
CharlieD3 said:
How many of you use your aircraft for "real" travel?

ie. Going over 500 miles, staying a while (days to weeks) instead of flying in tubes or driving or RVing?

Do you prefer it over "conventional" methods?

Yes, there can be delays due to wx etc. But who cares?

Heck, the airlines are getting delayed for days due to old weather half a country away...
Click to expand...

500 miles isn’t that much. I will do that tomorrow.

phoenix to StLouis twice a year is common for us. We get to stay as long (or not) as we choose.

This year featured three other cross-continent trips from the normal.
 
Crashnburn said:
I was spending my share of my inheritance from my folks on flying lessons until my wife got terminally sick. Now, it’s going for her 24/7 caregivers. For now, all of my flying is simulated so I only pay for electricity and 3rd party add-ons We have solar that helps with the electric bill. Our long term care insurance helps a lot, but only covers about half.
Click to expand...
So sorry to hear. We wish the best for you and your wife. While flying is wonderful, when it comes down to it, the people we love are precious.
 
No kids, and my wife and I own a software business, some rental properties, and part of a used car lot. Most my trips are long. In the last month we flew our Dakota from Reno to St. Louis to Ft. Worth and back.
 
Not trying to create a "thread drift" here but my problem is not finding the money to fly but finding the time to fly. Still working full time and lots of demands with that. At age 66 I'm about to wrap up my instrument rating and that has kept me motivated to focus on flying. Personal goal for the coming year is at least an hour a week of flying. Farming keeps me busy.
 
Anybody here using the Clyde Barrow/Bonnie Parker method to finance their flying? :fingerwag:
 
Possum said:
the money to fly but finding the time to fly
Click to expand...
The time is a big factor many overlook. People think "flying = $$$" but based on all the brand new SUVs and Teslas I see driving around surely there is a healthy amount of people who could fit flying into their budget.. but the time is a huge factor, and you have to line up the weather component with that too, that was my biggest issue living in New England.. most of my free days really weren't good flying days
 
..as far as answering the OP, just something you budget for. Set a flying goal for the year and put the money aside for it

My car is also paid off and while I appreciate elements of car culture and grew up with Jeremy Clarkson- a car is, ultimately, a tool.. that in the vast majority of cases will depreciate to nothing. My car is paid off and short of a catastrophe I don't plan to replace it. If I got another car it would strictly be as a 'toy' and as such would impact the flying budget (which is not something I'm interested in doing!)

a more depressing exercise is tallying your logbook and turning that into money and seeing what you've spent.. and the returns you could have gotten elsewhere for that same $$. But can't have your cake and eat it too I guess
 
As a serious answer - I work a nice job that pays well in an industry where I'm very senior and there is a constant shortage. My hope is that demand holds until I'm set for retirement. I budget for an amount every month and then don't feel guilty when I spend it.

If my money was shorter, there is a point I'd quit flying. But there are a lot of other things I'd give up first.
 
Possum said:
Not trying to create a "thread drift" here but my problem is not finding the money to fly but finding the time to fly. Still working full time and lots of demands with that. At age 66 I'm about to wrap up my instrument rating and that has kept me motivated to focus on flying. Personal goal for the coming year is at least an hour a week of flying. Farming keeps me busy.
Click to expand...
Back when I was getting my ticket... There were a lot of farm strips around, even within 3 miles of the Municipal strip...

IIRC, Flying Farmers was a busy group back then...
 
Power club with 3 pipers and a cirrus...all under $140/hr tach (wet)
Glider club with rates around $40/hr
Tow for glider club - free time in a pawnee (wheeee!!!!)
CAP - free if I'm doing a mission. Otherwise, about $50/hr hobbs time (wet)

As others have said, the wife's horse habit is FAR more expensive.

I have a full time job that pays well and I choose to live in the midwest instead of a coast.
 
I took lessons and got my PPL back in 83, rented for a few years and life got in the way. Worked a ton, made lots of money, invested said money, made more money. Retired and rekindled my interest in flying around 2010, rented, flew with CFI to get unrusted, took said money and bought a plane. Now I just fly it and enjoy aviation!
 
Tantalum said:
The time is a big factor many overlook. People think "flying = $$$" but based on all the brand new SUVs and Teslas I see driving around surely there is a healthy amount of people who could fit flying into their budget.. but the time is a huge factor, and you have to line up the weather component with that too, that was my biggest issue living in New England.. most of my free days really weren't good flying days
Click to expand...

A while back I was thinking about getting into Trike flying, and I tried to work out a plan to include adding the Trike rating to my PPASEL, and I just couldn't do it, so I bought a Waverunner instead.

There are plenty of guys around who could afford to fly that just aren't interested. That's probably for the best, the airports in the places they live are crowded enough already.
 
Back when I was a few years out of college working a technical sales job for a big company in NYC, I told my manager that I needed to make more money so I could buy a sailplane. He said I needed to get married for the dual income.

He was right. We bought a sailplane and a year later a house in NJ. Just had to find the right mate. Thirty five years, 3 aircraft, and a runway home later, it’s still working.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro
 
Possum said:
Not trying to create a "thread drift" here but my problem is not finding the money to fly but finding the time to fly. Still working full time and lots of demands with that. At age 66 I'm about to wrap up my instrument rating and that has kept me motivated to focus on flying. Personal goal for the coming year is at least an hour a week of flying. Farming keeps me busy.
Click to expand...


No time? The reason they put 4x4 on those trucks is to remind the farmers they have to work 4 months in the spring and 4 months in the fall.
 
Clip4 said:
No time? The reason they put 4x4 on those trucks is to remind the farmers they have to work 4 months in the spring and 4 months in the fall.
Click to expand...
I usta think that, too...
I usta think groceries come from the grocery store, too.
But I know that's sposed to be funny... Ha!

Your sense of humor is much more acerbic than mine...
 
Clip4 said:
No time? The reason they put 4x4 on those trucks is to remind the farmers they have to work 4 months in the spring and 4 months in the fall.
Click to expand...

And 4 months in the summer and 4 months in the winter. no wonder they have no time. Got to feed the world. Never get caught up...........;-)
 
CharlieD3 said:
I usta think that, too...
I usta think groceries come from the grocery store, too.
But I know that's sposed to be funny... Ha!

Your sense of humor is much more acerbic than mine...
Click to expand...

a great little sign:... Farming looks quaint and fun... from the road.
 
mcdewey said:
So sorry to hear. We wish the best for you and your wife. While flying is wonderful, when it comes down to it, the people we love are precious.
Click to expand...
Thank you so much. I was lucky to find her, lucky to get her to fall in love with me, and extremely lucky she stuck by me when I was a total jerk. It breaks my heart to see how much she is fading day to day. (She has an accelerated case of Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease (aka Mad Cow) and no one knows how she could have gotten it. My mother-in-law and I have our suspicions, but stating them would probably get my posting privileges suspended. Regardless of how she got it, she has it. Every day with her is precious, and harder than the day before, and yet, the sooner she passes, the better for her.
 
Crashnburn said:
Thank you so much. I was lucky to find her, lucky to get her to fall in love with me, and extremely lucky she stuck by me when I was a total jerk. It breaks my heart to see how much she is fading day to day. (She has an accelerated case of Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease (aka Mad Cow) and no one knows how she could have gotten it. My mother-in-law and I have our suspicions, but stating them would probably get my posting privileges suspended. Regardless of how she got it, she has it. Every day with her is precious, and harder than the day before, and yet, the sooner she passes, the better for her.
Click to expand...
Prayers for you and your wife and family...

My late wife who got me started in flying passed away from AML leukemia... My current wife supports my flying hobby and lets me take it out of my small (post official retirement) IRA.

We are blessed to have these ladies in our lives for as long as we get to keep them... They keep our feet planted on the world, but encourage us to soar....
 
CharlieD3 said:
Prayers for you and your wife and family...

My late wife who got me started in flying passed away from AML leukemia... My current wife supports my flying hobby and lets me take it out of my small (post official retirement) IRA.

We are blessed to have these ladies in our lives for as long as we get to keep them... They keep our feet planted on the world, but encourage us to soar....
Click to expand...
Agreed. My wife has truly been the wind beneath my wings. (I hate Bett Midler's rendition, though).
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top