Posted on 02/14/2018 8:37:40 AM PST by Celerity
And then start here:
https://youcanfly.aopa.org/?_ga=2.82243984.721413160.1518627866-1411351609.1477565418
Concur. Get the license, instrument rating, and go for dual engine if you can afford it. After that, and more than 100 hours on instruments, look into ownership.
You’ll need to find a school at a field within reasonable distance to your new abode. Too far, and it will hinder the need to take a lesson or two per week. For 6 months or so. You’ll put on about 20-30 hours prior to solo, and perhaps 30 hours after that. You’ll need to pass the ground school.
I fly my FR namesake, try to get up at least once every two weeks for a jaunt at minimum. Have taken it from Northeast to FL, CA... went to PEI last summer. It’s a TON of fun, and for me, a stress REDUCER - overall :-) . Flying since 1978, have about 3k hours.
Feel free to FRemail and ask questions here - plenty of FR pilots.
An entry level airplane can easily be $125/hr to rent.
Ownership? Try $1,500 minimum annual inspections, $5,000-$25,000 annual maintenance costs, insurance at $4,000-$12,000, simple tie down at $140/month, and fuel at $5/gallon at not less than 10 gallons per hour flying time. A plane can easily cost $75,000 to $750,000.
Just to be prepared to drop $20-30 a day whether or not you fly your plane; add in other expenses/fees if you do.
First things first. Check your med qualifications ($150 gamble). It’s true they are relaxed and can be done by ordinary physicians (who want to jump through a ton of FAA hoops). But don’t believe the myths you can find on the intarwebs, just do it.
http://www.aopa.org/ should be a go-to source, all along the way of your quest.
If you get your 3rd class med, then research instructors and/or flight schools. You will get the most bang for your bucks (about $10,000 m/l) by finding such close by, compatible with you, with a rental craft or fleet.
Do NOT think of saving money by buying a plane yet. You won’t, guaranteed. Wait till you have your license and several hundred hours under your belt. Fixed costs including insurance and variable costs will eat your lunch as a newly minted pilot.
Your private pilot’s license will be one of the most rewarding things you can do, if you approach it right. Keep in mind that it is a license to learn, once you get it.
Some costs factors in ownership and use:
Insurance (based on you, experience, and hull value)
Annual (every year take apart, inspect and repair)
Hangar or tiedown (indoors definitely lowers maintenance)
Unanticipated expense (rolls around every now and then)
Predicted expense (engine life being the biggie)
Fuel and consumables (based on your usage)
Additional ratings you might want (IFR, multi, sea, etc)
Class 3 med and BFR (biennial flight review) every two years
RON as you travel (Room overnight and other costs) It used to be the $100 hamburger but it’s gone up.
Now do you see why I say, “Don’t buy now?” Rental prices are not that expensive until you discover your commitment. It’s a source of pleasure if you approach it right.
I got my license at 17 and have silver hair now and a couple thou hours, mostly in the same plane for the last three decades. Still OK on class 3, but ya never know when the rug gets pulled out from under your feet. So, good luck and wings away!
I have an instructional place pretty close to me - and I’ve been told to expect $10,000 to get from nothing to instruments and about 9 months.
I work from home, and have my own schedule which helps a bit in getting things moving. I’m the kinda guy who gets a licence and takes things to an extreme. I attended Skip Barber when I was 18 just because I felt the need to max out my driving abilities. To this date, 23 years later I’ve logged about a million miles with no accidents or even severe incidents (I rearended a car about 12 years ago because their taillights weren’t functional).
I’m a focused student and practitioner. I get perfect test scores and evaluation scores and usually am at the top of the class for things (weapons, motorcycles, vehicles, etc).
I think I would make good results of anyone’s time. The pilot’s licence is something I want even if I don’t own a plane.
Now RENTAL is something I never thought of.
I’ll have to look into that. If I can fly a few different combinations then I’ll be a lot better off knowing what it is that I want before going to buy it.
Like renting pistols at the range. It’ll compress the time it takes to know what it is that you want.
“After that its all about the money. I fly a Cessna 172 for a living. I fly anywhere from 300 to 700 hours a year. I calculate about $100 bucks an hour to fly.”
That’s a number that’s a lot lower than I imagined. You charge that to fly or it costs you that to fly the 172 ?
But if you're well off or wealthy, you're good to go.
“How much flying do you expect to do?”
Well that’s the thing. When I close my eyes I imagine myself darting off to far off places every weekend. Visiting family, going to different national parks, experiencing all the US has to offer.
But the point of my questioning is to correct my false imagination of what being a pilot really is - Is it that or is it something to full of responsibilities, costs and hassles that it would be a miserable experience ?
My friend loves to fish. He owns a nice boat. He loves life and his boat improves his life. If I owned that boat it would just tick me off after a few weeks and I wouldn’t get in it again. I love travel and am thinking of picking up an RV (Like a class c). I’m the only one who drives, so it’s not like I could take advantage of things like that.
I’m a technical guy and would appreciate the yoke more than a steering wheel. I want to take my family around the country to different properties and projects. I think I would enjoy a plane.
Before you load up the car, it's good to know where you're going
$10,000 to IFR? Extremely unlikely. You’ve got at least that much, and probably twice that, in flight time cost alone much less instructor costs. Instructors are another $35-$50 per hour.
“Before you load up the car, it’s good to know where you’re going”
We’ve been touring the country for a year now, getting out to areas that interest us.
I find a LOT of interesting places. My life goal is, as it has been since I was 10 - to own land. And I gotta tell you, I want to own land in every state. Put a cabin on each and just go wherever, whenever. So a log cabin in New Hampshire, a lodge in Indiana, a ranch in Kentucky.. Just little homes everywhere.
And I would love a way to get to all of these places whenever I want to go.
The land is a FRACTION of the cost of a plane. But it’s a fraction of the cost of an RV or the cabin on the property too.
Unfortunately one of his rentals engine malfunctioned and he crashed from 400 ft. Fortunately he survived but he was beat up pretty bad........
Check your FR Mail.
Less expensive overall.
Learn more.
Easier to store.
“a lodge in Indiana”
I live in Indiana and find your comment most amusing!
Because of the amount of hours I fly. 300 to 700 hours is 30 to $70,000 dollars in expenses.
Fuel is $50 an hour.
Like I said, if you fly less hours your costs will go up.
Expenses for me are hanger, insurance, maintenance, etc.
Those are hard costs. $500 month for hanger, $1500 for insurance, maintenance is variable and can get very expensive. Example would be annuals, $1000 and up if any issues. So if you don’t fly at all you are looking at 8 to $10,000 bucks a year for plane ownership. Fly 1 hour and you can see your costs.
Since I fly so many hours the averages go down.
BFL
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