05-31-2017, 03:15 PM
I am beginning to wonder if this is just another pipe dream of mine...
So here's the problem. Always comes down to two things...time and money.
One is getting the time in on a real plane. Been playing around on X-plane and have learned a few things on my own, which is all good. My initial plan was to get a couple hours in a plane and make a final decision on whether or not I want to go after this. I mean it is one thing to fly in a simulator, even if you have the whole setup, but a real plane is simply real...and really expensive.
To rent a Cessna 172 Skyhawk up at the local airport costs about $110/hr and adding in the cost of fuel...so make that closer to $160 after it is all said and done. That's just to fly with a friend of mine who is kind enough to do this with me, but he's not a flight instructor, so the hours don't count but will help me save a bit of money to decide on things.
So let's say I'm cool with it and I want to go after it. Now I have to pay a flight instructor which is going to cost and additional $50/hr or more...not sure what someone would charge. So, over $200 per hour... Also have to consider that the minimum number of hours to have logged are 40, but probably more like 60 hours...so that's $12k not counting other costs associated with getting my pilots license.
At the current rate, I can probably afford to fly 1 hour per month, which means I'll have the hours needed in about 5 years...Then I will likely want to own my own plane and unless you get something old or needs work, planes are crazy expensive...
I think it is certainly worth exploring but money has to come from somewhere and I would think that flying more than 1 hour per month is going to be much better, not only is it going to save time getting the hours but also retention of knowledge. I also hate the fact that I will be pushing 35-36 years old before I get there.
The other thing is that it does seem that a lot of people do business with planes rather than just for leisure, so might be barking up the wrong tree. While I think pilots and so on are going to promote getting a pilot's license and so on, might be a pipe dream after all.
I mean I think it is worth checking into but I think it may be more than I can afford to get into.
That being said there is still paramotors, although I would say it would be to my benefit to start running again lol. I mean you are carrying a motor that weighs probably 60+ lbs on your back and having to run with it and control the wing all at the same time... I mean on the time scale, it is probably something I can do for a while and unlike general aviation, probably not something I can do at 60, then again might not be able to do that either. Got to have a medical certificate saying I can fly...
Also as I said in the previous post it is pretty unlikely that I would be able to make a career out of flying at this point...Not saying I couldn't just not likely, it would be much better if I were thinking about this 10 years ago, everything would have been on the table.
So here's the problem. Always comes down to two things...time and money.
One is getting the time in on a real plane. Been playing around on X-plane and have learned a few things on my own, which is all good. My initial plan was to get a couple hours in a plane and make a final decision on whether or not I want to go after this. I mean it is one thing to fly in a simulator, even if you have the whole setup, but a real plane is simply real...and really expensive.
To rent a Cessna 172 Skyhawk up at the local airport costs about $110/hr and adding in the cost of fuel...so make that closer to $160 after it is all said and done. That's just to fly with a friend of mine who is kind enough to do this with me, but he's not a flight instructor, so the hours don't count but will help me save a bit of money to decide on things.
So let's say I'm cool with it and I want to go after it. Now I have to pay a flight instructor which is going to cost and additional $50/hr or more...not sure what someone would charge. So, over $200 per hour... Also have to consider that the minimum number of hours to have logged are 40, but probably more like 60 hours...so that's $12k not counting other costs associated with getting my pilots license.
At the current rate, I can probably afford to fly 1 hour per month, which means I'll have the hours needed in about 5 years...Then I will likely want to own my own plane and unless you get something old or needs work, planes are crazy expensive...
I think it is certainly worth exploring but money has to come from somewhere and I would think that flying more than 1 hour per month is going to be much better, not only is it going to save time getting the hours but also retention of knowledge. I also hate the fact that I will be pushing 35-36 years old before I get there.
The other thing is that it does seem that a lot of people do business with planes rather than just for leisure, so might be barking up the wrong tree. While I think pilots and so on are going to promote getting a pilot's license and so on, might be a pipe dream after all.
I mean I think it is worth checking into but I think it may be more than I can afford to get into.
That being said there is still paramotors, although I would say it would be to my benefit to start running again lol. I mean you are carrying a motor that weighs probably 60+ lbs on your back and having to run with it and control the wing all at the same time... I mean on the time scale, it is probably something I can do for a while and unlike general aviation, probably not something I can do at 60, then again might not be able to do that either. Got to have a medical certificate saying I can fly...
Also as I said in the previous post it is pretty unlikely that I would be able to make a career out of flying at this point...Not saying I couldn't just not likely, it would be much better if I were thinking about this 10 years ago, everything would have been on the table.
"I’m not expecting to grow flowers in a desert, but I can live and breathe and see the sun in wintertime"
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