It looks like you guys had an awesome time together. One of my best memories is my dad took me to an air show when I was around your sons age and paid for me to go flying in a steerman bi-plane...….

I used to fly, and had designs on buying a plane. I did my due diligence, and could never justify the cost. People say boats are expensive, but there are no annuals or airworthiness directives for my sailboat, and I can work on it myself without a babysitter. Owning a plane is in a whole nother league. Plus, almost everyone will go sailing, almost no one wanted to go flying.

Learn to fly first. Then rent for a bit and try different birds. Also, figure out what your mission(s) are. What type aircraft you want depends on what you are going to do with it.

My first airplane was a 1948 Cessna 140 (the taildragger predecessor to the 150) and I flew the snot out of it. Out to Catalina (I was young and stupid then), down to Baja a few times, etc. I would also just go shoot landings sometimes, it was a lot of fun. Second airplane was an investment partnership with a girlfriend in a G35 Bonanza. Put a little over a hundred hours on it, and it wasn’t until I was checking out the commercial pilot who was going to get his CFI and instruct the buyer that I figured out that was the first time I had *ever* shot landings in the airplane. It was a great airplane, but it was a traveling machine. Preflight, crank it up, go somewhere, postflight, tie it down, then go do whatever.

Currently flying a Beech Travel Air (basically a double breasted Bonanza. Goes a little slower than the later model Bonanzas, probably costs a little more to operate, but you have the comfort of knowing that you have that second engine to take you to the scene of the crash.) as the going places machine and a Bellanca Super Decathlon (two seat tandem taildragger) as the “Go have fun” and “Teach my son to fly” bird.

Owning is expensive, but if you can swing it, it has its advantages. The key is to not get more airplane than you can afford to maintain properly.

The other thing to consider is that in most airplanes you can’t fill the seats and fill the tanks. The Cessna 172 is a great airplane, but unless you are operating only at sea level or on very short flights (light fuel load), it is best to think of it as a good honest three seat airplane even though it has four. If you want to really use four seats, you might be better off with a Cessna 182 or something else.

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Originally posted by Jim Shugart:... When we had liftoff, she stiffened up and looked at me as if to say, "Well, fuck me sideways!"

I knew a girl....

Wait. I'll save that for another thread...

If you thought owning a boat was expensive...

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Talk about expensive hobbies

Can't be much worse than collecting antique vault doors.

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Consider renting

More likely than not what I would do. I bought my current house at the end of 2012. The other property I was looking at had a runway on it with a hanger right behind the house. I thought it would be interesting to own a house with an airstrip, but the only reason we didn't was because they subdivided the property and part of it was sold to another buyer.

I may have been more inclined to buy if I was able to park it out back.

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When he's old enough, he needs to join Civil Air Patrol.

EAA which put him up in that plane will let him join now as a student member. Their minimum age for flight lessons is 13.

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Far better to pursue STEM. Flying is fun. It's not something someone should forsake an actual education for.

I don't believe he's interested in flying as an occupation. He loves to build things, and is fascinated with how machines operate. We have a guy around here who has a paramotor who I believe sparked his interest in how things fly. I have no idea who he is, but every time my son sees him out flying he will go out in the yard to watch him and wave. More often than not the guy will turn in low and and fly over again to wave back.

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Think about a pilgrimaged to Oshkosh, WI next Summer, later July, for Airventure.

A girl I went to school with is always up there as a volunteer. She reached out and offered to talk us into going.

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People say boats are expensive

I've got one of those too. The only reason I keep it is because it's paid for and I don't have to pay to store it.

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Learn to fly first. Then rent for a bit and try different birds. Also, figure out what your mission(s) are. What type aircraft you want depends on what you are going to do with it.

That would be the plan. We have a well respected local outfit that operates a light sport, 152s, 172s, and a few twin engines.

Which brings me to my next question. They offer both light sport and private licenses. Not a huge cost difference. Would it be better just to go for the private license to begin with?

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Originally posted by a1abdj:
Which brings me to my next question. They offer both light sport and private licenses. Not a huge cost difference. Would it be better just to go for the private license to begin with?

As a CFI, I’m ashamed to say I haven’t paid any attention to the light sport pilot license. I’d guess it only allows one to fly light sport aircraft. If the cost is about the same, I’d suggest a private pilot certificate would be a better choice. However, if all he ever want to fly is light sport aircraft...

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Originally posted by sourdough44:
Yes, investigate the CAP, 12+ to join I think. One won’t learn to fly there, but you will have association with flight. Individual units can vary widely, some like, others less so.

Flight instruction will, as you said, depend on your squadron. Not every squadron will have access to CAP aircraft, or flight instructors.

My squadron had flight instructors and only had access to privately owned aircraft. One summer our wing hosted a solo encampment for cadets. About a ten showed up and at least half soloed by the time the three day camp was over.

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Originally posted by slosig:

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Originally posted by a1abdj:

Which brings me to my next question. They offer both light sport and private licenses. Not a huge cost difference. Would it be better just to go for the private license to begin with?

As a CFI, I’m ashamed to say I haven’t paid any attention to the light sport pilot license. I’d guess it only allows one to fly light sport aircraft. If the cost is about the same, I’d suggest a private pilot certificate would be a better choice. However, if all he ever want to fly is light sport aircraft...

CFI here, also. When he says that the cost is similar, I'll bet he is talking about the hourly cost, not the total cost. Minimum hours 20 for light sport vs. 40 for private.

A decent strategy might be to do the light sport first. Probably a little lower hourly cost*, and fewer hours required. All of the time will count towards private if he eventually does that.

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NOTE* Hourly rentals at Our Little Airport are a bit less for LSA (not a big difference, though). Instructor fees are about the same.

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Originally posted by a1abdj:

Which brings me to my next question. They offer both light sport and private licenses. Not a huge cost difference. Would it be better just to go for the private license to begin with?

I have never been a fan nor advocate for the sport pilot or recreational pilot certificates. Both are mere dumbing down of already-minimal training and experience requirements. The FAA mandates 40 flight hours of experience for a private pilot certificate (less under certain training schemes): the typical student is closer to 80 hours when done. This illustrates the fact that most can't finish in the minimum time, which isnt' really adequate to get through; most are nearly double.

Reducing that number and reducing the amount of training required was never a step in the right direction.

I'm a CFI (instructor) too (CFI, CFII, MEI, IGI, AGI, yada, yada)...which doesn't really matter, but I don't advocate for either the sport pilot nor recreational certification. Private pilot should be the goal.

Do you have any medical issues? Yeah, it's far less exciting than talking about airplanes. For a private you'll need a class III physical or basic med.

https://www.aopa.org/go-fly/me...edical-certification

I'll let others add info about basic med for a private and the medical requirements for a light sport certificate.

CFI also. Private pilot cert is the way to go. You can take trips of any length and take passengers. Get some hours under yer belt and see if you really want to own. Lots of expenses. A partnership would get my vote if you still want some ownership.

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Do you have any medical issues?

Colitis, which looks like I would have to do a bit of hoop jumping, but it isn't the end of the world.

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When he says that the cost is similar, I'll bet he is talking about the hourly cost, not the total cost. Minimum hours 20 for light sport vs. 40 for private.

Sport Pilot is $4,600, pre-paid. Educational kit with online ground school, 20 hours of dual, 7 hours of solo, 4 hours of ground school and flight briefing.

Private Pilot in the 172 $6,900, pre-paid. Jeppesen kit with FAA approved ground school, 20 hours of dual, 20 hours of solo, 6 hours of ground school and flight briefing, and fuel surcharges.

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Originally posted by a1abdj:

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Do you have any medical issues?

Colitis, which looks like I would have to do a bit of hoop jumping, but it isn't the end of the world.

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When he says that the cost is similar, I'll bet he is talking about the hourly cost, not the total cost. Minimum hours 20 for light sport vs. 40 for private.

Sport Pilot is $4,600, pre-paid. Educational kit with online ground school, 20 hours of dual, 7 hours of solo, 4 hours of ground school and flight briefing.

Private Pilot in the 172 $6,900, pre-paid. Jeppesen kit with FAA approved ground school, 20 hours of dual, 20 hours of solo, 6 hours of ground school and flight briefing, and fuel surcharges.

Go for the private pilot for the extra $2300. The sport light is way too restrictive, both in rental planes and places and things you can do.

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Originally posted by zoom6zoom:
If you thought owning a boat was expensive...

It’s not that expensive. I have two airplanes and it still costs less than a 7 series BMW by a lot.

If you want to fly, some other things just won’t be as important to you.

A few additional thoughts:

Get your private pilot written done first. The ground school, regardless of what method you use, will teach you concepts that you might otherwise learn in the airplane, which is a lousy, noisy, constantly moving, and expensive classroom. I’m not aware of any military or airline that allows a prospective pilot into the airplane before they have successfully completed ground school.

The prepaid deals sound great, but even if you do the ground school first, unless they have a super tight syllabus *and* you are on fire, you are likely going to need some extra time. The forty hour requirement wasn’t realistic 32 years ago and airplanes haven’t gotten simpler since then. That’s okay, just don’t freak out about going over. The goal is to learn to be a safe and competent pilot, not to get your license in the minimum time.

The most dangerous hours are sometimes said to be those between 100 and 200 hours, when the pilot thinks he knows it all and hasn’t yet scared the sh** out of himself. There is a lot to learn and a private pilot’s license is not the be all, end all, it is a license to learn.

It is a very rewarding exercise learning to fly. Once you get your license, keep learning and expanding your horizons.

Think very hard about prepaying for flight instruction. Lots of stories of flight schools going broke and taking those funds.

You can do a private pilot license in a light sport airplane. Just make sure you’re using a regular CFI- not a sport CFI. Pay by the hour, start flying, and make a call later.

The limitations on the sport pilot rating, particularly the traveling limitation, makes sport pilot less than interesting. Over time you’ll be much happier with a private pilot license.

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Think very hard about prepaying for flight instruction. Lots of stories of flight schools going broke and taking those funds.

In most circumstances, and as it applies to a lot more than just flight schools, I would agree 100%. In this specific case the school has been around longer than I've been alive. I doubt they're going anywhere anytime soon.

Rent it!

There's a photo on my bureau of me in the front seat of a JetRanger flying under the Golden Gate Bridge with a set of David Clarkes on. I was 14, and I was hooked.

There are far worse passions for a child to discover.