Do hang-gliders and para-gliders count? They are super cool.

Ad Muncher

Wrong forum, we're triathletes - any spare $$ goes on triathlon equipment :)

if it flies, floats or fuk's, rent it.
what are you looking at? i don't have my own plane but have plenty of friends who do. which is the better route, then you use their plane.

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ΜΟΛΩΝ-ΛΑΒΕ
we're doomed

Thanks for serving. What do your drive?

I'm not a pilot but my Dad is a long time pilot. He earned his pilot license by loading crop dusters at the airport in Hanford, CA. After WWII my grandpa bought a used Stearman and a Waco UPF-7 that my dad used to fly.

Dad maintains a IA and A&P certification and refurishes/rebuilds planes for hobby and $$.

When i was in HS he bought the plans for a Thorp T-18 from Mr. Thorp. I can remember when he brought home the plans in a big cardboard box. Cannot count the number of hours i spent in the garage helping him build this plane. That was years ago and he's still flying it. I bucked every f'ing rivet on this plane. Great father son bonding. haha.



He found a old Bucker Jungmann that someone had brought back to the States after WWII. The bi-plane was in the Austrian AF and then later the Luftwaffee after Hitler annexed Austria. The plane was rotting in a barn after the owner died when my Dad bought it. He took it completely apart and restored it--wing spars, wiring, cabling, etc. Then recovered it and painted it. So Dad lives in a small airplane community around a shared grass airstrip. Spends most of his day out in his hanger working on his latest project. Some days he'll fly down to Charleston to meet friends for coffee and pie and then fly home for dinner. His hanger is attached to the house so very convenient.

Here's the Jungmann



He's restored a Interstate Cadet--pic below from when i was over helping him with some of this project. I think he's going to end up just keeping the Cadet and flying it on a sport license once he gets to where he can't pass his regular flight physical anymore. He also has a Cub that he puts around in occasionally.

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Steve

No plane here, probably never will be either.

Know a guy that has his own plane though, took a couple of trips with him. It was a Pilatus...Damn nice to show up at the airport hop on the plane and go. No lines, no check in!

steve, awesome pics!

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ΜΟΛΩΝ-ΛΑΒΕ
we're doomed

Sorry, not trying to derail the topic, but I love the look of the shop/hangar! Open wooden beam ceilings with plenty of room for toys! Love it!

Nice post with great pics - thanks for sharing!

Of course. I'm actually planning on soaring sometime next year.

Steve - Thanks for sharing. Awesome pics and story! Your father has great taste in planes, and quite the hangar to go with them. Having the hangar attached to the house and the runway nearby has to be a killer set up. I'm a Navy E-2 pilot, and am currently flight instructing in the T-6. I'll send you a message a little later today.

great pics/story Steve!

I have a Cirrus SR22 that I bought in 2001 with a partner that I flew gliders with. I owned a couple of gliders before that. My Dad has three planes right now that I will end up with soon since he is now 86. He still has his medical,though, and taught my 17YO son to fly last summer. He owned an FBO for many years and gave flight instruction. What are you thinking about getting? I've been fooling around with airplanes all my life.

Greg

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If you are a Canuck that engages in gratuitous bashing of the US, you are probably on my Iggy List. So, save your self a bunch of typing a response unless you also feel the need to gratuitously bash me. If so, have fun.
"Don't underestimate Joe's ability to f___ things up" - Barack Obama, 2020

 My cousin was in with a few different group ownerships of planes, for obvious reasons but the like any group thing they have there issues too. I was telling my dad about this thread and he told me that he's no longer flying. He was scheduled to take a family member up but the day before the plane crash killing an instructor and student.

PS: nice posts Steve.

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Train safe & smart
Bob

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smQs97u1FAk


Best flight ever!

I rent. First of all, flight instructor told me this. If you intend to fly less than 100 hours per year then it's cheaper to rent. If you fly more than 100 hours per year it's cheaper to buy.

As to what to buy, that's like asking which car should you buy. Answer to that might be a Smart or a pickup or a Honda or a Lamborghini or a Jeep.

Honda is a Cessna 172. Typical one on the market was made in the 70s or 80s and they go for about $35K. Newer ones cost more, all the way up to $100K for a 180HP fuel injected 172S.

Smart is a Cessna 150, $25K. Fun little plane if you don't mind being overtaken by cars speeding on the freeway while you fly overheard with your one passenger you can have aboard.

Jeep is a DeHaviland Beaver with skis or floats. Or both.

Lamborghini is a Cirrus SR-22. I want this. Oh yes I do. But not a chance in hell I'd ever be able to afford it.

That's just single engine. We haven't even gone into twins yet. So what do you need/want?

"Lamborghini is a Cirrus SR-22. I want this. Oh yes I do. But not a chance in hell I'd ever be able to afford it."

One word, my friend. Partner(s).

You'd be surprised how much more affordable a plane is with partners. A plane is a terrible thing to own alone for several reasons. One person just doesn't use it enough in 90% of the cases. My partner and I, in 15 years of ownership, have had maybe 2 conflicts that were easily resolved. Two, maintenance costs are all split 50/50. Three, insurance cost is split 50/50. Four, hanger cost is split 50/50.


In addition, if you have the plane long enough, you will want all of the much coveted upgrades....like a glass panel, new WAAS grade GPS navigators, ADS-B, etc...We just spent $40,000 on a completely new panel with all of these items and more. I would never have considered it by myself. In fact, a guy approached us about a year and a half ago about buying a third share. We mulled it over and looked at our usage and decided we could take on a third without really crimping our usage. A condition he put forth was that the three of us would upgrade the avionics as just described. So, we actually split that investment three ways instead of two. Over the past year, we have not had any scheduling conflicts. We use Google Calendar to coordinate usage and we have color codes for our reservations to let each other know if a trip is a 'must go' or if it can be done on a company expense account flying commercial or if it is just a pleasure trip so we can tell if the other partner could let someone else use it if needed.


I have rented before and that was okay, but availability was frequently a problem. Also, if I want to go somewhere, like on vacation or to Oshkosh for a week, there is usually a daily minimum rental fee that adds up fast. Usually it's three hours a day. Then, there are the squawks. Renters are tough on airplanes and it is a PITA to schedule an SR22 for a 1,000 mile trip only to find out the autopilot is OTS when you get to the airport.


If this partnership continues, we plan to consider upgrading to a later model with Known Ice Certification in a few years since that does curtail our trip planning for about 3 months out of the year. I know the notion of sharing an asset like that is objectionable to some people, and it was to me at first. But, in my case, I had flown glider contests all over the country with my initial partner for over ten years before we bought the plane and we were very good friends.


FWIW,
Greg

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If you are a Canuck that engages in gratuitous bashing of the US, you are probably on my Iggy List. So, save your self a bunch of typing a response unless you also feel the need to gratuitously bash me. If so, have fun.
"Don't underestimate Joe's ability to f___ things up" - Barack Obama, 2020

I own and fly a Mooney Ovation and a TBM 850

Not sure what your needs are but its tough to beat a mooney if you are flying with 1-3 people. (which is about 90% of all GA)

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TEAM ZOOT 2020

Thanks Greg. The SR22 is a killer plane. Very nice!

I've done a lot of research and am leaning towards something more exciting than the typical single engine 172 type... big enough that the family (one kid) and I can travel in, but something that is fun to get around in too. A friend of mine just picked up and RV-6, which is tempting, but may not be big enough.

Both of those are very nice. The TBM seems like a super versatile machine. I was just doing some reading on it. That range is incredible.

I saw that you mentioned soaring. Contact me about that if you get serious. I spent about ten years competing at a national level. My partner in the Cirrus is a 7-time US National Champion and five time world team member. I organized numerous cross country camps and ran some contests back in the '90's here in the Southeast at a little airport in Chester, SC.

Regarding the power plane, I have found that using it for family travel is great if your wife and child are receptive to flying. Mine are, but only if we fly early in the morning when it is smooth and we are going someplace they really want to go. Keep trip times below 3 hours. Buy noise cancelling headsets. Try to buy a plane that is reasonably comfortable and that can cruise at least 150kts or so. I know that might be a tough hurdle, but it will make a big difference for non-flying family members. Look into an SR20 since you will have only three pax. There are used ones that can be acquired for decent prices.

Saw you mentioned E2s and you are now an IP in T-6. You are a lucky dude. I would give my left nut to fly the current T-6. My dad used to give instruction in the previous radial engined T-6 in the Air Force. He and I flew one for several years in air shows after he retired.

Greg

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If you are a Canuck that engages in gratuitous bashing of the US, you are probably on my Iggy List. So, save your self a bunch of typing a response unless you also feel the need to gratuitously bash me. If so, have fun.
"Don't underestimate Joe's ability to f___ things up" - Barack Obama, 2020

I have very little to add except that I'm about to begin instruction for my PPL. It's tough to not fantasize about which aircraft I might look to buy once I have enough hours to be confident and a clearer plan for what exactly I'd use the plane for. Having said that, the SR22 looks like a total bad-boy...

Yep SR22 is fantastic. Another aircraft I'd love to own is a Diamond DA40. It has by far the best safety record in general aviation. You can stall it, engine idle and nose up, and it will drop slower than an SR22 with CAPS deployed. Yeah. You can stall and crash the DA40, and walk away from it. Lower cruise speed though about 150 knots vs about 180 knots for the SR22.

Sounds like you have been talking to the Diamond sales guy... ;-P I'll give you two thoughts to mull over from a guy that has landed out in gliders at least 25-30 times in competitions. 'Landed out' means, '...didn't make it to an airport.' Anyway, it's not so much the potential energy that is the problem in a forced landing, it's the kinetic energy. Although the DA40 may be descending more slowly than an SR22, it is also moving horizontally at about 55-60 kts. to someplace that isn't intended for landing an airplane with a 40' wingspan. Also, an SR20 or SR22 has the same option to glide into a field with essentially the same risk plus the added option of a parachute. And, do you know how poorly the typical power pilot is at doing a spot landing with minimum energy into a field with a dead engine for the first time? I'll tell you, they suck. With all due respect, I'll take the parachute option EVERY time, unless I have an airport within gliding range. And I have landed in more fields than anybody I know.

Second consideration. You can put this into the anecdotal n=3 category if you'd like. I have known two DA40 owners. One sold it to buy a TTX and the other sold it to join our partnership. Neither of them had much positive to say about the DA40. Last, the US Air Force bought some as primary trainers and later replaced all of them with SR20s. Diamond had a rocky time financially about 10-15 years ago and a lack of faith in the company probably didn't help their sales much either. They spent a lot of time and energy trying to push a diesel engined version that just wasn't well received by the US market.

All in all, I wouldn't say it's a BAD airplane. I just think there are better choices.

Greg

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If you are a Canuck that engages in gratuitous bashing of the US, you are probably on my Iggy List. So, save your self a bunch of typing a response unless you also feel the need to gratuitously bash me. If so, have fun.
"Don't underestimate Joe's ability to f___ things up" - Barack Obama, 2020