Cheap Hour Building

[Cpt.Iwillbe]

Hi to all,

Please kindly help to furnish me with information and contact details of places that offer cheap hour building (below USD80.00) anywhere world wide.

Thanks :ok:

Sincerely yours,


Cpt.Iwillbe

[pilotnewbie]

Microsoft FSX :}

[172driver]

Microsoft FSX

Well, there's also X-Plane :}

Seriously - this gonna be challenging, but should be doable somewhere in the US in some clapped-out 150/152. Google is your friend.....

[mightynimbus]

Heard a tale from several different sources, that impecunious 'Ab initio' to Commercial guys on straight through ciourses have rented themselves a nice 182 or similar and have gone on hours building trips around the US of A and all occupants have claimed the hours irrespective of their crew status!

I offer this as an anecdote but the sharing costs route might be just the way to go, eg sharing with 1 other gives you a rental rate of around $160 per hour that would seem to make it much more do-able. In the UK you could probably get a a 172 or similar on a block booking for less than that.

Good luck anyway!

[Katamarino]

Surely sharing a $160 an hour plane with another still means you're each paying $160 for the actual hours you fly...?

[airborne_artist]

No, because they pack four into the aircraft, pay once and log it four times...

Similar to Parker Pen hours.

Surely the cheapest hour building has to be buy a VP-1, insure it, fly the hours at 10 litres an hour plus landings, and then sell it. A bit chilly, but totally legit.

[Ultranomad]

Cpt.Iwillbe, according to unverified sources, the cheapest hour building is in Argentina and Uruguay, but you may get bitten on the cost of travel to and from the place of training...
In fact, the cheapest hour building is probably to pool your money together with 3-4 other hourbuilders, buy an old two-seater and share it. It will be cheaper than renting even if you throw the plane away after you are all done; if you can sell it, it will be still nicer. Of course, the real trick is to manage all that, which may require one of the owners to be a seasoned pro.

[robertphilpott1]

check out flycorona in california, myself and 4 friends are doing our hourbuilding through them and have got a good rate on 3 c172's. If it's really cheap you want then go for the c150.

Rob

[englishal]

Why does one "hour build" anyway? There is no point drilling holes in the sky - go and rent a plan for say 50 hours and do some interesting flying.

To answer your question - USA will have old 152's cheap. I see Long Beach Flying Club rent them for $69.95 / hr wet.

[BHenderson]

And Long Beach Flying Club have good maintenance behind the operation - unlike Fly Corona.

[Aerial Chauffeur]

Surely the cheapest hour building has to be buy a VP-1, insure it, fly the hours at 10 litres an hour plus landings, and then sell it. A bit chilly, but totally legit.

Great advice.

Buy the cheapest, most rudimentary PFA permit 'flying machine' that you can and fly the nuts off it all Summer, then sell it for hopefully what you paid for it!

There is no cheaper way to hour build and if the weather's like it is here in the Midlands today, you'll get just as good a sun tan as if you'd gone to California :ok:

[jxc]

SoCal App Kettering v California.... let me think on that.



could also fly around Milton keynes :E

[worrab]

Does it have to be a group A aircraft for hour building or is SSDR, microlight or VLA permissible?

[Pilot DAR]

You get what you pay for. It's your life and learning opportunity, why would you want to find the cheapest way to advance both? What risks are you taking by not paying the true cost of the service you seek? Would you eat at the cheapest restauant you can find? If a part of the cost you are paying for anything is someone's profit, and you are trying to deal that down, why would the person with the service to offer bother? If you don't help help them advance, why would they want to help you?

When you spend money, you're not paying for a "thing", you're paying for people's time to service and operate the thnig. If you're paying the least, that's probably what you're getting! Do you want to send a message to the professionals around you (one of whom you might be asking to hire you one day) that you do the most important things in your life the cheapest possible way? Wrong message, and personal image to put out there if you ask me!

Decades ago, when money as tight for me, I took the "pay it forward" approach. I hung around the airport, and offered to do or help with whatever I could. Not in return for flying, just to be around the airport, and learn. I did. People saw me pitching in with the work around the airport, and were pleased. Being invited to go flying, and later fly, came my way more than I ever expected.

Flying is not an entitlement, it's a privilage. It can be had by more ways than just paying money for it. Some of the people who can afford to fly, and take you along, don't need your money - they have lots. They are interested in meeting people who have a passion, and invest their time in it. People with a passion may be on a budget, but they do not make it their opening approach to announce that they are trying to do it on the cheap.

If money is the approach you must use to flying, I suggest that either buying a share in an aircraft, or buying block time will give you the best value of flying for money spent, and have the side benefit of allowing more longer duration/distance flghts, which is where you really begin to learn. Pounding circles in the sky in a rental machine is fine for a while, but the people whom you would like to meet are found when you fly to an interesting place, and sit and talk - because you had the passion, and invested the time.

Good luck, Pilot DAR

[worrab]

On the other hand, what if I have the option of zipping around in something pretty like a Colibri and travelling to interesting places at minimal cost? When the weather's OK I can hop in and off we go. Can't really see the benefit of dragging a spare seat or three and a relatively large aircraft with me all the time.

[Cpt.Iwillbe]

My Dearest Friends,

I would like to sincerely thank you for your time, effort and sincerity in answering my enquiry. :ok:

Sorry for the late reply as I have no internet connection and usually have to use an internet shop for access.

I really want to be a professional pilot and have gone for my PPL ground class at age 14. Sadly I had to stop flying when my mom passed away when I was 17. I have also not been lucky enough to be sponsored by any airlines to be a professional pilot.

I am now 36 years old with a wife and kids to love, feed and protect but sadly am still not a professional pilot yet.

With my limited knowledge, the best and fastest way would to acquire a CPL(IR) is to hour build since I cannot afford the time and money to complete a professional full time course.

Please, kindly help me my friends. It really hurts to watch planes and copters fly by. My only happy moment besides being with my family and friends is when I dream of flying while asleep. Sometimes I just don’t want to wake up.

May the good lord bless you and your family.


Sincerely yours,



Cpt.Iwillbe