Flying as a Hobby

[ANZSA]

Hi gents,

Any out there who fly just for fun? Maybe in a situation where you love flying but are in a different career?

Do you own your own plane/ share in a plane/ or just hire from a school.

Fly ultralights?

Cost share with mates from work?

Plan random trips with or without holidays included?

Just looking for general ideas on how I can enjoy being a pilot, but not as a career. Maybe even good trips/ fly ins/ anything!

cheers,
PPLsoon.

[bentleg]

Any out there who fly just for fun?
Yep. Started learing to fly in 1999, got PPL 2001, PIFR 2009. I do about 50 hours a year,
Cost share with mates from work?
Plan random trips with or without holidays included?
A trip a year of three to four days duration, cost share with mates, have done trips of up to two weeks across Oz. Four or five AngelFlights a year (they provide fuel). Occasional joy flights, sometimes solo, to maintain currency.
Fly ultralights?
all GA, mainly C172/182, no ultralights.
Do you own your own plane/ share in a plane/ or just hire from a school.
More economic to rent in my opinion, also any maintenance surprises become someone else's problem.

Help aviation related youth organisations occasionally, volunteer for a week at Avalon airshow every two years (you don't have to be a pilot to do these).

[mostlytossas]

As my old instructor told me 30 yrs ago and still holds true : If you want to enjoy your flying,keep it private. Go when and where you want to go.:ok:

[Ultralights]

Yes, i fly purely for fun, bought a nice 2 seat RAAus Registered STOL aircraft with 7 hrs endurance, for the cost of your average family car, and average about 5 hrs per week in the log book. Just returned from a weekend at Moruya, Off to Port Macquarie flyin in 2 weeks, numerous trips to Lightning ridge, Bourke, Walgett, Brewarrina, Tumut.. done the instructing thing, loved it, but with my own aircraft now, i get plenty of hours flying for myself and have let the instructing get a bit rusty. been in the aircraft maintenance game now for nearly 20 yrs, both Military and civilian heavy stuff, so maintenance is no issue.

and considering the money mates pump into Boats, Bikes, and hot rods, the Personal flying isnt that expensive especially if you are happy with an RAAus certificate and Cross country endo.

[Mick.B]

Fund my hobby from being tradie. Glassair 3 on the way soon. Love it. :ok:

[Worrals in the wilds]

...and considering the money mates pump into Boats, Bikes, and hot rods, the Personal flying isn't that expensive...

That said, cost is a factor, particularly if you're not on a huge income and/or failed to inherit the million dollar family gherkin-bottling business. I was learning to fly and enjoyed it a lot, but on a (then) public service wage found the costs difficult to justify for a hobby.

Presumably RAA is more cost effective, and private flying is certainly a heck of a lot of fun :ok:. Good luck!

[3 greens beeep]

Even after flying a Turboprop single and piston twins for work I still love private flying in a piston single, just for scenics and the odd over-nighter. Best trip was probably to Kangaroo Island and planning a trip up to Lake Eyre in June. It's great taking up family and friends to show them what we do, and great being your own boss without any pressure or timetables. If you fill the seats with cost sharers(within weight) it's not even that expensive!

[Tankengine]

Try gliding, it can be as cheap or expensive as sailing.:ok:

[bankrunner]

Did it for a living for a while (as the name might suggest, almost all night flying, almost all IFR). I hold a CPL and keep my MECIR current. Given what it costs to rent even a C172, I'm also looking at the RAAus option.

I decided to go back to my plan B and work as an IT security architect instead of staying in the soul destroying GA industry, working half the hours on triple the pay, where I'm fortunate enough to be able to do it purely for the love of it instead.

[K_9]

Flying clubs are the way to go. For a long time I didn't pursue it because the costs at flight schools in the area were so high ($130/hr USD for a Cessna 172 plus $40/hour or so for an instructor). Found a flying club nearby that had a 172 and a Cherokee 140 for about $60/month dues and $60-$70/hour wet for the 140 and the 172, respectively. Freelance instructor for $30/hour and it becomes a lot more cost-effective. Once I finish up my bachelor's degree and start making full-time salary, I plan to start looking around for a couple people to share a 182 or an Arrow with. I think I would ideally fly around 100 hours per year, though I need to get my instrument done if I'm going to fly in Seattle anytime but the summer.

[TriMedGroup]

K_9 - I hope those figures you just quoted are from 20 years ago, or else you are in for a big shock should you ever decide to come to Australia and go to a flying school for a check out.

[K_9]

K_9 - I hope those figures you just quoted are from 20 years ago, or else you are in for a big shock should you ever decide to come to Australia and go to a flying school for a check out.
That's actually five years ago for midwest United States (Ohio). My club's rates have gone up about 10% since then, mostly just due to fuel costs.

Prices out in Seattle are substantially higher.

[Jack Ranga]

Just looking for general ideas on how I can enjoy being a pilot, but not as a career.

I can tell how intelligent you are already! Smart man :ok:

My first experience was to buy into a syndicate that had a Lance and a C172. The Lance was around $40 dry and the 172 around $25 dry (20 Years ago!) The 172 was cheap enough for me to hire it myself (no cost share) and fly it to Darwin return from Bankstown. Todays money and hire rates from syndicates??

I actually made a profit on those shares, bought in for $3200 and sold 12 months later for $4500.

A mate and I bought a PA38 (Tomahawk) for $16,000 spent another $16,000 to get it airworthy and had an absolute ball in that aircraft! Until it got written off in a storm :ugh: We were over insured thanks to future plans to upgrade the avionics, smart move!

Building an RV10 at the moment to replace this.

What you need to balance when you think about buying a plane or buying into a syndicate is how many hours you intend to fly per year. The holding costs of owning a plane or buying into a syndicate can be a significant cost per hour before even flying an hour!

There's a lot of homework to do, but it can be rewarding. If you are patient and are happy to spread your initial cost over a few years, building may be for you and is affordable by almost anyone.

[desert goat]

And this is the reason I don't understand why anyone would do a straight-through 150 hour CPL course here, when you can do your PPL, bugger off to the USA for some hours building, then polish off the CPL and keep a bunch of money in your pocket. I was renting an aeronca champ over there for $62 US per hour (wet) in 2008, they wanted $75/hr for a 172, and about $120 for an arrow.

[Jack Ranga]

Yep, I had a mate that did a year of school on exchange in the States. A PPL was in the school curriculum. Cost him (his parents) farkall :hmm:

[ANZSA]

thanks fellas, a lot of good info for me here. cheers.