Must admit, I have looked into these types of a/c (Easy Raider, Kitfox etc.) and cannot understand why Piper Cubs are still going for such silly money with these cheap modern alternatives.
Given the choice of a 60 year old cub for £20k or a year old Kitfox for £12k I know which one I'd opt for.
I have spent hours deliberating over whether I should chop in the PA28 (which only ever has 2 seats used at most) and buying something like the Easy Raider for good old fashioned bumbling. If I did need to tour with more than two then it would be easy to go and hire a four seater as and when required.
I think I have come to a cross roads in my flying where I am getting tired of flying the old spam can at 105 kts to a different airfield at the weekend just because I haven't been there yet. I appreciate these kit planes are slow and that has put me off until now. However, my theory is as follows.
I fly for the pleasure of flying. Why do I really want a fast 4 seater as its speed only reduces my airborne time and increases the cost of doing the thing I enjoy the most.
Buying a four seater has brought me the following......
1. More requests from people to take them flying (some of whom I don't really like!).
2. Increased insurance costs.
3. Increased maintenance costs.
4. Increased fuel costs.
5. Increased feeling of guilt if I don't fly for two weeks as I feel I am not justifying a £40,000 toy.
Buying a four seat spammer is the "natural" way to go when one passes their PPL. This is fine if the intention of the pilot is for pure touring. I fly over 100 hrs a year and still look wistfully up in the sky when a "fun" plane like a kitfox passes overhead on a summers evening. This is because I imagine him, doors off, shorts on, taking in the view and most of all...........having fun.
Do I win an award for going completely off topic with this post?!!
