Creative ideas for maintaining currency
I am in the unfortunate position so many of you share of needing to maintain currency at my own expense. I'm keen to explore ways of doing this while looking for a flying job while opening up the ability to enjoy flying for pleasure and at least getting some enjoyment from the hard won licence. I'm working back in my original IT field for the time being which gives me a comfortable income - though £120 per hour for a Warrior isn't comfortable even now!
Hiring a club aircraft seems a very expensive exercise with a Warrior costing around £125+ an hour in the SOuth East of England. In addition using a club aircraft imposes big restrictions if you want to hire an aircraft for a whole day or afternoon for a bigger trip. As a result I have been pondering the viability of sharing the acquisition of a modern lightweight composite kitplane such as a Europa or even a microlight or Jabiru etc for £15-£30k. Shared between 4 or 5 people this would presumably mean a £4k-£8k stake but the flying cost would presumably be more like £20 per hour rather than £120. The advantage is that the stake could be sold on at virtually no loss so while the money would have to be raised up front you'd get most of it back eventually.
Has anyone any information or views on this? Have any of you thought of it or are there any reasons why it's a complete no-no?
I was just brainstorming last night and my knowledge of the requirements are at a very early stage - for example I have no idea of the likely hangarage, maintanance and insurance costs of aircraft operated under the 'permit to fly' scheme.
Views?
Desk-pilot