Long-term flying costs for oversized pilots
Hi
Sorry if this subject is old hat.
Here's my problem. I am a student pilot looking into whether I can afford to fly on a regular basis when (if) I qualify for a PPL.
The problem that I have, and that most people don't have, is that I am 6'5" and weigh about 17st (110kg). And before anybody starts singing `Who ate all the pies?', I should point at that I'm relatively thin at 17st, being 3 feet wide at the shoulders. I could probably get down to 105kg with a bit of effort but, short of amputating something I doubt I will ever weigh less than this. Or would want to, to be honest.
What this means (so far as I can tell), is that I can't really fly anything smaller than, say, a Cessna 172. Any two-seater aircraft is like a jacket on me. I can fit into the larger open-cockpit type flex-wing aircraft, because there's no roof and my hips are narrower than my shoulders, but I'm way over the seat weight limit.
The cheapest I have seen for hire of a C172 in my area is about 94 quid an hour. I've looked into group ownership of that type, but the cheapest I've seen anywhere in the UK seems to be about £50 per month + £50 per hour wet. In the London area, it's nearly twice that, and not very different from hire prices.
It doesn't seem to be the case (so far as I can tell) that aircraft of this size and type fly out of farmstrips, under the auspices of the PFA, etc. They seem to be on licenced airfields and under full CAA maintenance, which all adds to the cost.
I would cheerfully fly microlight to reduce the cost if I could, but I can't.
So.... am I doomed to paying a hundred quid an hour to fly indefinitely? Or is there any other way?
Best wishes
Bear