New pilots/owners - allocation of resources
I can still remember being a starry eyed new pilot (yes, I can remember 40 year back still). A decade later, I was a new owner. At both times, and many times in between, I was lured by the tech and gadgets, and they were nothing then like they are now! In the midst of this, though not really recognized at the time, I was being well mentored, both on growing my piloting skills and disciplines, and the "stuff" I really did not need.
More recently, as I accept clients for advanced type training, I'm seeing this again. Eager owners lured by "stuff" which is a good deal (like that low cost second nav/comm - low cost 'cause it's a 360 channel mechanical). Yet, these pilots will cringe at the hourly cost of training, which they really should have.
So I recently talked the eager owner out of the 360 nav/comm, buy pointing out that it's asking price would set him back 6 hours of training time. Which would benefit him more? A second nav/comm, which might not work anyway, had low use at the best of times, and was uneeded in a very low airspace VFR only environment (the plane has no TXP). Or, something he would learn during six hours of training. I think he got the point, and declined the offer of the nav/comm. But, I suspect I have not heard the last of this...
New owners/pilots: I flew the first 200 hours in a C150 with one nav/comm, and amazingly a TXP. Otherwise, no intercom, no headsets, no LORAN (I bought one of those later in life), and GPS was unheard of. I did outfit myself with charts, which in the '70's, were $1 each! And I survived flying! So, consider dialing back the tech gadgets (by the way, a quality headset is not a gadget, its a hearing saver, buy one of those!), in favour of investing more in your training, it will save your life faster!