Those whom would like to learn to fly

[hisi]

How many of you out there would like to learn to fly but are put off by the price....
If there was say for example a learn to fly lotto-competition would you buy a ticket if it cost the price of a round of drink's?
The reward a PPL or sports licence... I would how about all you dreamers would you?
There are competitions out there but how good are they does any one know.

[Gertrude the Wombat]

So what if you won the cost of getting the licence?

(If you can't afford to get the licence you almost certainly won't be able to afford to continue flying having got it. Getting the licence costs say £6k, which is maybe £30 added to your monthly mortgage payment; having got the licence you can't keep flying for £30/month, it'll cost you several times that.)

[FlyingForFun]

Quite right, Gertrude.

Flying should be thought of as a weekly hobby which incurs a weekly expense. Once you get your PPL, the weekly expense may drop slightly because you're not paying for an instructor. If you buy a share in something cheap to run, it might drop even more. But it will always be there. I believe that it is because so many people don't realise this before they start that the number of people getting a license but not keeping flying afterwards is so small.

FFF
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[shortstripper]

All very well, but what's wrong with a dream? For many, just the thought that they could learn to fly is enough. To actually do it would be brilliant ... what comes after may be quite different from what you thought before. That is to say ... some may find they can't stop despite thinking they only wanted to know they could, whilst others may find that once they can, that is enough! ... To fly is to discover, don't discourage it!

SS

[Kolibear]

Getting your PPL is the easy bit.

Keeping it is the hard part.

[Paris Dakar]

I accept the valid points made by Gertrude & FFF but I tend to side with shortstripper to be honest.

I sat and did the sums, and accepted that I really couldn't afford to fly as much as I would like but sod it, I was going to do it. Shortly after I got my PPL my wife became pregnant with our first daughter and flying had to take a back seat. Another 'Dakarette' joined the clan 3 years ago and that virtually knocked all flying on the head.

I revalidated my PPL earlier this year and renewed my medical - why? Nothing has changed, I still really can't afford to fly but someday, but someday, but someday.......................

I loved the flying dream and still do, I don't believe I wasted my money learning because I enjoyed it so much.

PD

[Shaggy Sheep Driver]

Anyone reading this thread who dreams of learning to fly - just do it! I did it in 1978 and it's one of the best life decisions I ever made. It has repaid the financial cost many fold in pure enjoyment and becoming involved in stuff I never dreamed it would lead to.

I used to think flying was for 'other people' - wealthy and/or unusually talented. I was lucky to be taken flying by a work colleague, and I saw this was just not true. I'm convinced that many potential pilots never take that first step because of this false belief.

Don't be put off by some of the stuff on here. Live the dream! If you really want to fly, you will.

SSD

[MLS-12D]

To fly is to discover, don't discourage it!With all due respect, I'd like to revise the above, as follows: "To fly is to spend considerable amounts of money, and is an enterprise that should not be entered into lightly".

All very well to say let's encourage people's dreams, or "just do it!"; but such well-meant advice is hardly thoughtful. The reality of recreational flying is that the cost of obtaining a license is only a 'down payment', and anyone who struggles to finance that almost certainly won't have enough disposable income to carry on. Gertrude and FFF make excellent points.

As implied by SSD, the majority of recreational pilots are people of relatively modest means. But they (and their family members) usually make considerable sacrifices in order to be able to enjoy the hobby.

The question facing most prospective new pilots is, "Am I prepared to make flying a priority in my life, and accept the fact that significant compromises will be required in other areas?". We do such people no service by sugar-coating the situation.

[shortstripper]

Whilst I hear what you say MLS, I still think that sometimes you have to just do what your heart dictates.

If I'd waited until I could afford it, I'd never have married, never had kids, and certainly never have learnt to fly. I would perhaps lead a far more financially prosperous life, have a nice house and flashy car, but I'd be heading for my grave a far more lonely and unfulfilled human being for the privilege :yuk:

SS

[MLS-12D]

SS,

I readily concede that there is no 'right' path to take, and that everyone must make, and accept the consequences of, their own decisions. There are risks to every action (and inaction).

It's good to hear that everything has worked out well for you; as indeed it has for me. I am not, I hope, an unduly pessimistic person, and in my own case I consider the cost of flying to be money very well spent.

My point is simply that an informed decision is better than an uninformed one.

MLS

[18greens]

All good points.


Lets face it, we have a pot of cash and choice of how to spend it. We also have a choice of how big the pot is.

Lots of people spend profligate amounts of money on shoes, clothes, cars, coffee and cigarettes.

Lots of people work hard for little money and lots work little for lots of money. There is no relation between effort/qualifications and earnings (ask any flying instructor)

Its your choice how you earn it and your choice how you spend it. Things aren't too expensive they are just further down the list than other things.

The majority of people I know who fly sacrifice lots to achieve their dream (ie catching the bus to the airfield rather than buying a car). They get a great deal of satisfaction from it. Ironically the people who can afford it do not seem to enjoy it as much and give up earlier.

You have one life and its your choice.

[susan burgess]

Most pilots are not rich they just love flying.

If anyone really wants to acheive something and they are dedicated it can be done.
Possibly you have to forego holidays ,meals out , a few beers each week, new clothes but somehow it can be achieved and I can assure you it is worth it.
Try other countries for training and search for the option which suits you.You will not regret it!

[Whirlybird]

And some people just want to get a PPL for the experience and to prove they can, even if they never fly again. And who are we to say that's wrong?

[Shaggy Sheep Driver]

MLS, I think you overstate the financial commitment and perpetrate the myth that flying is only for the well-off. Yes, it can be expensive, but it doesn't have to be. If all you want to do is fly, then a PFA home-built or a flexwing microlight will get your feet off the ground for surprisingly small amounts of money. And there are even opportunities for free flying, such as para dropping and glider towing once you have a modicum of experience.

Many years ago I met a guy I used to work with. When he'd been a work colleague we talked of flying and he was determined to get his PPL. When I met him a couple of years later he told me he'd thought he couldn't really afford it, so he bought a top of the range computer and flight simulator gear instead. Back then, computers were expensive, and this little lot had cost him about as much as he'd have spent on a PPL (about £2,000 in those days). Did he make the correct descision? What is that early 1980s computer kit worth today? But then again, perhaps his desire to fly was not as strong as he told me it was, and he realised that maybe he would not have been happy in command of a real aeroplane.

I know people who spend far more on their golf habit than I do on flying. I know which I'd rather spend the money on - and, no doubt, so do they. But let's not put potential pilots off this wonderful hobby by telling them they'll be unlikely to be able to afford to realise their dreams. If flying is not really for them they'll drop out anyway regardless of the economics. If it is, the sooner they start enjoying it the better.

SSD