Cheap LAA flying.

[Roger Cottee]

My friend and I have being having a discussion about owning a cheap LAA type aircraft. We have two options when it comes to buying an aircraft and we could do with a bit of advice from people who are in a similar situation.

Option 1.

Buy a volksplane and share it between the two of us. This would make the share price around £1000. However fixed costs such as insurance and hangared would cripple us as we will be 17 at the time. Would storing a wooden aircraft outside be wise?

Option 2.

Join an Avid Speedwing or similar syndicate, the share price would be similar but the fixed costs would be a lot lower and we would have a much better aircraft and we wouldn't be laughed at at flyins:E

Thanks
Roger Cottee

BTW, we are both 16 year old glider pilots working towards our glider pilots license then towards our NPPL because of the cross accreditation. I hope we arn't running before we can walk.

[will5023]

Hi Roger, first thing is do not store a wooden plane outside....period, it will rot and blow away in a gale !! I pesume that you know about the LAA Struts, you may get some friendly advice from your local one. Go to the LAA web site and you will find one close to you. Good luck with your gliding, and get your Silver C if you can then your PPL conversion will be reduced.

Will.

[Mike Cross]

You have a bit of time yet so wait and see how you feel when you are nearing the end of your NPPL.

I went through the same route as you to get my PPL.

The issues you are likely to come up against are various:-

1. Insurance will be an issue with a newly minted PPL.
2. If you are intending to run a LAA type I recommend you join a group rather than set up on your own. The group is likely to have a 100 Hr requirement for the insurance but it's often possible for you to pay the increase in premium until you have the hours. When you are training you are in an organisation with a bit of structure. They will decide whether the conditions are OK for you and will also look after the airworthiness of the aircraft. If you are in a group you will have the advantage of other group members who know the aircraft and who you can ask for advice. Out on your own with not a lot of experience it will be very easy to sucker yourself into a dangerous situation. That's not a reflection on you, it's just human nature and we all do it.

To give you an example, our group has 4 members operating a Luscombe 8E. It's on an outdoor tie-down, which is OK because it's all metal and we do the bulk of the maintenance work. We each pay around 55 quid a month and 35 quid an hour wet. My share cost me 4k.

Good luck!

[Sam Woodgate]

Roger I feel as a conclusion of what has been said, that we should talk to Pete with regards to possible shares in his luscombe, he was looking at pricing them at around £2000 and as mentioned in the post above operating costs would not cripple us. :D

Sam

p.s. as he has just completely restored the aircraft fewer problems are likely to occur.