("Jay Honeck" wrote)
Well, maybe for the rarified elite who can afford to buy brand new planes
equipped with G1000 glass panels.

For the rest of us, that prediction is still far, far in the future.


Two of Kevin's posts (below) about flying around on the taxpayer's nickel -
he's kidding. g.

....still, $35 wet* for a 172 is pretty good - if you can find it.

I suspect, with CAP, he'll be flying around in a "brand new" Cessna 182
G1000 glass panel plane pretty soon. (IIRC, I saw one last fall belonging to
CAP, at the MSP "Grand Openning Event" for Runway 17/35)

All I'm saying is...
There are options for ascending into the 'rarified air of the elite.' Call
it the backstairs. :-)

[Posts by: Kevin Dunlevey - rec.aviation.student]
Mon, Apr 24 2006 9:42 pm

I've gotten a lot out of joining CAP, in flying, training and having a
purpose to fly.

In addition to being a Mission Pilot, I fly cadet orientation flights, work
mission staff and am a legal officer. I've logged two or three hundred
hours at taxpayer expense in the last two or three years flying as a Mission
Pilot or Cadet Orientation Pilot. I like kids, and flying the cadets has
taught me amount about human nature in a training environment. Flying the
search and rescue missions fulfills my desire to volunteer for a public
purpose.

I joined when I had just over 100 PIC hours. After passing a Form 5, which
is essentially the same as the FAA private pilot checkride and oral exam,
you can rent CAP aircraft, typically C-172s and C-182s. (CAP is
transitioning from 172s to 182s, and I think is only buying 182s now.) I
typically pay about $50 per hour tach time wet for a 172. If I keep the
throttle back at 2100 RPMs, my tach time is usually about 2/3s of Hobbs
time. So I can do 10 touch and goes, and clear my mind of petty things, for
about $35.

After you have 175 PIC hours you can train as a Mission Pilot. After 200
PIC hours you can fly Cadet Orientation Flights. After 300 hours and a
commercial rating, you can fly ROTC Cadet Orientation Flights.

CAP is a good way to build hours, but I'm not in CAP to build hours. I fly
because it makes me feel good, and CAP keeps me flying. I also like the
opportunity to give public service, and the chance for dual time with lots
of pilots far more experienced than me.


[Post by: Kevin Dunlevey - rec.aviation.student]
Tues, Jan 31 2006 11:15 pm

My son recruited me into Civil Air Patrol when I had about 150 hours. I'd
taken my kids to everyplace within an hour flight that I could feed them.
They were getting bored with flying, and my wife was stridently bored. After
joining CAP, passing a Form 5 test, which is essentially flying to PTS
standards, and getting up to 200 PIC hours, I began flying cadets. Flying
them, and letting them fly, has given me good insight into the human nature
of pilots. About the same time I began flying cadets, I began training for
search and rescue missions. Now only a few years later I have about 800
hours and most of it has been in service of society.

CAP has given me a purpose for my flying, beyond the recreation and mental
rinse therapy I get from flying, and it has been much more affordable than a
$125 per hour 172. In addition to getting more purpose, I've gotten a ton
of training. I have more dual hours with seasoned instructors now than I had
in total PIC hours when I started in CAP. I fly for proficiency, for cadet
orientation flights, or for mission training about twice a week. I know if
I go more than about a week or two without flying that my proficiency begins
to deteriorate.

When I fly cadets, I need to pick up a plane about a half hour from where I
pick up the cadets. That half hour flight gives me time to get my head into
flying that I wouldn't have if the cadets were at the same airport as the
plane. That tells me that half an hour around the cabbage patch will get
you back up to speed.


Montblack