How often do you Fly?

I suppose one of the reasons that the forum is so off topic at the
moment is whether has most of us grounded...

Thinking along those lines though...

How often do the rest of you get out flying? once a week? once a
month?

I've found that since I purchased 4261J, I've been 'forcing' myself to
the airport more and more (at least twice a week)... I mean, after you
start spending so much for insurance, tiedown, and the rest, it seems
like an awfully big waste to not make it as much as possible...

I'm actually not complaining (at all), considering my workload at the
moment, I'd probably just as well be going home and passing out...
this way at least I have at least two hours every week where I
actually feel alive...

How about how guys... how much do you 'actually' fly? how do you fit
it into your day to day life?

"EridanMan" wrote:
How often do the rest of you get out flying?

Once a week, sometimes more, and I usually find some reason to *have to*
go to the hangar every couple of days -- fixing, cleaning, polishing, or
just hangin' out (no pun).

I've been a renter and I've been an owner and I always fly more,
usually double, when owning compared to renting... Psychologically as
a renter you are always concious of that Hobbs meter running...
As an owner the only additional cost for an extra half hour is some
gas and a little oil... Owning is lots more expensive than renting,
but I prefer owning....
denny

"Denny" wrote in message
oups.com...
I've been a renter and I've been an owner and I always fly more,
usually double, when owning compared to renting... Psychologically as
a renter you are always concious of that Hobbs meter running...
As an owner the only additional cost for an extra half hour is some
gas and a little oil... Owning is lots more expensive than renting,
but I prefer owning....

I figure my cutout point is about 200-250 hours a year, after which owning
is cheaper. Then, it would be damn near impossible to rent the equipment
that we use for our typical mission.


--
Matt Barrow
Performance Homes, LLC
Colorado Springs, CO

On Mar 1, 10:59 am, "Matt Barrow" wrote:

I figure my cutout point is about 200-250 hours a year, after which owning
is cheaper. Then, it would be damn near impossible to rent the equipment
that we use for our typical mission.


Good point there... The rental fleet here in CT is essentially limited
to PA-28s and 172s with the odd Seneca thrown in. If you need to move
4-5 people and bags and still take full fuel a PA-32 is pretty tough
to beat. There used to be a pair of nice Saratogas available, one FG
and one RG, but those are long gone.

Psychologically as a renter you are always concious of that Hobbs
meter running...
As an owner the only additional cost for an extra half hour is some
gas and a little oil... Owning is lots more expensive than renting,
but I prefer owning....
denny

I _completely_ agree, and I'll even admit that its pretty illogical,
but owning, despite how (obscenely) more expensive than renting it is,
really returns more 'valuable' flying experience to me(I can just
relax and enjoy the flight and not worry about a clock ticking over my
head).

As I said, it also tends to spur me to get out flying more than I used
to when I rent (the "Well, I'm paying for her anyways, lets get the
most of my money!"...

I think its the purely psychological - the ownership costs are all
sunk into my fixed budget, which I plan out and can tolerate. When
I'm renting, the substantially lower renters costs are coming out of
my 'fun' budget, which I am much more aware of, and hence the costs
are more painful (even if they're substantially less).

"EridanMan" wrote:
I _completely_ agree, and I'll even admit that its pretty illogical,
but owning, despite how (obscenely) more expensive than renting it is,
really returns more 'valuable' flying experience to me(I can just
relax and enjoy the flight and not worry about a clock ticking over my
head).

After owning, it isn't the clock ticking that makes renting undesirable
for me -- it's the question marks about maintenance. Yes, I know rental
aircraft are required to be inspected more often, but having worked at a
place that rented airplanes, I also know that unless it is *required*,
it isn't always done, and not every ongoing maintenance item is divulged
to renters. You can ask to see the maintenance records of airplanes you
rent, but it's still impossible to really *know* the maintenance history
or have any control over it like you do when you own...not to mention
knowing being in control of who else flies it.

I rented aircraft at places like that. Once I rented a 172 that you
had to open the window just to be able to hold onto the door to close
it. The passenger door had the window sealed shut, so you had to close
it from the outside after your passenger got in. I complained and
refused to rent that particular airframe. They had the stupidity to
raise their rates, everyone stopped renting from them. Eventually they
finally broke down and sent their aircraft for major refurbishment
complete with all new interiors. Guys were willing to drive 50 miles
to rent a brand new 172 at a much higher rental rate, than fly their
trash. The learned eventually.

EridanMan wrote:
I suppose one of the reasons that the forum is so off topic at the
moment is whether has most of us grounded...

Thinking along those lines though...

How often do the rest of you get out flying? once a week? once a
month?

I've found that since I purchased 4261J, I've been 'forcing' myself to
the airport more and more (at least twice a week)... I mean, after you
start spending so much for insurance, tiedown, and the rest, it seems
like an awfully big waste to not make it as much as possible...

I'm actually not complaining (at all), considering my workload at the
moment, I'd probably just as well be going home and passing out...
this way at least I have at least two hours every week where I
actually feel alive...

How about how guys... how much do you 'actually' fly? how do you fit
it into your day to day life?

Off season once a month.
On season: daily, up to 27 days a month up to 8 hours a day.

Michelle

EridanMan wrote:
How often do the rest of you get out flying? once a week? once a
month?

Once or Twice per week, year around. Although, I don't have the
wanderlust of many pilots, and am more than satisfied with short, local
trips and practice work in the pattern. As a result, it's not that
unusual for me to log around 50 hours for the year.

I've found that since I purchased 4261J, I've been 'forcing' myself to
the airport more and more (at least twice a week)... I mean, after you
start spending so much for insurance, tiedown, and the rest, it seems
like an awfully big waste to not make it as much as possible...

Definitely. When I rented, some 15 years ago, I'd only manage to fly
once every 3-4 weeks.

Cragg! It seems like our planes may have rolled out of Vero Beach
fairly close together. My N# is 4269J, and according to the FAA site,
our serial numbers are only 10 apart.

--- Jay


--

Jay Masino "Home is where My critters are"
http://www.JayMasino.com
http://www.OceanCityAirport.com
http://www.oc-Adolfos.com