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Questions People Ask When I Tell Them I Own an Airplane

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Re: Questions People Ask When I Tell Them I Own an Airplane

#11

Post by lutusp »

jeiting wrote: post #7
lutusp wrote: post #2

It's important to say that the general aviation population has gotten much smaller over the last few decades. It was a lot more popular 25 years ago when I flew much more than I do now. A number of aircraft manufacturers have stopped building small general-aviation planes for a number of reasons including liability and a reduction in public interest. I started flying about 1980. By 1992, 12 years later, about half th…

You must be fantastically unlucky, by my research (I'm afraid I've lost the citation) the number of pilots who die in flying accidents is about 1/50. How many pilots did you know?

A reasonable number, but many of them were stunt pilots -- or thought they were stunt pilots. I didn't mean to create a false impression. Also remember I mentioned that was a 12-year period.

Re: Questions People Ask When I Tell Them I Own an Airplane

#12

Post by lutusp »

lisper wrote: post #8
lutusp wrote: post #2

It's important to say that the general aviation population has gotten much smaller over the last few decades. It was a lot more popular 25 years ago when I flew much more than I do now. A number of aircraft manufacturers have stopped building small general-aviation planes for a number of reasons including liability and a reduction in public interest. I started flying about 1980. By 1992, 12 years later, about half th…

Wow, you have had some extraordinarily bad luck. Not a single one of my flying acquaintances has ever been in an accident, and I've been flying since 1996. (I do have one non-pilot friend who was killed in a GA accident.)

> Wow, you have had some extraordinarily bad luck.

Yes -- all except the fact that I gave up the activity before getting killed myself. :)

Re: Questions People Ask When I Tell Them I Own an Airplane

#13

Post by jeiting »

lisper wrote: post #10
noname123 wrote: post #5

You forgot the LAQ: "Can someone who only 'trained' on a Flight Simulator be able to take-off and land in a real plane?'

The answer is yes. Someone actually did this experiment. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJT_CACIZqs But it's pretty challenging. Today's simulators are pretty good, but there's something about having your life actually on the line that can't be captured by a sim.

I had a ton of sim experience when I jumped in a trainer for the first time. It helped a ton with the systems and comms but pretty much nothing for my landing and takeoff ability.

Re: Questions People Ask When I Tell Them I Own an Airplane

#14

Post by DanielleMolloy »

There are a couple of websites for airplane pooling around: http://www.skypool.com/

Like ridesharing / carpooling, just with airplanes. They are clearly not as successful as the car variant, but when flight destinations / times match they might offer a little adventure on the route (and one could avoid some of the traffic jams around the Bay Area).

Re: Questions People Ask When I Tell Them I Own an Airplane

#16

Post by jeiting »

DanielleMolloy wrote: post #14

There are a couple of websites for airplane pooling around: http://www.skypool.com/ Like ridesharing / carpooling, just with airplanes. They are clearly not as successful as the car variant, but when flight destinations / times match they might offer a little adventure on the route (and one could avoid some of the traffic jams around the Bay Area).

There are a lot of legal land mines with operations like this.

The FAA separates flight operations along a couple of subtle lines that make the difference between a commercial and private operation. As soon as a private pilot says to the general public "I am flying from here to there on this day and it will cost this much to come." you are now "holding out" as the FAA puts it. This requires you to be a commercial pilot flying under part 135 of the FARs as opposed to the more relaxed part 91 (general aviation).

Re: Questions People Ask When I Tell Them I Own an Airplane

#17

Post by jeiting »

apunic wrote: post #15

Don't get me wrong but I do not get what's so exciting about flying yourself or owning a plane. Flying is for getting from point A to B. Flying just for fun missing any purpose might be fun the first couple of times but then it's like driving a bus from A to A.

Sex is for making children. I don't get why anyone would enjoy it more than once.

Because you are flying in the air. In a machine. Above the ground. Like a god.

Re: Questions People Ask When I Tell Them I Own an Airplane

#19

Post by bobowzki »

apunic wrote: post #15

Don't get me wrong but I do not get what's so exciting about flying yourself or owning a plane. Flying is for getting from point A to B. Flying just for fun missing any purpose might be fun the first couple of times but then it's like driving a bus from A to A.

In the same way as hacking is ONLY about making a product?

You can never do it out of general interest, just to learn more about something?

Re: Questions People Ask When I Tell Them I Own an Airplane

#20

Post by lutusp »

apunic wrote: post #15

Don't get me wrong but I do not get what's so exciting about flying yourself or owning a plane. Flying is for getting from point A to B. Flying just for fun missing any purpose might be fun the first couple of times but then it's like driving a bus from A to A.

> Flying is for getting from point A to B. Flying just for fun missing any purpose might be fun the first couple of times but then it's like driving a bus from A to A.

On the contrary. For years I owned a Piper Super Cub, an old-fashioned cloth-wing airplane, and I flew it everywhere just for fun. I would fly it out into the desert and land in a dry lake bed or salt flat, just to be somewhere totally wild and unexplored. I also stunt-flew it at air shows, doing all kinds of aerobatics and fun stuff. That was the most fun I had as a pilot, and flying for business couldn't compare.

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