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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

#61

Post by JHof »

I don't like all this talk of risk and death. While it's true that more accidents happen with small GA aircraft, it isn't really the dangerous activity non-fliers make it out to be. When accidents do occur, it's almost always due to some very poor decisions made on the part of the pilot - taking off over wight, bad weather/icing, shoddy maintenance, etc.

I started out with GA flying and later became a flight instructor, then moved on to flying small turboprops (into some very treacherous airports), and now fly jets with an airline. I've never known anyone personally who has been killed or injured in an aircraft accident. Even flying for an airline, I'm baffled by the sense of danger some passengers feel by going up in a large jet.

Here's a startup that's trying to reverse the decline of GA flying - OpenAirplane.com. They launched last year and have caught on pretty quickly. It's a universal rental checkout for GA pilots, such as the OP. Get checked out in, say, a Cessna 172 in Detroit, and you're set to rent a similar Cessna 172 in Florida. The requirement for a checkout at each operator from which one wants to rent can be a roadblock for would-be renters, and this solves the problem. The company has the backing of most major aviation insurance providers and even Cessna Aircraft Company.

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

#62

Post by bergie »

mariuolo wrote: post #54

How much red tape is there if one wants to cross an international border?

Generally, not much.

You need to file a flight plan, which is essentially just telling the ATC where you're going, and where you're coming from. The flight plan is also useful in case you get into trouble, since it contains the identifying information for your plane, the number of people on board, and for instance the safety equipment on board. So if you crash, the search-and-rescue people know what to expect.

Depending on the system the place you're flying to uses, filing the plan might be filling a web form. At least in Finland you could also do that via a phone call or with radio.

If there are customs and passport formalities between the countries you travel to, you will need to taxi your plane to a 'customs control' parking lot on the airport so that the customs people can check it. On some small airports this may require alerting them ahead of time so that they'll actually be there.

You probably also have to have a radio and a transponder on the airplane.

Between some countries, like the EU/Schengen area, flying between countries is pretty much the same as flying inside a country. So the requirements mostly depend on airspace restrictions in the area you fly. Between other countries things may vary. For example, back then I was told that it is quite impossible to fly from Finland to Russia since there was essentially no GA in Russia.

(disclaimer: it has been nearly 10 years since I flew last time, so some of this may be incorrect or outdated)

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

#63

Post by bergie »

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…

Fuel is also a lot more expensive now. And that makes up quite a significant chunk of the flying costs.

On a quick look, the price of an hour of flying has gone up nearly 50% in the last ten years in the aviation club I used to belong to.

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

#64

Post by sokoloff »

bergie wrote: post #63
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…

Fuel is also a lot more expensive now. And that makes up quite a significant chunk of the flying costs. On a quick look, the price of an hour of flying has gone up nearly 50% in the last ten years in the aviation club I used to belong to.

That's what 4.1% annual inflation compounded over 10 years will do.

In real dollar terms, that price is very close to what it was 10 years ago.

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

#65

Post by sokoloff »

MattBearman wrote: post #46
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, I knew flying light aircrafts was dangerous, but this really surprised me. And people tell me I'm taking risks riding a motorcycle.

If you factor in all risks (the "as experienced" rate), GA flight is about as dangerous per mile as riding motorcycles.

I firmly believe that 2/3rds of the fatality risk in GA is pilot-controlled and readily avoidable: weather, fuel exhaustion and "ostentatious display" (buzzing, etc) are relatively easy to avoid with nothing more than basic knowledge and firm discipline.

On a motorcycle, many risks are rider-controlled but a lot of your safety is in the hands of people near you that you'll never meet. Less so in aviation, IMO.

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

#66

Post by [deleted] »

MattBearman wrote: post #46
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, I knew flying light aircrafts was dangerous, but this really surprised me. And people tell me I'm taking risks riding a motorcycle.

[deleted]

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

#67

Post by gutnor »

dav- wrote: post #25
lisper wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Perhaps you could integrate some type of death instrument into the simulator to increase the realism. Crash your plane, and a stack of exercise machine weights falls onto your head. Something like that.

Don't want to be beta testing that simulator.

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

#68

Post by niekmaas »

Udo wrote: post #56

I would love an app that matches passengers to GA flights going between airfields, essentially a ride-sharing option for small aircraft. Pilots could offload a bit of the fuel cost and passengers could go between short range destinations very fast if they're lucky.

A private pilot license (PPL) does not allow for commercial flying (charging passengers). To charge passengers to pilot requires a commercial pilot license.

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

#69

Post by mistercow »

ars wrote: post #41
mistercow wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>an ultralight could hardly tolerate the extra weight that a decent autopilot would require Where does most of the weight come from in an autopilot?

I would assume the actuators to actually control the plane. I doubt ultralights are fly by wire.

Oh, that makes sense, although I guess I'm a bit surprised that FBW isn't common with ultralights, given its advantages.

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

#70

Post by StavrosK »

tlrobinson wrote: post #37
ekianjo wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> about half the pilots I knew in 1980 (instructors as well as students) had been killed in flying accidents Wow, that's certainly dissuasive. By the way, are there some kind of autopilots on modern amateur planes? Or is that even possible to integrate any ?

From the makers of X-Plane: http://www.x-plane.com/x-world/hardware/seeker-avionics/ (I don't fly and know nothing about this but it sounds pretty cool)

That's amazing, think of all the lives it will save!
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