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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

#211

Post by jpatokal »

aaronsnoswell wrote: post #208
malandrew wrote: post #170

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Whoa! really? I never imagined that deaths were that frequent. What were most of the causes of the accidents? Operator error? Poor conditions? Equipment failure? Has the rate of people dying off fallen as the equipment (planes and instruments) has improved? I had always assumed the decline has more to do with the economics of the sport and the amount of upfront investment necessary to get to the point where you can f…

In the 1950s, test pilots were dying approximately once per week [1]. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Test_pilot

There's a world of difference between the flying done by a test pilot, who's intentionally pushing the plane to its limits, and your average recreational pilot.

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

#212

Post by foobarian »

Cthulhu_ wrote: post #74
btgeekboy wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Take off is actually quite easy. On your first lesson, it's likely you'll be doing the takeoff. Just point it straight, compensate for the left turning tendency, and gently pull back. Landing is a different story...

I used to fly flight sim games. Takeoff is simple: * FULL THROTTLE * AFTER BURNER ON * PULL BACK ON STICK * AAAAAAaaaAAAaa

Yup followed by destroying the SAM radar at Bandar Abbas, and shooting up a terrorist camp outside Baghdad. Hopefully not running out of fuel :-)

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

#213

Post by clueless123 »

jcoby wrote: post #139
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…

The private pilot is a dying breed. Skyrocketing costs make it all but impossible for most people to get into. Even getting your private pilot's license often costs $8k-$10k. And then you are looking at $150/hr to fly a 20-30 year old C172. These skyrocketing costs make it so the fleet ages and becomes less reliable. So people get out. Or they die because they can't fly enough to get experience or the aircraft has a…

One alternative is to go the LSA route (Light Sport Aircraft) they are substantially cheaper to buy and operate, plus the instruction requirements and Medical test are easier too.

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

#214

Post by arg01 »

existencebox wrote: post #200
nathanstitt wrote: post #177

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same here. I'm in my late 30s and am by far the youngest at any pilot gathering I attend. I really don't know where the airlines are going to get the next generation of pilots from. Of course with the horrible pay and hours, I can't blame anyone from not choosing that career path.

Maybe I'm being a bit far fetched here, but what if someone up in management is banking on "phasing out the pilots." Autopilot has for a long time been "good at some things", and there's often debate here as to what purpose a human pilot increasingly does or doesn't have in the cockpit as the computerized solutions become more reliable. As there are fewer pilots, relegate the physical role to a babysitter; potentiall…

Unfortunately for a lot of the planes the cost of education isn't really any less. The reason you want that babysitter is for when something goes wrong and if the pilot doesn't know much then the only thing he's supplying is the comfort factor of a 'real' pilot. I'd draw a parallel to a sys admin. It's all well and good to have a comsci student fresh out of university as your sys admin when the system is set up and running correctly. However unless you have one with the right experience when an unexpected error pops up you may end up with significant losses and a much longer/no recovery.

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

#215

Post by parrots »

benburleson wrote: post #110
krschultz wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A friend of mine owns an airplane, and his brother is a pilot in the USAF. I asked him this once and his opinion was that 2 engines makes the plane more complicated and increases the chance of pilot error. He had suffered 2 or 3 engine out incidents in his single engine plane, and landed all 3 with no issue. Obviously if your plane doesn't glide very well then the redundancy of a second engine is necessary (i.e a jet…

I always assumed "gliding well" is a fundamental principle of an airplane.

It actually is - each plane as an ideal glide speed that you pitch the plane to match during an engine-out. 1 mile per 1k feed above ground level is a good rule of thumb for glide distance at this speed.

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

#216

Post by nanidin »

vilhelm_s wrote: post #209
Tossrock wrote: post #194

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That is not how a binomial probability is calculated. Consider the case where you flip a coin twice - do you have a 2 * 1/2, or 100% chance of getting a 'head'? Obviously not – you have a 75% chance. The actual way you calculate the probability of an event with a binomial distribution is by taking the inverse probability and raising it to the power of the attempts, then subtracting from 1. So in the case of two coin…

That's why I said "approximately". :) By the binomial series [1], the true value is 1-(1-p)^n = np - n(n-1)/2! p^2 + n(n-1)(n-2)/3! p^3 + ... So approximating it to just np corresponds to taking just the leading term of the series. Of course, this is only valid when p is small enough. To see how good the approximation is, we can compare it to the two first terms of the series, which is np - n(n-1)/2 p^2, or approxima…

Rule 99732: When you can't admit you were wrong, argue on technicalities!

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

#217

Post by nanidin »

nathanstitt wrote: post #192
smackfu wrote: post #191

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>I really don't know where the airlines are going to get the next generation of pilots from. The military. As usual.

Eh, I'm not so sure that'll happen. Military pilots aren't getting as many hours as they used to, plus it's actually a pay drop for them to leave and work for an airliner the way it is right now. Right now the airlines have managed to talk high school grads into taking out huge student loans and drop 100K+ on a for-profit school, then take a job making ~ 20. There's no way that's sustainable though.

When my neighbor retired from the airforce, he moved on to flying planes for FedEx. He is paid VERY well for that.

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

#218

Post by tjmc »

mariuolo wrote: post #54

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

None if you don't land! I used to fly into US airspace out of Boundary Bay airport - just south of Vancouver. There's actually no immigration or customs requirement at all if you don't land the thing on the other side of the border.

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

#219

Post by tjmc »

jokoon wrote: post #166
lutorm wrote: post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Building your own airplane is possible and actually quite common. There are kits for anything from one-seaters with open cockpit to pressurized turboprops. http://eaa.org/homebuilders/

No I meant like newer generation planes with more efficient engines, lighter, more aerodynamic, etc. I'm not sure if current airplane designs are as good as they can...

Personally I'm looking forward to the next generation of electric aircraft, once battery density improves and costs come down. A Chinese company is already producing an electric ultralight and working on a small GA electric: http://www.flyingmag.com/aircraft/lsasport/germany-certifies...

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

#220

Post by greyshi »

jcoby wrote: post #139
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…

The private pilot is a dying breed. Skyrocketing costs make it all but impossible for most people to get into. Even getting your private pilot's license often costs $8k-$10k. And then you are looking at $150/hr to fly a 20-30 year old C172. These skyrocketing costs make it so the fleet ages and becomes less reliable. So people get out. Or they die because they can't fly enough to get experience or the aircraft has a…

"The private pilot is a dying breed."

Yes, literally.

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