I never had the money or the chance to fly anything except FS.

 

You guys are more fortunate than you realise, believe me.

 

 

Where do you live?  I hear getting into GA flying in a place like England is all but impossible.

We just closed the cabin crew recruitment for the season a week ago unfortunately...  :(  :Doh:

I bet that one never gets a mention if you want food and a cuppa!!!

 

Yep...I'm a real pilot. Also, would like to share my story of becoming a pilot.

 

1. I got FSX flight sim in 2006 (watching a TV commercial)...never flown before. Got totally hooked. Was flying a lot of commercial flights internationally from 2006-2008 as a passenger of course. Will never forget I got bumped up to first class one flight and was sitting next to a commercial pilot catching a ride home (I think it was with American). We started talking and he was telling about some of his flights and trips he'd flown...and when he left he gave me his copy of Flying Magazine. I started flipping through the pages and was like this stuff doesn't make any since at all. Continue reading...

2. Started real world training in 2009 ( during this time...I also keep upgrading and updating my computer)

2a. During my training I did the pilot learning in FSX. I did my first solo in FSX, then turned around did it in Real world.

2b. Did my first cross country solo in FSX using dead reckoning and pilotage. Turn around and did it in real life.

2c. Passed my Private Pilot Certificate in FSX, then turned around and passed it in real life in 2010. Passed in 1.6 hours and 5 landings.

3. Took two years off because of family and high fuel prices in real world. However, still flew every day in FSX. I think I have something like 12,000 hours in FSX.

4. Bi-annual was coming so took FSX private pilot certificate again...passed. Went for my Bi-annual in real life (after 2 years off) passed in 1.6 hours and 5 landings.

 

So, I don't care what anybody says if you setup FSX to as real as possible and fly it real, it makes a big difference and will keep your skills sharp. It has made a believer out of me.

 

Also, fast forward 7 years later and I have been a Flying Mag subscriber for at least 3 years now. :-)

 

 

-Ray

Got my PPL in 2009, Hard to get enough hours in as the weather here in the UK has been absolute garbage for the last few years, we havnt had a decent summer since 2007

I own and fly a Jodel 150 Mascaret in the UK. I am planning on trying for a fATPL and hopefully a change of career. Aircraft ownership can be surprisingly cheap and many people fly for less than £30 an hour. I see owning an aircraft as owning another vehicle which I can use to commute or to go away for weekends and ultimately every hour i fly, I am training and in investing in a new career.

 

 I own a Skyranger Microlight which has to be near the cheapest way of flying.....  it costs about  £17 an hour on fuel, £140 a month Hangarage, about £300 a year to pay BMAA membership and get permitted £670 a year insurance and anything between £500-£2000 to maintain (varies year to year) based on 50 hrs a year flying

 

That comes out to an average £59 an hour.......Ive probably forgotten some other costs so this is a minimum figure

 

I would love to know  what all these people flying in the UK for less than £30 an hour are flying

 

 

Oh and of course I had to pay £20,000 to buy it in the first place (second hand), dont really know how much its depreciating year to year but its definately not a profitable investment:) )

I used to own a Murphy Maverick microlight which burnt 12lts of mogas per hour (£15.60ph for 10hrs pa - £1560) hangarage was £96pm (£1152 pa) insurance was ~£600 and BMAA plus permit was ~£300 as mentioned that totals £3612 for 100hrs or £36ph which isn't far off of £30. In my post I was making reference to the new breed of low cost ultralight that burn 5-7lts mogas an hour such as some SSDR, Minisport SD-1 (can be trailered), MC Luciole etc. Also the 1/2 VW engined aircraft such as the Hummel Bird have a low furl burn. Other aircrft that may creep into this cheap bracket are those with folding wings that can either be trailered home or hangared for cheap (i.e Kitfox, escapade etc) and motor gliders that can cruise with low fuel burn. Also the more you fly, the cheaper it is. I also think that an all metal 912 or Jabiru engined aircraft that could be tied down would also be around the £30ph figure, such as a Savanah or Zenair Zodiac would also be around this price due to a combination of low fuel costs and lower hangarage/tie down.

 

I agree that buying an aircraft is a big investment but I have found it to be a good investment so far. I sold my first aircraft for what I paid for it and my current aircraft is valued at more than I paid for it. The value will depend on engine hours and if you add lots of hours and take it up to TBO then yes you will lose some money but buy right and this will take half a life time and only make a couple of £K difference to the price which is bearable. Don't forget that they can be ran on condition. If you buy the right LAA/BMAA aircraft then you should not lose money on it, particularly the popular vintage types such as Jodels . With EASA and the economy as it is, I predict that LAA aircraft will become more sought after so increase in value.

 

Do you agree?

Many people fly fly for less than £30 an hour you said....... Sorry but you didnt quite reach that  figure even with your Maverick @  100hrs (this is at the top end  for hours microlight class pilot in the UK has been able to fly per annum in the last few years, given the weather) and cheap hangarage

edit P.S. You also didnt factor any maintenance costs into your £36 ph figure for your Maverick

............so definately not a figure attained by "Many People"

I dont know anyone who keeps a Zenair outside, though Ive no experience of Savanahs

 

 

 

Anyway, as I said, its not realistic, Ive not met anyone flying for that price (though its undoubtbly possible with SSDR if you dont factor in purchase price) no way are many people achieving this flying at £30 AN HOUR in the UK.

Lets not forget shared ownership would bring down your fixed overheads and I think there are many people flying shared C42s Jabirus etc. if they do 100hrs pa then I'd expect them to be paying around £30.

The point that I was trying to make is that cheap flying is possible in the UK and that people should not be put off by the perceived costs.

Looking at the overheads on your aircraft, If you shared the aircraft with 5 other people then it would cost you £29ph if you fly 50hours per year and £23ph if you fly 100hrs. It would also mean that your investment would be ~£6k and you would only lose a share of the depreciation.

i didn't had the chance to do that, but someday i will

I'm flying for 24 years now, and all things on target, in two months time I'll log my 20,000th hour behind the controls of an aircraft... Anyone want to try and beat that?       

 

Regards,

Ró.

 

Well, passed the mark this afternoon. Now have 20,001 and a bit hours under my belt...  B)  ^_^  :blush:

 

There was cake and a heavily adapted version of "Happy Birthday"...  :Party:

 

Regards,

Ró.

Well, passed the mark this afternoon. Now have 20,001 and a bit hours under my belt...  B)  ^_^  :blush:

 

There was cake and a heavily adapted version of "Happy Birthday"...  :Party:

 

Regards,

Ró.

Congrats!

 

18,000 more to catch up to you

Does Hanggliding count?  It's been a long time, but my log book says I have 204 take offs and landings.  Hours as a metric is not as significant for a Hangglider.  B)

 

 

I'm a complete FSX noob, and just starting playing around with it a month ago or so.  (Trying to fix stereoscopic bugs)  

 

Not sure if Hanggliding helped or it's just that easy, but flying the early missions I put it in "real-life" mode, and successfully did the first 7 missions without any mistakes or breaking the airframe.

 

Tried a Jet mission (Amsterdam to London) and could never eyeball it correctly.  I'd land but never actually on the runway.  Plenty of crashed planes.  I didn't know how to back up, so I just drove forward through the terminal to get to the runway.  As long as you don't hit a ground vehicle it doesn't care.

 

Lots and lots of hours playing videogames- so I approached the landing like a video game instead, and used the magic boxes on the flight deck (sorry, no idea what they are called) to make a good landing.  Just for grins I didn't read up on any of the instruments and just tried to figure it out from context.

 

Anyway, hope that was amusing.   ^_^

Bought C150L in 2010,passed check ride in Dec. 2011...276 hrs logged as PIC in 150,s and 172,s...Approx 100 hrs unlogged right seat in 3 KA 90,s,2 Caravan,s ,1 Grand Caravan,2 Twin Otters,a Mooney and a Piper Archer..Retired and flying as much as weather and gas money allows...

About 18,000 hours.  I say about because I stopped logging time after 10,000.  Just put the computer printouts in a box.

US Army fixed wing (Caribou) in Viet Nam.  Otter in Germany, and others elsewhere.

Bush pilot Alaska.  Airline pilot: piston; turboprop & jets.

Aircraft owner and operator.

I had a pilots lic before I could drive a car.  Now retired.

I started flying with a friend in his airplane 30 years ago. He was a flight instructor and taught me how to get up and down but I never logged hours with him. Around 15 years ago I got serious and got my PPL, Instrument and Commercial rating. Flew a number of planes as a renter including a nice turbo 210 and then bought my own turbo V tail Bonanza. Flew the Bo for around 8 years and logged around 1,500 in that baby. Very sweet plane. Sold it three years ago and hooked up with a flying club that leases Cirrus primarily and have been flying with these guys. RW flying is great fun and a great way to get around but I'm surprised how much I still enjoy simming. Flying the big iron that I'll never do in real life is just such a kick. I love it.