1 hour ago, 177B said:

I got my licence back in 1978.

Cost about $7,000.00 at the local airfield then B20 now called KIZG.

I bought a 150 after I got my licence for $11,000 flew it for a while sold for $13,000. After a few hundred hrs I started my instrument training etc so I bought a C177B Cardinal, a fantastic bird. Huge doors, easy to load bicycles in the back. I paid $23,000.00 for the C177 and put $10,000.00 more avionics in including Loran, that was really something. The AP could follow my Loran from waypoint to waypoint, fantastic. I had to manage the altitude though with trim.

I always figured it cost about 12,000 a year to keep a plane w/o flying at all if hangared back then, now it is more like 24,000. Or cost per hour back then was $60.00 per hour, now 120 or sp for a 177 class plane.

So it is not and was not cheap.

But it is incredible rewarding, it is a big challenge both for wallet and brain.

Go for it if you can. Simming helps a little, but it is nothing like real flying. Once you are a pilot then the sim is great for practicing procedures and IFR flying. But it will not keep you current for real flying, it is very different and much scarier at times.

Merry X-mas and Fly/Sim on...

Your post reminded me of my flying days, I was awarded my Private Pilots licence in Australia, in 1976, the eye watering hire rates were $A15hr solo, $A25hr with instructor, in a Piper Cherokee 140 that is still flying! Fast forward to recent times and it cost me $A150 an hour to hire a Light sports Jabiru J160. The Cessna and Piper singles are way out of my budget.

All the best for 2021!

I was a teenage flight simmer in the late 1980s , solo flight and Sublogic FS2 on the C64 and later the Amiga.

I got lucky and made the leap into real aviation and then up through the ranks to take command of a 747 aged 32.

I won’t pretend it was an easy journey but it can be done.

If you’re thinking of training for a PPL then great go for it. However if you’re thinking of trying to get into commercial aviation at the moment I’d mirror the advice of the unions and say don’t waste you’re time or money just now.

The  Aviation industry, along with almost everything else is in absolute free fall right now and it’s going to take years to recover.

Most of my Pilot friends from the 747 are presently driving delivery vans for a living. 😢😢

Time is definitely the biggest issue. It takes about half hour each way to and from my home airport. The traffic sucks, and by the time I am done I am looking at probably three to four hours. I have also left my house and by the time I got to the airport the weather had deteriorated. Wasted trip. All of that said, there is nothing that compares to flying a plane by yourself. 
 

Cheers, Pete

Edited December 26, 20205 yr by PilotPete99

2 hours ago, ptr1959w said:

Hi there,

I was just wondering how many of you guys are real life pilots? What does it take to become a pilot?

The price to pay depends on where you are located and the time it takes it’s basically based on how often you train and how good of a learner you are . Also the plane you pick to train on . When i  got my PPL took me 19 hours over the minimum requirement of hours... 

I got this question a lot. It really depends on location, airplane, instructor and student abilities/discipline .

As far as I remember in US average hours to get private around 60 (out of 40 minimum). I personally never had student who from 0 become private  at 40 hours. I instruct next to several bravo airspaces so it take much longer for student to learn bells and whistles. Often people get comfortable with airplane before they got comfortable with communication. It take some time for them to get to use to listen and talk especially when things get busy.

 

Edited December 26, 20205 yr by sd_flyer

2 hours ago, ptr1959w said:

Hi there,

I was just wondering how many of you guys are real life pilots? What does it take to become a pilot?

You will find a lot of real world pilots here, this one included. It takes drive and dedication coupled with $ and time to devote to focusing on studying. Depending on your goal(s) you might want to talk to a local flight school and/or ALL ATP's or similar pro school. The advice above about doing your homework ahead of time (medical/written test(s) etc.) will save you both time and $ later as you take formal lessons... HTH

1 minute ago, Flyfaster_MTN002 said:

 ALL ATP's or similar pro school. 

In my world, we consider ATP as "puppy mill factory" with modern CFI slavery model LOL

2 minutes ago, sd_flyer said:

In my world, we consider ATP as "puppy mill factory" with modern CFI slavery model LOL

Ok FINE go to Emery Riddle 🙂

I am a pilot. Commercial multi and instrument rated. I own a baron 58 in real life with about 1200 hours. Been flying since I was a teenager.
 

At 27, I hadn’t finished my ppl and didn’t have much money and worked in sales. I aspired to own a plane, so I started a software company. Lot of luck, timing, hard work and risking it all and 3 years later I got my ppl, bought a bonanza and started working on my instrument. 

now 7 years down the road and I am building time and taking “short trips” for fun. I aspire to own a pc12 someday (it’s the plane I’ve wanted to own since I was 16). maybe next year l start looking more seriously. 
 

it’s hard to say cost wise because so much training was mixed in with fun and real real cross country flights. Maybe $100k just for training? My training is a mix of fun and safety and I never expect to fly as a career.
 

Plane ownership factors heavily into costs and working in tech I love flying with the latest glass cockpit. it ain’t cheap (there’s the upfront cost of the plane and maybe $30k-40k a year)
 

But, I have three kids, a wife that now owns a company, and I’m onto my second startup after selling my first...life is crazy and sometimes all I have is an hour from 10-11pm to mess around in flight simulator and I love it. 

Just like everything else in life the answer is “it depends.” At my flight school, based on real world metrics collected over the past several years, the average hours needed for an initial private certificate is between 65-80. Renting a C172, that ends up in the $12-15k range. Can you get a ppl closer to the minimum of 40 hours? Sure! And there are people who do. They study hard, putting the work in between lessons and fly often - at least twice a week. It is worth it? Yep...every last cent!

Also this topic bring memory of very cheap students who argue what airplane they  should take and how many hours they think they should fly lol

There are a few other option for flying in the US.....LSA and recreational pilot are two  of them. Both substantially cheaper than the PPL, although both do have some restrictions....they are a cheaper way to get started.....you can always upgrade later.

I earned my PPL in Dec 1976 when I was 26 and rented a Cessna 152 for $13.00 an hour and my flight instructor (who became a good friend) charged $7.00 an hour, after 42 flight hours and about $2,500 I had my license. Now that was 44 years ago so in todays $$ Cessna 152 about $115, instructor about $45 hr so $160 hr and for a Private you need 40 hours so about $6,400 plus study materials.

Orange Coast College a Junior College here in Orange County, CA  offered a 2 year Associate Arts degree in Air Transportation and Commercial Piloting. I would highly recommend finding an aviation program like that if you are serious about going into aviation, a lot cheaper than some of the flight schools. The program is now called Aviation Science, they also offer a AP mechanic certificate if you want to go that way. Great way to get into aviation and I would really encourage young folks interested in aviation to look into it! 

http://www.orangecoastcollege.edu/academics/divisions/technology/aviation_pilot_training/Pages/default.aspx

Cheers

Martin

Just now, PIC007 said:

There are a few other option for flying in the US.....LSA and recreational pilot are two  of them. Both substantially cheaper than the PPL, although both do have some restrictions....they are a cheaper way to get started.....you can always upgrade later.

Yes. But I had a student who transitioned from sport to private and it ended up to be more expensive.  Sport pilot make sense if person have health issues frankly

I had a friend who was a pilot he'd take me up on occasion.  Hes deceased now unfortunately I miss him and the flying.  I have diabetes so I dont think I'll ever do it on my own.

He actually flew professionally I think for Piedmont but he got diabetes so he became a correctional officer which is what I retired from.  He lost weight so was able to fly again he owned a 152 which is what hed take me up in.   

Edited December 26, 20205 yr by Todd2