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How often and why do we fly ?

About 200-250 hours per year, split roughly 33/33/33 between instructing the IR on students’ aircraft (mainly SEP), flying my own PA31 to take family to nice places and flying other people’s aircraft for them (mostly one particular guy, but sometimes others.)

This year there is also some fun GAINS flying.

EGKB Biggin Hill

MedEwok wrote:

I feel like having either done the PPL at the wrong time in my life or maybe it was a mistake altogether.

Both is quite possible, we had this topic elsewhere. You might look for “low-threshold” possibilities to keep your license (and maybe even the fun of flying) by extending your license to SPL and to TMG to fly with less fuss. Have you visited all airfields in 40min driving distance?

Bremen (EDWQ), Germany

@MedEvok: I feel like having either done the PPL at the wrong time in my life or maybe it was a mistake altogether.

You are based EDDV? Then you are definitely doing something terribly wrong! With whom did you do your training? This is among the best places for GA you can be in Europe, with quite some schools and a lot of available aircraft for rent plus a real lot of pilots helping novices from GA and professional side. EDDV has great infrastructure, a very very GA friendly tower, one of the best fit for purpose GATs, friendly people and loads of different aircraft types. I would hope more airports would have such organizations like EDDV, GA would be in a much better shape if there‘d be more like it. There is something wrong in your approach or you got introduced to the wrong people maybe?

Last Edited by Markuus at 01 May 12:29
Germany

MedEwok wrote:

I feel like having either done the PPL at the wrong time in my life or maybe it was a mistake altogether.

Living with one child and not having flown for 2 years due to total lack of time I think you may well have a point about the wrong time in life. Most people I see flying a lot are either young and unmarried/attached or pensioners. In between, lots of people simply lack the time to even think about it. Flying is a hobby where for one hour of flying you need 3-4 hours of undisturbed preparation plus the overhead of driving to the airport and back e.t.c. Working in 60-80 hour / week jobs and families who wait for you to come home to do all the stuff they are waiting for you to do, flying is simply not possible for many people.

If you can, I would keep your licence alive even though it is not really a hassle to get the SEP rating back even after prolonged absences. But if you want to be honest, you will probably notice that with the demands you have on time having ANY hobby is simply impossible.

I don’t think it was a mistake as it has given you some experience nobody can take away from you, but sustaining a license for someone with family and high demand job on his hands is in my opinion simply not possible to do seriously.

Last Edited by Mooney_Driver at 01 May 14:09
LSZH(work) LSZF (GA base), Switzerland

Fulfilled a lifelong ambition by obtaining my PPL in 2003, when I was in my 40s. At the time I think I was the first Australian with a Swiss PPL.

Added FAA IR in 2007 and EASA IR just a few weeks ago. Curiously I fly more now than I did earlier in my aviation career, now at least 140 hours a year.

Am very lucky in that I could afford my own aircraft, an SR22 in 2007, which I traded up to a PA46 Mirage about 5 years ago (with a 1941 Piper Cub on the side)

Also very, very lucky that my wife seems to be happy flying with me frequently.

Basically I run my life so as to maximise opportunities to fly:

  • Sold a house we had redeveloped in London and used the proceeds to buy a house in the Cotswolds with a 700 m grass strip, plus the Mirage. It is now 150m from my home office to walk to the hangar.
  • We fly to shop – there is a great farm shop with a strip next door about 20 mins piper cub flight away. Why bother driving to the Tesco!
  • If I need to go to London for the day, why take the train or car when I can fly to Denham in 30 mins and take the tube!
  • If we need to go to the US to see my inlaws, why pay Heathrow car parking charges when we can fly from the home strip to Dublin in just over an hour and fly from there to the US. Tickets are cheaper from Ireland (no taxes) and even better, you pre-clear US Immigration in Dublin and save 2 hours in a queue on the other end.
  • There is an unspoken rule in my family, all European vacations HAVE to by taken in our plane. And why not when so many great places and airports are within one flight leg – Sion Switzerland, Ibiza, Malaga, Venice Lido etc etc etc
    I have been self employed since the early 2000s, with various ventures im tech, Swiss bakeries, residential property developement and now co-founder of Cotswolds Distillery. Need to do lots of spying on competitor gin and whisky distilleries. More excuses to fly!
Upper Harford private strip UK, near EGBJ, United Kingdom

I started flying gliders when I was fourteen, just for the fun of it. I grew up around airfields and gliders. A few friends from school flew as well, and almost all of them are still flying (ages 36/40) gliders, SEP and/or professionally. I quit gliders with pain in my heart due to all the other things in life (work and family being the main factor) then I picked up SEP flying. I have to admit, spare time to fly doens’t come easy, but I did do some amazing flights with the SEP together with my dad, my kids, and on two occasions even my lovely wife joined me.
Why do I fly? Most flights, even the shorter ones I can still vividly remember as I browse through my logbook, I can easily spend an evening reliving all those adventures. After a long cross country, I still feel a little bit like Charles Lindbergh. It gives me a great sense of achievement and happyness. I fly some 50/60 hrs a year, but I realy do have to make the time for it – and sometimes that’s not easy.

EHTE, Netherlands

Buckerfan wrote:

Fulfilled a lifelong ambition by obtaining my PPL in 2003, when I was in my 40s. At the time I think I was the first Australian with a Swiss PPL.
Added FAA IR in 2007 and EASA IR just a few weeks ago. Curiously I fly more now than I did earlier in my aviation career, now at least 140 hours a year.
Am very lucky in that I could afford my own aircraft, an SR22 in 2007, which I traded up to a PA46 Mirage about 5 years ago (with a 1941 Piper Cub on the side)
Also very, very lucky that my wife seems to be happy flying with me frequently.
Basically I run my life so as to maximise opportunities to fly:

Sold a house we had redeveloped in London and used the proceeds to buy a house in the Cotswolds with a 700 m grass strip, plus the Mirage. It is now 150m from my home office to walk to the hangar.
We fly to shop – there is a great farm shop with a strip next door about 20 mins piper cub flight away. Why bother driving to the Tesco!
If I need to go to London for the day, why take the train or car when I can fly to Denham in 30 mins and take the tube!
If we need to go to the US to see my inlaws, why pay Heathrow car parking charges when we can fly from the home strip to Dublin in just over an hour and fly from there to the US. Tickets are cheaper from Ireland (no taxes) and even better, you pre-clear US Immigration in Dublin and save 2 hours in a queue on the other end.
There is an unspoken rule in my family, all European vacations HAVE to by taken in our plane. And why not when so many great places and airports are within one flight leg – Sion Switzerland, Ibiza, Malaga, Venice Lido etc etc etc
I have been self employed since the early 2000s, with various ventures im tech, Swiss bakeries, residential property developement and now co-founder of Cotswolds Distillery. Need to do lots of spying on competitor gin and whisky distilleries. More excuses to fly!

Wow! Well done you!

EHTE, Netherlands

“Fulfill al lifelong ambition” are exactly the right words.
I had vomited on every single flight in whatever the plane was (airliner, sailplane, Cessna) since I was a little child. When I was 32 I decided: “Now that I have that age and I am a MD, time has come for my body to obey me, not the other way around”. First trial flight resulted in motion sickness for hours. Second, third, fourth also, fifth a little better, until I finally became a (teased) aeroclub member. Bought my first plane shortly afterwards, the cheapest available in Europe at that time, crashed it soon after and allowed my license to lapse due to career constraints.
Regained the license several years later and bought my second plane 6 years ago. Since then, flying is a happiness machine, actually and to my surprise practical aspects (going to places otherwise inaccessible, pure transportation) are becoming more important. IFR doesn’t appear as abstruse as earlier but would imply changing the plane. Actually flying 70-80h per year.

Bremen (EDWQ), Germany

@Buckerfan – you got it figured out, congrats !!

Buckerfan wrote:

f we need to go to the US to see my inlaws, why pay Heathrow car parking charges when we can fly from the home strip to Dublin in just over an hour and fly from there to the US. Tickets are cheaper from Ireland (no taxes) and even better, you pre-clear US Immigration in Dublin and save 2 hours in a queue on the other end.

That’s really pretty cool

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