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How Do You Find the Resources for Flying

I am wondering how do you guys find the resources – mainly time and money – to finance your flying. I assume some have successful businesses that provide them with the financial means but probably take them most of the time. Others probably work a normal job and have only weekends and holidays to fly and have to spend a big amount of their “hobby” finances for it.

What are your stories? Do you fly by yourself or do you go with others to share experience and time airborne while reducing the price? Do you fly only for the sake of flying or do you use your planes as transport to go on business trips?

LSZH, LSZF, Switzerland

Hi Vladimir

I’m very eager to read the upcoming responses to your post as I’ve also been amazed by the amount of money and time (both in flight and on line) that some of the lead members of the forum spend on our common hobby.

As far as I’m concerned:
- I have a “normal” job, which allows me 5keur / year of free cash for flying.

- I mostly fly our company-funded club’s Tobago; accounting for extras (landing fees, maps, etc) I can fly 40 hrs with this yearly budget.

- I must admit that most of my flights are local ones / burger runs / touch and go’s to keep myself current. These flights are most of the time performed early on Saturday mornings (with no to low impact on family life, since I’m back home before end of breakfast) or after work during summer weekdays.

- When I “go places” I usually fly with my partner to areas where we have family or friends to meet, so that it adds purpose to the flight. When I fly to scenic places (eg Corsica, which I visit twice a year) I try to on board as many as possible (4 being the max, though) to share the expenses. These flights are performed either at the week end or during holidays.

cheers

LFNR

I am wondering how do you guys find the resources – mainly time and money – to finance your flying

Good question, but the answer varies with each person and for each person it depends on time and space. I would say life comes in the way more than the more specific “time and money”. You can always find time and money, but if you also fancy wife, kids, family, job, house etc (life), then things get more complicated. I have found no specific solution. Things varies. Sometimes I fly a lot, sometimes job/life requires all my attention for shorter or longer periods. You can also fly for free. I tow gliders, but the “downside” is the whole weekend goes.

But then again, I use more time building aircraft than flying at the moment. My flying goal this year is to get aerobatic rating and finish my Onex (if job/life doesn’t interfere too much, which may happen)

Last Edited by LeSving at 03 May 11:54
The elephant is the circulation
ENVA ENOP ENMO, Norway

You can always find time and money

That is a good one ;) I personally cannot find time AND money, I can find one OR the other but not both. If I want to be flexible with the time, I need to work on freelance basis in short contracts without fixed times which usually means not enough money. If I want to have the money, I have to either take a long freelance project or a “normal” job, which both adds to being able to fly only on weekends, in the best case.

Currently I am training for IR and during the period of this training (theory and practice) I reduced my work so I started using up my “reserves”, i.e. earning less than spending. But I cannot keep that going more than a year, maybe a bit more. Of course I will have the IR soon but then I need to keep it current and I also want to learn and experience more. In that regard I see people here flying amazing trips, which probably take them several days or even weeks and I want to figure out how to do the same.

LSZH, LSZF, Switzerland

I personally cannot find time AND money, I can find one OR the other but not both.

This is why the 50+ generation is so dominant in the “going places” GA. At that age, people tend to have both money and time.

Also it’s often just a matter of priorities. One could

- stay with mummy until you’re 40
- drive an old shagged car instead of a new and fancy one
- live in a small flat instead of a decent house
- not go on vacation or stay in the general area
- use your genitals only for fun (the biggest money saver of all)

If you do that, suddenly it becomes affordable for most members of the working class in the economically stronger countries. When I rented out my C172, I had a 70 year old retired bus driver. He continued to drive buses (ca 10€/h) and whenever he had earned enough money, he charted the Cessna for 45-60 minutes (130-170€).

Running a full time business, I find the main constraint by far is the (in-) ability to yank 5-6 full days out of the calendar at random, to go on any kind of real adventurous and exciting long range x/c. (which is what I most like to use my aircraft for – short local trips don’t interest me much anymore)

Shorter 1-2 day trips tends to exhaust the available trip options fairly fast & creates an undesirable stress factor.

A C-152 or Katana costs € 100 including gas in my flying club. Many younger pilots share the plane for flights. That’s still € 500 if you want to be in the air for 10 h and be PIC for 5 every month, but people with a average/normal job can afford that if their living cost is not too high.

The moment I couldn’t take my kids/family on vacation or had to save money on living/food or sports – I’d quit flying, because while it’s the part of my life that’s the most interesting and most fun it’s also the part that’s least important for my family …

I am in the great position to have a good company that is doing well ….

Every now and then I’m lucky and somebody asks me if we could share the cost and I get him/her to Berlin, Hamburg or the Mediterranean …

Last Edited by Flyer59 at 03 May 14:50

This is one of life’s major challenges. To do what you want to do, but have the time and money, to not only do it, but enjoy it. Think it might be called the life balance. With a wife, young kids, a number of business’s, it is never easy to get it right. I once had a very large business, that went very bust….long story. I saved my house, just, and my plane. Dusted myself down, and started again, this time with a difference. My very large business, took a very large amount of my time, and all the ‘things’ I had, the supposed rich mans toys et al, sat rusting, whist I worked my butt off to pay for it all. I vowed to never do that again. I built it all back, but in a manner that allowed me to take days to myself, for the things I wanted to do. Flying….It used to be that flying on a Wednesday was my day, weekends were, and still are for my wife and family. I also structured a good team around me, so that the pressures eased, and if the weather looked good, I went off flying for a few hours. I also changed my aeroplane in that at weekends we all went, and again that works well. I am fortunate that I have access to a number of different aeroplanes, that gives me the variety that I used to have in flying.

Financially, well my view on life is that you work dammed hard, and if you are lucky, that brings rewards. Does’nt always, but…….I still get amazed at people, in general, who look at you if you mention you own an airplane, with that ‘rich b’stard’ look. If only they new the actual truth, that it can all disappear in seconds, potentially, but whilst it is there, enjoy it..

Last Edited by BeechBaby at 03 May 14:46
Fly safe. I want this thing to land l...
EGPF Glasgow

Nice post Beechbaby.

use your genitals only for fun (the biggest money saver of all)

LOL! luckily for me the girl I married had more money than me and doesn’t like spending it!

Forever learning
EGTB

I married for the first time in my 40’s…. Before that I worked my way up in the same field of work until every two weeks a substantial amount of money was hitting my account. A fraction was spent buying the things I wanted to enjoy for the rest of my life. The slow, careful plan My flying is funded by maintaining stuff that is long since paid for, will last a very long time, and is maintained within a community of people who make sure money doesn’t get in the way.

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