How do we (you) afford to fly?

CharlieD3

CharlieD3

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CharlieD3
Okay... I'll start.

I'm retired. I rent. I'm a member of a flying club. I budget for it. I use a small 401K from an ex-part time job converted to an individual IRA. I buy and sell stock, take profits, leave principal. It pays for membership, renter's insurance, flying hours. 2 or 3 hours a month.

We all know flying is expensive... I'd do more, if I were a better trader... Maybe.

How do you folks afford an avocation with its own monetary units.
 
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Old car, old plane, old man, kids grown, house paid for, time to spend money on what I LIKE rather than what I used to NEED. I've been through a couple of periods when I couldn't afford to fly. I'm not waiting til I'm 80 to do the thing I really want to do.
 
I did well on the commodities market as a mayonnaise trader. Well, at least well enough to afford a little aviation, but not well enough for hookers and blow!
 
House paid off, kids older, have a car payment, was able to get the plane at a reasonable cost, have two partners, so we split hangar, maintenance, insurance, and save for engine replacement. I get paid OK and have a small business so I scrape by and have fun. I fly with one partner a lot so we upgraded the GPS in an effort to get our IR.
 
eman1200 said:
ah, this again....
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Yeah, it comes up over and over... But times change, membership here changes, insurance rates change, and push some out of aviation.

New generations come along... It's always in flux.

Contribute, or don't. Share, or don't. The aviation world is small.

The day is coming when the only flying being done is in sky tubes... I prefer spam cans and rag wings...

I'll do it til I no longer can.
 
I stopped doing some other hobbies, like scuba diving and sports car racing. I haven’t bought a new guitar in years. Haven’t spent anything on ham radio equipment in a long time. Flying isn’t really that outrageous compared to other activities; an hour of flying costs less than an hour of ocean diving. And it costs FAR less than my wife’s horseback riding.

Plus, I passed all responsibility for the care of my son over to @SkyChaser . ;)
 
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I’m @eman1200 ‘s main supplier and mark the product up a TON…

but also…

1) Corporate day job
2) I’m cheap/frugal outside of aviation and cars
3) Member of 2 clubs, one of which has decent rates (but hope to purchase soon)
 
My total annual operating costs for both planes is about 15 % of my salary. 15 % is peanuts. Gotta waste disposable income on something. Might as well be aviation.
 
Bought a house on an airstrip with a hangar on my property. Bought a plane from a buddy. Became good friends with an IA who lives across the street (including lots of beer and scotch as well as being his gofer when he needs it)

All the above makes it far more affordable. Paying for your hangar as part of your mortgage and having all the extra storage space is awesome. Walking 10 feet and jumping in your plane when you want to fly is priceless.
 
Part of a very affordable club and pay for my aviation fix with my second job.

Edited to add all the frugal habits about old phone, old truck, holes in my shoes (no really LOL).
 
Are engineers, didn’t get divorced so only have one household to support, never bought a car newer than ten years, stopped having babies after the second one (finally figured out what was causing that), invested in vacation rental property and the first plane we bought did very well in leaseback giving us equity for the next, and the next, and I don’t blow money on stupid stuff like a billion pairs of shoes.
 
CharlieD3 said:
Okay... I'll start.

I'm retired. I rent. I'm a member of a flying club. I budget for it. I use a small 401K from an ex-part time job converted to an individual IRA. I buy and sell stock, take profits, leave principal. It pays for membership, renter's insurance, flying hours. 2 or 3 hours a month.

We all know flying is expensive... I'd do more, if I were a better trader... Maybe.

How do you folks afford an avocation with its own monetary units.
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my story.
i started lessons way back in the mid-80's and was just about to solo for my private cert. when my wife suffered a serious injury while skiing. she was off work for 6-mos so one of the things that had to stop was the flying lessons. after that life kept getting in the way but I kept putting aside $X each month into an aviation fund against the day when I could resume. fast forward 30-years and i'm retired with a pile of dollars. started lessons (sport pilot this time) and earned my cert. all paid for by the bucks I set aside over those 30-years.
 
Rushie said:
Are engineers, didn’t get divorced so only have one household to support, never bought a car newer than ten years, stopped having babies after the second one (finally figured out what was causing that), invested in vacation rental property and the first plane we bought did very well in leaseback giving us equity for the next, and the next, and I don’t blow money on stupid stuff like a billion pairs of shoes.
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I will never understand the shoe thing. Most of the time nobody can even see them, and it sure as heck ain't about comfort or practicality. And when they can be seen - nobody is freaking looking at your feet, and if they do, they don't care what you are wearing. Unless you're wearing socks with sandals / flip-flops. That deserves execution, or at least severe shunning.
 
Lots of hard work and zero debt.

My house is paid for.
My cars and motorcycles are paid for.
My airplanes were paid for (I just sold the last one).
I have no spouse or ex that dictates how I spend money.
I live very cheaply.

I work a full time job, mainly for the health benefits at this time. I also maintain aircraft on the side, do some professional flying, and flight instruct. The maintenance and flight instruction income more than covers the recreational flight expenses I have, which are also minimal because I have free access to a bunch of airplanes and a helicopter. The biggest problem i have is that my aviation related activities are very time consuming so I spend very little time pursuing other interests.
 
How many of you use your aircraft for "real" travel?

ie. Going over 500 miles, staying a while (days to weeks) instead of flying in tubes or driving or RVing?

Do you prefer it over "conventional" methods?

Yes, there can be delays due to wx etc. But who cares?

Heck, the airlines are getting delayed for days due to old weather half a country away...
 
Anything more than a two hour drive, weather and time permitting, I try to fly myself. Example, next weekend my wife has a business conference in Miami beach. Hotel is paid for by the company and the weather looks good... 4.5 hours driving non-stop so I'm definitely flying down to lounge around with our kid while she's out working. I take extra days off on the ends of my trips to give time for return in case of WX or MX problems. I can just cancel and go into work if I get back as planned.
 
Oh yeah - forgot to mention: NO DEBT!! No mortgage, no car payment, no airplane loan, nothing. That’s a tremendous help.


Rushie said:
Are engineers...
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Engineers seem able to squeeze more juice out of every penny than most other professionals. Statistically, engineers are more likely to become millionaires than lawyers or physicians.

I’m sure there are lots of reasons for this, but it’s probably significant that we usually have to consider cost when we design things. We’re trained and accustomed to be efficient with money.
 
That's interesting. Count me as an engineer that is pulling down that average. Still working on the no debt thing, long way to go.
 
Salty said:
I will never understand the shoe thing. Most of the time nobody can even see them, and it sure as heck ain't about comfort or practicality. And when they can be seen - nobody is freaking looking at your feet, and if they do, they don't care what you are wearing. Unless you're wearing socks with sandals / flip-flops. That deserves execution, or at least severe shunning.
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Dear friend, you’d be wrong. Guys don’t notice the shoes but women sure do, well most of them.
 
Half Fast said:
Engineers seem able to squeeze more juice out of every penny than most other professionals. Statistically, engineers are more likely to become millionaires than lawyers or physicians.

I’m sure there are lots of reasons for this, but it’s probably significant that we usually have to consider cost when we design things. We’re trained and accustomed to be efficient with money.
Click to expand...

We're also well used to analyzing and tracking data, I have several home built spreadsheets to look at budget, bills, and cash flow. The only way to know if you've made or lost money in a particular month is to collect all of the data and analyze.
 
Been blessed to make money doing things others wouldn't or couldn't do. Also found a very attractive woman that's intelligent & gets paid very well for being so. She likes me too.

Been hanging out to together for over thirty three years and I suspect if the Good Lord's willing and the creek don't rise we'll be together until we're called out of here.

The value of life isn't composed of the things we own.
 
Morgan3820 said:
Dear friend, you’d be wrong. Guys don’t notice the shoes but women sure do, well most of them.
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Years ago I worked with a woman who was a notorious gold digger. Every guy she dated was swimming in dough. One day at lunch we asked her how she was able to pick out the rich guys from the fakers.

“Shoes,” was her answer. She told us that a poser might buy an expensive suit, or even buy a Rolex on credit. But no guy will spend a grand on a pair of shoes unless he’s really rich. And she had learned to spot expensive shoes at a glance.
 
CharlieD3 said:
How many of you use your aircraft for "real" travel?

ie. Going over 500 miles, staying a while (days to weeks) instead of flying in tubes or driving or RVing?

Do you prefer it over "conventional" methods?

Yes, there can be delays due to wx etc. But who cares?

Heck, the airlines are getting delayed for days due to old weather half a country away...
Click to expand...
We haven’t flown commercial in three years for pleasure. 6 trips to see family in OH, one to Michigan, one to Tucson. Numerous in state or neighboring states.
 
Half Fast said:
Oh yeah - forgot to mention: NO DEBT!! No mortgage, no car payment, no airplane loan, nothing. That’s a tremendous help.




Engineers seem able to squeeze more juice out of every penny than most other professionals. Statistically, engineers are more likely to become millionaires than lawyers or physicians.

I’m sure there are lots of reasons for this, but it’s probably significant that we usually have to consider cost when we design things. We’re trained and accustomed to be efficient with money.
Click to expand...
And school teachers oddly enough.
 
I bought a cheap plane with cash and I spend less on flying than I used to spend on other hobbies (Jeeps, race cars, RV, Boats). Insurance is about half what I pay on my pickup, Hangar rent is cheaper than I pay for cigarettes, and maintenance is a non issue because the wife pays for it.
 
I retired from my first career with a nice pension. I work full time at my current job specifically to fund my flying budget.

If Peggy ever gets out of annual, I plan to fly most of the < 800-mile trips.
 
My airplane has been broken for over two years and it's not the money required to fly it, it's the lack of free time available to get it done.

I could easily afford to fly it regularly because recurring expenses are about as low as an airplane can be. It's cheap to operate because it's just an itty bitty 140.
 
My club keeps it pretty cheap. 100/hr and 125/hr tach for a 172M and 172S respectively.
 
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