Airplanes and "The Mission"

[somorris]

Hi guys.

I have said before, the mission for most of my flying is to have fun. According to a recent poll by AOPA, 55.99% of the respondents only fly for pleasure and 20.10% fly mostly for pleasure and sometimes for work. With those kinds of numbers, one would think there would be a whole lot more interest in airplanes whose mission is to have fun, like a lot of the vintage aircraft, aerobatic aircraft and even AOPA's reimagined C-150. I realize some of the pleasure flying is for longish trips, but it looks like most GA flying is just for fun. I fit in the 20.10% group myself. Not exactly a scientific poll, but interesting results none the less.

 

[AggieMike88]

I must be tired....

I see the word "mission" and I either think of this

or this...

 

[JHW]

We are solidly in the "fly for fun" camp. From our home in the US that means flying from central IL for weekend trips to south florida, texas, or colorado. That requires a reasonably fast IFR cabable plane that can carry the family and their stuff.

 

[SixPapaCharlie]

I fly because HOLY CRAP I CAN!! AND THAT IS JUST AMAZING!!

No other reason.

 

[SixPapaCharlie]

I must be tired....

I see the word "mission" and I either think of this

or this...

Maybe the top one.
The 2nd one is impossible

 

[AggieMike88]

To answer the question, I'm in the "mostly recreational" group.

And while part of a good club with 2 good travelling aircraft (www.metroflyersclub.com), I've been dreaming more and more about a sport aircraft such as the Evektor SportStar or the like.

Many times I just want to go fly for the enjoyment and not really go anywhere except to a local eats or treats spot. The club aircraft are great for travelling. But it would be nice to have the "beach bicycle" to cruise around in when the "road bike" would be too much.

 

[ClimbnSink]

An ultralight would serve most pilots needs, but we run on wants.

 

[James331]

Most folks like to blow smoke to excuse them buying more airplane than they need.

Now I'm not totally immune from that myself

 

[ateamer]

I bought a 1/10th partnership in a 172 seven years ago because ot was a good deal and I had aspirations of travelling all over the place with a couple passengers. A few hundred flights later, maybe four of them had more than one passenger.

I am really wanting to fly aerobatics, and in a year or two will get an RV-7 or -8.

 

[frfly172]

When I retired,my mission changed ,so I bought a two seat airplane. I fly for enjoyment. On a quest to land in every state.

 

[SixPapaCharlie]

When I retired,my mission changed ,so I bought a two seat airplane. I fly for enjoyment. On a quest to land in every state.

Your first quest should be a more easily readable map in your sig

 

[James331]

I bought a 1/10th partnership in a 172 seven years ago because ot was a good deal and I had aspirations of travelling all over the place with a couple passengers. A few hundred flights later, maybe four of them had more than one passenger.

I am really wanting to fly aerobatics, and in a year or two will get an RV-7 or -8.

Same here, my 185 is used as basically a 2 seat pickup truck.

 

[somorris]

On a quest to land in every state.

That sounds like a good goal!

 

[frfly172]

Your first quest should be a more easily readable map in your sig

Thanks Bryan,can't get the apple products to co operate.

 

[txflyer]

I bought a 1/10th partnership in a 172 seven years ago because ot was a good deal and I had aspirations of travelling all over the place with a couple passengers. A few hundred flights later, maybe four of them had more than one passenger.

I am really wanting to fly aerobatics, and in a year or two will get an RV-7 or -8.

This.

I use our skywagon pretty much 50/50 for business and pleasure, but ~70% of the time I'm alone or at most two souls on board. Maybe five flights out of ~400 hours have been 3+ passengers.

I could have got away with an RV-8 for much less, had aerobatics and more speed with less burn and no STC hassles. It would save tons$. But having said that, I wouldn't trade my time in the wagon for anything. It's a remarkable aircraft. :wink2:

 

[docmirror]

I used to be 60% work, 40% pleasure. For years I flew mostly solo because I couldn't get all the family members in one place at a time to go for a trip. Now, the numbers are reversed and maybe more pleasure. Still a lot of solo but mostly 2 folks from CO to TX and once in a while out to AZ to mom. Most of my work stuff can be done by car cheaper because I get no more money to take the plane and it costs more than the Porsche, which isn't exactly cheap. The diff is, the Porsche is limited to 70-75, and the plane will do a nice 160-170 if I am in a rush. West Houston in 90 min is nice. Norman in about an hour is good too.

 

[Bill Watson]

An ultralight would serve most pilots needs, but we run on wants.

My need for fun, and fun is all I fly for, now requires exactly what I have; an RV10.

An ultralight never qualified but I feel like I've tested the ground well. Started with models of all types and ended up focused on RC gliders. Got my PPL but simultaneously added a glider rating and worked thru that for 15 years or so. Added a Maule and then the 'mission' shifted from cross country glider racing to transportation between fun spots with an IR. Plodding along at 117 knots, then 115, then 113 the mission called for something faster, more capable and with longer legs. Building was fun, the result was even funner and though the frequency of trips has dropped a bit, the pleasure in getting where we want, when we want, fast with minimal hassle has only grown!

Same here, my 185 is used as basically a 2 seat pickup truck.

My wife understood early on that a 2 seat plane is a great 1 person plane and that a 4 seat plane is great 2 person transportion and she definitely wants to go along.

The 4 seat Maule was a great pickup truck. The RV10 is a pickup truck with a club cab - is that what you call it?

 

[Shawn]

I bought my 182 with the "justification" that I could use it for work...but knowing full well that I would be just burning holes in the sky.

Well, now probably 60-70% of my missions are actually for work. Just flew to Fresno today and back for a meeting...would have been 2:45 each way in the car...took 50 min in the air!

My favorite part is flying to Southern California and not having to give a rats arse about rush hour (or many "hours" it is in LA) traffic!

 

[SixPapaCharlie]

Thanks Bryan,can't get the apple products to co operate.

PM me the list and I will get you a map graphic

 

[mtuomi]

To answer the question, I'm in the "mostly recreational" group.

And while part of a good club with 2 good travelling aircraft (www.metroflyersclub.com), I've been dreaming more and more about a sport aircraft such as the Evektor SportStar or the like.

Many times I just want to go fly for the enjoyment and not really go anywhere except to a local eats or treats spot. The club aircraft are great for travelling. But it would be nice to have the "beach bicycle" to cruise around in when the "road bike" would be too much.

My first GA-flight ever was on an EuroStar, which is the European UL-B version of the SportStar.
Still miss it. Fantastic plane.

 

[SoonerAviator]

This same argument could be said for the car most people drive every day in America. Do you really need a 4-pax car or SUV when you spend 95% of the time driving it by yourself or with one other person? The better vehicle would be a Miata or other 2-seat sports car/econobox, but people don't want to pay for 2 separate vehicles in order to "optimize" their trips. Hell, I drive an '08 F-150 Screw every day just because I have toys to tow/haul a few times a month, and the wife won't let me have a sports car in case we have a kid in the next year or so.

Same goes for aircraft, with additional caveats added for payload, speed, etc that aren't really a factor with car-buying. It'd be great to own a Pitts, a Maule, an Acclaim, and a KingAir in order to have an aircraft to fit about every mission. It's just not financially in the cards for most.

 

[James_Dean]

I fly so I can tell the airlines to suck it.

So far it is working out wonderfully.

 

[Everskyward]

This same argument could be said for the car most people drive every day in America. Do you really need a 4-pax car or SUV when you spend 95% of the time driving it by yourself or with one other person? The better vehicle would be a Miata or other 2-seat sports car/econobox, but people don't want to pay for 2 separate vehicles in order to "optimize" their trips.

I could get by with a 1-seat car 99% of the time but I have a 4-seat (small) SUV. I'm sure I could count on the fingers of one hand the times I've had anyone in the back seats.

 

[Bill Watson]

Do you really need a 4-pax car or SUV when you spend 95% of the time driving it by yourself or with one other person? The better vehicle would be a Miata or other 2-seat sports car/econobox, but people don't want to pay for 2 separate vehicles in order to "optimize" their trips.

We have a Miata and a small 4 seat SUV (Rogue). No one has ridden in back seat since new but it tows the boat.

 

[James331]

? The better vehicle would be a Miata or other 2-seat sports car/econobox. .

Miata... I'm sure that was a autocorrect error and you ment to say Corvette right?!

 

[silver-eagle]

I dream of a Citation , but fly a warrior, and probably couldn't realistically afford a powered parachute. If the warrior ever goes, so will most of the $200 hamburger runs.

 

[UngaWunga]

Funny. I've been jumping through these mental hoops for a year now. Still haven't figured it out in my search for a plane. I had it narrowed down to a few, until I saw an ad for a C150 taildragger locally. Hmmm... That would be a hoot, fill most of my flying needs (fun and local flights), could put skis on it... hmm... maybe if I could convince the wife to lose 15lbs so we could carry some stuff... lol

 

[SomeTexan]

Funny. I've been jumping through these mental hoops for a year now. Still haven't figured it out in my search for a plane. I had it narrowed down to a few, until I saw an ad for a C150 taildragger locally. Hmmm... That would be a hoot, fill most of my flying needs (fun and local flights), could put skis on it... hmm... maybe if I could convince the wife to lose 15lbs so we could carry some stuff... lol

Maybe this would work? http://dallas.craigslist.org/dal/cto/4789542346.html
I want a taildragger myself, but if this is around in a couple more weeks I might jump on it.

 

[UngaWunga]

Yeah, I look at ads like that and think "why would I spend $45K+ on a 172 when I can get a TriPacer for half that..."

 

[SomeTexan]

Less than a third in this case... 14k for a flying 4 place aircraft. That will be hard to ignore if the Stinson's I'm looking at dont work out.