Considering leaping in with both feet

[Mike Boehler]

I'm a fairly low time PP, current medical without a BFR. 52 yrs old with still a passion to fly. Like most people, my own business and family has stripped me of my time, but not my dream.

My business takes me on a weekly travel schedule that keeps me away from home Monday-Friday. It is construction related and almost all of my travel is by car/truck about a 500 mile radius of home. Most often less, sometimes half that.

I spend a considerable amount of time driving to job sites, pre construction, have an hour meeting and drive home.

I'm considering jumping in with
1. Currency
2. IFR
3. Possibly a plane
4. Enough budget to fly safely and often enough as to not put myself or family in jeopardy.

It's a big leap for anyone, basically changing the game from 2 hrs a month to stay fresh to what I describe above.

My questions for the masses are for after my currency.

1. General opinions on monthly time as PIC to stay safe
2. General opinions on recurrent training to stay well above minimum standards.
3. Answers to the two questions above May give me a general budget for my monthly flying. But considering the short distances to my jobs, I don't consider HP a requirement. 172/177/182 with steam gauges would be my initial target but that may spark a more heated debate than I prefer to get involved in right away.

But here is my underlying point to all of this.

I'm attempting to use the very thing that has been an obstacle (work) that has kept me out of the cockpit as an avenue to pursue it the correct way (as I view the correct way)

 

[jordane93]

No one can answer questions 1 and 2 except you. It's different for every person. Some people can fly once a month and feel fine. Others have to fly more often in order to feel "current." There is no set answer.

 

[frfly172]

I like to fly twice a week,but that's only a personal preference. You have to decide what feels right for you.

 

[Mike Boehler]

No one can answer questions 1 and 2 except you. It's different for every person. Some people can fly once a month and feel fine. Others have to fly more often in order to feel "current." There is no set answer.

Thanks for your reply. I would think from experience that to stay proficient, even the most prolific instrument pilot would require more than once a month.

But I do understand that there is no hard and fast rule. I was looking for personal opinions here.

I like to fly twice a week,but that's only a personal preference. You have to decide what feels right for you.

From discussions with some of my non professional friends, this seems to be a fair baseline for them as well.
Thanks for your opinion.

 

[brian]]

Not sure about this. Most of my clients are in the construction industry and the few that do use ga for business typically use an airplane to access remote offices of theirs - not to access the construction site. The hard part would be access to ground transportation once you land. Resolvable problem but can be a limiting factor.

Sorry, just being a sounding board... Then again there may be more to your situation I didn't get from your post.

(Back in the day, my dad had a story of an electricion for the gas company he worked for that would land in the field next to the gas plants he worked on. Ok, the electricion was usually drunk as well... )

 

[Mike Boehler]

Not sure about this. Most of my clients are in the construction industry and the few that do use ga for business typically use an airplane to access remote offices of theirs - not to access the construction site. The hard part would be access to ground transportation once you land. Resolvable problem but can be a limiting factor.

Sorry, just being a sounding board... Then again there may be more to your situation I didn't get from your post.

(Back in the day, my dad had a story of an electricion for the gas company he worked for that would land in the field next to the gas plants he worked on. Ok, the electricion was usually drunk as well... )

Thanks Brian. Yes, that would normally be an issue that logistically would be tough to iron out, in my situation I ALWAYS meet my clients somewhere, like a park and ride or something. Meeting me at an airport is something they would be happy to accommodate me with just to get me to a job site more often.

It's a bit of a problem in my business currently, I don't travel as often as I should. But that's for a different board!

 

[MBDiagMan]

I'm a fairly low time PP, current medical without a BFR. 52 yrs old with still a passion to fly. Like most people, my own business and family has stripped me of my time, but not my dream.

My business takes me on a weekly travel schedule that keeps me away from home Monday-Friday. It is construction related and almost all of my travel is by car/truck about a 500 mile radius of home. Most often less, sometimes half that.

I spend a considerable amount of time driving to job sites, pre construction, have an hour meeting and drive home.

I'm considering jumping in with
1. Currency
2. IFR
3. Possibly a plane
4. Enough budget to fly safely and often enough as to not put myself or family in jeopardy.

It's a big leap for anyone, basically changing the game from 2 hrs a month to stay fresh to what I describe above.

My questions for the masses are for after my currency.

1. General opinions on monthly time as PIC to stay safe
2. General opinions on recurrent training to stay well above minimum standards.
3. Answers to the two questions above May give me a general budget for my monthly flying. But considering the short distances to my jobs, I don't consider HP a requirement. 172/177/182 with steam gauges would be my initial target but that may spark a more heated debate than I prefer to get involved in right away.

But here is my underlying point to all of this.

I'm attempting to use the very thing that has been an obstacle (work) that has kept me out of the cockpit as an avenue to pursue it the correct way (as I view the correct way)

I was in a strikingly similar situation in almost every last detail when I was in my early forties. I came right down to the wire for buying a plane before coming to the reality, that flying GA for business travel with tight schedules is a dangerous mode of operation. I could not convince myself that I would not succumb to a fatal case of "gettheritis."

On top of that, single engine, single pilot IFR is not a situation I feel comfortable in. If you're going to hinge your business on GA flying, you could easily someday find yourself on top with no alternative to such flying.

Just call me a wimp, but I decided I wasn't up for it. That doesn't mean that it is not for you. We are all different people.

 

[brian]]

If the airport is a valid meeting place, then go for it. My old Bo spent the first few decades of its existence serving an air conditioning business that refitted and with new construction of grocery stores. From what I gather, it worked as the company still exists nearly 70 years later.

Just have a plan B if weather is ever out of your personal comfort zone (and remember, none of us business owners will match the skills of these young professional pilots - yes, I'm usually jealous..)

 

[Mike Boehler]

I think an underlying factor is the minimum distances I would need to travel. Almost all of my travel for business can be done by car and I can flex to the car on short notice, just get up early and drive, like I do now.

The second factor in this fact finding mission is that it would get me flying instead of sitting home complaining that I don't have time.

 

[brian]]

Um, Sounds to me the decision is already made- just a question of which bird you will be buying.

Hey, I'm not that much younger than you and last year I decided all I was doing was working, eating, sleeping and pooping... Not having any fun. Re-evaluated a few things and found the stupid idea of buying an airplane really wasn't that stupid.

I figure one day I'll be in a rest home somewhere and I'll have nothing but pictures of that old bird. I'll tell the other guests it's an f16 and I saved the world... Who cares, I'll be too old to really remember anyway...

 

[Mike Boehler]

Um, Sounds to me the decision is already made- just a question of which bird you will be buying.

Hey, I'm not that much younger than you and last year I decided all I was doing was working, eating, sleeping and pooping... Not having any fun. Re-evaluated a few things and found the stupid idea of buying an airplane really wasn't that stupid.

I figure one day I'll be in a rest home somewhere and I'll have nothing but pictures of that old bird. I'll tell the other guests it's an f16 and I saved the world... Who cares, I'll be too old to really remember anyway...

Brian
Same deal here. Work, sometimes eat. Visit my house on weekends. Live in hotels. Basically dying without the drama. Same as probably lots of folks.

Trying to make something happen.

I really haven't decided yet, I want to make sure I can afford it, with the increased expense. Trying to put a realistic budget together.

 

[brian]]

Yea, that is the hard part. I'm still new at this, so all I can recommend is to go slow. Took me eight years of renting before I figured out the finances. I also consider pretty much whatever I got would be a restoration project at some level. A 40 year old house would be and a flying machine would be only worse.

For now, find a local Eaa chapter and start going to fly ins... Better than watching TV on Saturday mornings...

 

[Henning]

Here's one thing to consider, the less you fly the more capable airplane you need to achieve the same level of safety, especially if you fly IFR, "every now and then when I need to get through". This is where having latest generation equipment pays off the greatest. Maintaining situational awareness is not even in the same realm of difficulty with an SVT panel as it is with six pack, forget about paper charts.

The commuter role is one that gets people in trouble all the time due to the press of time and schedules. You "have to get through". Arm yourself with everything you can to help yourself out when you make a bad decision.

Now if you are on a budget. In order to get this level of equipment going you need to be looking in the Experimental market. The RV-4 makes a good economical commuter that can be bought at a reasonable budget and opens up much lower cost avionics packages; though if I was using it for single pilot IFR I would still spring for a GTN-750, but being able to use Garmin Pilot to control a GNS 400w would provide the lowest cost way to drive the all the required nav data for a glass panel for all IFR/GPS ops and use a standard Nav/Com to drive your VOR&ILS functions.

As for High Performance, I have never once in my life regretted having too much horsepower. Horsepower has been my friend and bailed me out of more than one bind. An RV-4, or Midget Mustang II, a side by side you can buy for the same price, have a good amount of performance on a 160hp engine, so you get good performance cost effectively. This is because performance revolves around the power to weight ratio, and these planes are light. There are some Glassair products to be found in the lower budgets, in the $70-$100k range you also start adding more 4cylinder commuter experimentals like the Lancair.

But there are plenty of good 160hp 2 seaters available that will meet his needs for under $40k. At that they may not yet have any advanced avionics, but it's Exp, so just factor in for what you want.

 

[ClimbnSink]

Consider a helicopter. Cruise under the weather direct to your destination. Getting around NY consistently in a little airplane seems optimistic.

 

[Henning]

Consider a helicopter. Cruise under the weather direct to your destination. Getting around NY consistently in a little airplane seems optimistic.

Pretty healthy jump in price tags, but yeah, helicopters really open up major convenience opportunities that may make up for the lower forward speed, although an R-44 does pretty good.

 

[somorris]

You can do it if you want, Mike. Just be flexible about driving when the weather gets questionable. If your schedule is somewhat flexible, so much the better. I fly on business trips but am always ready to drive if I need to.

 

[Mike Boehler]

You can do it if you want, Mike. Just be flexible about driving when the weather gets questionable. If your schedule is somewhat flexible, so much the better. I fly on business trips but am always ready to drive if I need to.

My schedule is such that I can drive to any of these jobs. I do now, but I'm hoping that I can do it more often as well as giving me a good reason to fly and stay current.

I don't think the helicopter is in my future.

I have no problem pulling the plug on a flight if the weather goes south, but who knows, maybe this becomes an evolution to something deeper.

 

[iflyvfr]

I was in a strikingly similar situation in almost every last detail when I was in my early forties. I came right down to the wire for buying a plane before coming to the reality, that flying GA for business travel with tight schedules is a dangerous mode of operation. I could not convince myself that I would not succumb to a fatal case of "gettheritis."

On top of that, single engine, single pilot IFR is not a situation I feel comfortable in. If you're going to hinge your business on GA flying, you could easily someday find yourself on top with no alternative to such flying.

Just call me a wimp, but I decided I wasn't up for it. That doesn't mean that it is not for you. We are all different people.

This was my thought when I first read your post. Please take this and others advice to heart about bailing if the weather isn't good. I have a yellow streak a mile wide...but if I could fly for work even a couple times a month because the weather gods allow it, I'd do it in a heartbeat.

Yesterday I took off from my favorite hang-out airport to head home. Distance was 46.6 nauticals and I could clearly see the Columbus skyline as I turned on course. It was so beautiful I wanted to fly forever.

This pic is what it looked like in southern Ohio. My buddy was doing a 360 to fall in behind me as #3 to land (yeah he's in there).

 

[JoseCuervo]

I think an underlying factor is the minimum distances I would need to travel. Almost all of my travel for business can be done by car and I can flex to the car on short notice, just get up early and drive, like I do now.

The second factor in this fact finding mission is that it would get me flying instead of sitting home complaining that I don't have time.

Sometimes in a similar situation, and I started worrying about the safety of driving 4 hours at 5 am, then meeting/working, and driving 4 hours back at 11p to midnight. Start seeing imaginary black angus cows wandering across the fog line into my lane of traffic, tired eyes, etc.

I think flying may be safer in some respects, and being gone from the house from 5am to midnight is a crappy way to live.

I bought an extra vehicle that is left on the other end. I use it, and employees seem to always use it when I don't need it.

 

[docmirror]

I use my plane to meet customers in a donut ring about 200-700 miles. Under that I'm driving, over that I'm flying commercial. It's only optimal if you can say at any time, in any situation; 'screw it, I'm checking in to Marriott and go tomorrow, or the next day'. If you can't do that, or alternately grab a rental car and get around, you should forget this idea. Schedules and GA are a dangerous mix.

Example; I flew from E TX down to Picayune LA on a Sunday cuz I had to, had to, had to be there on Sunday afternoon. My work there was done on Tue morning, but the weather was crap with cold, rain, and ice forecast, so I sat until Wed afternoon, and it was still crap. Finally, I rented a car at a rather high price and left for my home. Now - I've got a one way car rental, or I have to drive it back down to Slidell and make a divert to get my plane later. No good options. All the time I'm paying nightly fees for parking my plane outside down there. It was not good.

This is worst case, but eventually it will happen to the businessman who flies GA. The temptation to take off and try to bust the weather is always there. You gotta be able to say no, and mean it.

I still use the plane for business but I'm maybe a bit more careful now. It's not what I would call optimal because although you can save a fair amount of time over driving, the ancillary time spent futzing with the plane and training, and mx, and medical, etc seem to balance out the driving.