Just how expensive is flying?

I think they were married about 10 years or so. I imagine the whole thing was complicated, and not necessarily about just kids or flying. I did think that it was interesting that a few of you basically said: "This guy will be divorced and will be wishing he hadn't given up flying", and here we are. Although, to my knowledge, he hasn't started flying again yet.
 
Probably still celebrating.

Challenged said:
I think they were married about 10 years or so. I imagine the whole thing was complicated, and not necessarily about just kids or flying. I did think that it was interesting that a few of you basically said: "This guy will be divorced and will be wishing he hadn't given up flying", and here we are. Although, to my knowledge, he hasn't started flying again yet.
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Challenged said:
I think they were married about 10 years or so. I imagine the whole thing was complicated, and not necessarily about just kids or flying.
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Mid 30s ?

If you are married 10 years and no kids, there is a reason, and it's not money.
 
I'm about to be married for the second time. I'll say this, wife #1, wasn't really supportive of me flying. Fiancee' (with 2 kids, mind you), is 100% supportive of me flying and we indulge my flying addiction whenever finances permit (she got laid off about 3 months ago). Both her and the kids love getting in the plane whenever we can. In fact, i asked her to marry me in a plane, what better way to cement little planes in her psyche forever. Oh, i should add, we're planning on having a baby after we get married, and we've already looked at 6 seat airplanes.. :) I think i have a winner.
 
Challenged said:
Unfortunately my co-worker just informed me that he is giving up on getting his pilot's license (he's already soloed), since it is too expensive now that he and his wife are considering having a child.

The kicker here is that I was letting this person use my airplane at no cost, all he had to do was to pay for fuel and for his instructor fees...this should be an eye-opener to just how expensive flying is for most people, and if you, as a potential pilot, don't have a complete and unwavering passion for it, it's just not worth it.
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My personal opinion is that if you REALLY want to become a pilot and have aviation in your blood - you will always find a way to raise the money...

Becoming a Private Pilot in the U.S. is really a piece of cake when you compare the astronomical costs and endless exams required abroad...

I paid more than 20K ( ! ) for my PPL in Israel and had to take 7 separate written exams and two flight tests ( proficiency + XC ) before I could obtain my license...

I trained during the hot season and temperatures in the cockpit were almost always above 105F...

It wasn't easy, it was challenging and expensive, it required a lot of dedication, a lot of commitment and a lot of passion....

If it was easy, 50% of the population would be licensed pilots....
 
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sferguson524 said:
I'm about to be married for the second time. I'll say this, wife #1, wasn't really supportive of me flying. Fiancee' (with 2 kids, mind you), is 100% supportive of me flying and we indulge my flying addiction whenever finances permit (she got laid off about 3 months ago). Both her and the kids love getting in the plane whenever we can. In fact, i asked her to marry me in a plane, what better way to cement little planes in her psyche forever. Oh, i should add, we're planning on having a baby after we get married, and we've already looked at 6 seat airplanes.. :) I think i have a winner.
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This is probably not applicable to you since she already has kids and still approves of your flying but it does go to show that you never know...

A friend of mine spent 5 years (about 20 hrs per week) building a very nice Glassair II. He'd been flying it a few years when he got married to a nice woman who supported his flying addiction and happily accompanied him on several trips. Then they had their first child and the rules changed. She didn't want him flying any more but "allowed" him to do so after he purchased a nice chunk of life insurance but she never set foot in the plane again out of a concern over leaving orphans behind. After a few years of that arrangement he mothballed the airplane and quit flying. AFaIK she does ride with him in a car.
 
They are spooky critters.

gismo said:
This is probably not applicable to you since she already has kids and still approves of your flying but it does go to show that you never know...

A friend of mine spent 5 years (about 20 hrs per week) building a very nice Glassair II. He'd been flying it a few years when he got married to a nice woman who supported his flying addiction and happily accompanied him on several trips. Then they had their first child and the rules changed. She didn't want him flying any more but "allowed" him to do so after he purchased a nice chunk of life insurance but she never set foot in the plane again out of a concern over leaving orphans behind. After a few years of that arrangement he mothballed the airplane and quit flying. AFaIK she does ride with him in a car.
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perhaps instead of a pre-nup some pilots need a pre-conception agreement
 
denverpilot said:
Sounds like she didn't marry HIM at all, but what she WANTS him to be, or worse... thinks she can MAKE him into. Nothing good ever comes of that...
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A man marrys a women hoping she never changes and a women marrys a man expecting to change him.
 
bluee said:
I loathe minivans. My newborn and also my German Shepherd will fit on the back seat of my convertible. There is absolutely no chance in hell I would ever drive a minivan.
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HA,HA,HA,HA,ha,ha,ha,ha.......see me when you have your 3rd child or the oldest gets to about 12 years old......
 
I'll chime in here, now that we're hearing the guy got divorced.
I'm recently divorced but separated from my ex about 18 months ago.

I've had the aviation bug since I was a child, and my ex-wife knew this, but I can say that she would NEVER have completely supported this hobby--er...obsession. I didn't take my intro flight until a few months ago. Up until that point I had never even been in a small plane.

Unfortunately, I think a lot of people get stuck in relationships with someone who feigns enthusiasm for your passion on the surface, but ultimately that support is proved to be superficial, and the situation changes once you're "hitched" or "tied down" in the legal sense. Ending the relationship ain't so easy at that point.

I've learned what to watch out for, put it that way. I will likely get married again at some point, but I can recognize the red flags a lot better.

I view my first marriage and subsequent divorce as a "license to learn." :yes:
 
And on topic, I have to say, while it is certainly an expensive hobby, it doesn't have to be cripplingly so. There are ways that a frugal aviator can indulge his/her passion without breaking the bank, and I think those have already been covered.

I can't say I've reached my height of earning power yet... let's just say that. However, I still find a way to fly. Some things are worth sacrificing for, so I make it happen. That's not to say I'm scraping together change for every flight, but I have to be careful with my budget. I guess it helps that I'm single now. It's weird, but it seems like I have a lot more disposable income ... I wonder how that happened?? :rolleyes:
 
weilke said:
Yup, but not 'money'.
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Around here it's a chromosome disorder, but there was always adoption or IVF... the latter was contraindicated by a minor heart valve condition. The former was about money.

So we chose "DINK".

TMI? ;)
 
tangopapa said:
I'll chime in here, now that we're hearing the guy got divorced.
I'm recently divorced but separated from my ex about 18 months ago.

I've had the aviation bug since I was a child, and my ex-wife knew this, but I can say that she would NEVER have completely supported this hobby--er...obsession. I didn't take my intro flight until a few months ago. Up until that point I had never even been in a small plane.

Unfortunately, I think a lot of people get stuck in relationships with someone who feigns enthusiasm for your passion on the surface, but ultimately that support is proved to be superficial, and the situation changes once you're "hitched" or "tied down" in the legal sense. Ending the relationship ain't so easy at that point.

I've learned what to watch out for, put it that way. I will likely get married again at some point, but I can recognize the red flags a lot better.

I view my first marriage and subsequent divorce as a "license to learn." :yes:
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Perhaps we should have CMIs (Certified Marriage Instructors) and a 40+ hour "training" requirement for a marriage license?
 
gismo said:
Perhaps we should have CMIs (Certified Marriage Instructors) and a 40+ hour "training" requirement for a marriage license?
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When we got married, our church at the time required a certain number of hours of marriage counseling or they wouldn't do it. It was also requested of us since we were very good friends with the pastor who was going to marry us, that we do this with a pastor we didn't know as well. Someone with no vested interest in our relationship, so to speak.

In people's heads, the term "marriage counseling" brings up all sorts of wrong TV-based images. What this really was, was a serious discussion about the realities of married life, and made you ask yourself and your partner about their reasons for marrying each other. "Puppy love" didn't cut it. There were some decent scenarios and possibilities brought up. Even some written questionnaires to get the brain thinking. A qualified clergyman guiding the discussion, did a good job keeping things positive and interesting.
 
Threads of this ilk should be stickied under a category called Flying and Marriage or some such! Really!

I'm rational, philosophical and realistic, and hugely fond of my husband, and it was hard for ME to accept this big hobby/obsession, which arose BRAND NEW and OUT OF THE BLUE in the 8th year of our 16-year marriage (second for both). Thankfully, we are making it work. I really have benefitted from this community's input.

We have a good pilot friend who grounded herself after her third child was born. She noted that she was having "little" oversights and was a little more distracted each time she flew. That increased her risk, and she wanted to be around to see her kids become adults. On the other hand, we have a good friend who is a rock climber, and still rock climbs, even after he had a son.

We all know what pre-marriage counselors put the most stress on, and of the Big Three, MONEY and CHILDREN stand out. I would add TIME.

So you must be RUTHLESS! RUTHLESS, I say! in evaluating your true chances at marital happiness if FLYING is HUGELY important to you (and you are certain it always will be) and that fact is causing a noticeable strain with someone you're dating seriously. Someone earlier posted to multiply "your worst fight" dating by 2X for what it'll be like married. I would say 10X. Because when you're married, you can't help but see what you were too ga-ga to see earlier. And it ain't purty. Neither is ending a marriage.
 
Becky said:
Threads of this ilk should be stickied under a category called Flying and Marriage or some such! Really!

I'm rational, philosophical and realistic, and hugely fond of my husband, and it was hard for ME to accept this big hobby/obsession, which arose BRAND NEW and OUT OF THE BLUE in the 8th year of our 16-year marriage (second for both). Thankfully, we are making it work. I really have benefitted from this community's input.

We have a good pilot friend who grounded herself after her third child was born. She noted that she was having "little" oversights and was a little more distracted each time she flew. That increased her risk, and she wanted to be around to see her kids become adults. On the other hand, we have a good friend who is a rock climber, and still rock climbs, even after he had a son.

We all know what pre-marriage counselors put the most stress on, and of the Big Three, MONEY and CHILDREN stand out. I would add TIME.

So you must be RUTHLESS! RUTHLESS, I say! in evaluating your true chances at marital happiness if FLYING is HUGELY important to you (and you are certain it always will be) and that fact is causing a noticeable strain with someone you're dating seriously. Someone earlier posted to multiply "your worst fight" dating by 2X for what it'll be like married. I would say 10X. Because when you're married, you can't help but see what you were too ga-ga to see earlier. And it ain't purty. Neither is ending a marriage.
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She's back.............. Again....:D
 
denverpilot said:
When we got married, our church at the time required a certain number of hours of marriage counseling or they wouldn't do it. It was also requested of us since we were very good friends with the pastor who was going to marry us, that we do this with a pastor we didn't know as well. Someone with no vested interest in our relationship, so to speak.

In people's heads, the term "marriage counseling" brings up all sorts of wrong TV-based images. What this really was, was a serious discussion about the realities of married life, and made you ask yourself and your partner about their reasons for marrying each other. "Puppy love" didn't cut it. There were some decent scenarios and possibilities brought up. Even some written questionnaires to get the brain thinking. A qualified clergyman guiding the discussion, did a good job keeping things positive and interesting.
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I agree with this. And we actually did some premarital counseling but there were red flags I should have seen even then. To go in-depth would be a topic of its own, but suffice it to say there were serious mental issues that reared their head and/or became worse AFTER we were married:

http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publ...toms-of-borderline-personality-disorder.shtml
http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/bipolar-disorder/complete-index.shtml#pub3

BPD is something that can't be predicted or experienced until you're in close proximity to the person on a daily basis. (We didn't live together before we got married) Horrible, horrible, experience. But I'll save that for the mental illness forums.
 
Everskyward said:
Not everyone who starts continues, regardless of their marital situation.
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This apparently is true. There are folks who, once they solo and prove to themselves that they can take off, fly around a bit and then safely land, are satisfied and quit without getting the ticket. I believe it's very, very common. It's one of the things AOPA was trying to understand when they did their study as to why people started flying, but quit before the license.

I think many start to realize after being in it for a while, that traveling around the country in a personal airliner isn't really practical for them and quit before they waste anymore money. There isn't an inherent flying gene built into us all. For many it's just a curiosity and little more.

Actually, if we are to use reason and logic, quitting flying makes a hell of a lot more sense than continuing for most of us. Some just come to this conclusion quicker than others.
 
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