My journey, my questions

[Juan Vallejo]

Hi, like many here I dreamed of been a pilot my whole life, a little more than a year ago my lovely wife told me I have her support if I decide to pursuit my PPC, I really thought is going to be economical support It was actually moral support o well I had her blessing is the important part.

So joined a flight school and 3 CFIs latter I earn my check ride and passed, the DPE was extremely friendly and was able to perform all the ACS maneuvers to perfection(not truth but is my post, altitude was spot on).

So the next step was let's fly family and friends, so far been flying over the beach, the bay and a couple keys right in front of Miami, but what to do next.

Would love to take the airplane for a bit longer trips, usually a I rent the plane for 2 hours and I believe I can do 4 hours but no more than that cause prices get a bit high.

Any advice on places to rent or flying clubs near Miami, do flying clubs require a minimum hours?

I would love to own an airplane but that has to wait a few years. Any advice or comments would be greatly appreciated.

 

[kath]

When I was a renter, the school I rented from had a "3 hour minimum" to rent a plane for an entire day. So I started planning a lot of day trips to places that were 1.5 hours away. Or overnight trips to places that were 3 hours away.

Ask if your rental place has a similar policy, or call around to see if anyone does. Then go explore!

 

[Juan Vallejo]

I was told at the school there's a minimum of 6 hours($500), I need to keep looking I guess.

 

[Pinecone]

Look at other FBOs. Some may have lower times. Also, talk to them, if you did your PPL there, they may let you get by with fewer hours.

Also, looking at going mid-week, they may let the plane go with less hours.

Start looking and asking around about clubs or partnerships. Club typically have minimum hours per day away, but lower than FBOs, sometimes 1 or 2. Clubs can be a single airplane or several. Many different flavors of clubs.

Years ago a buddy bought a 1/3 partnership in a Cherokee 180. It was pretty cheap, and then he paid 1/3 of any bills, plus fuel. He had the airplane every 3rd week, for the whole week if he wanted. If he wanted to go longer, he asked the partner who's week he was going to impact, and most time they were fine. If he wanted to fly other weeks, he could ask, or, if the plane was in the hanger, he could fly it for 1 hour without telling the partner.

Eventually the other two partners stopped flying (one lost his medical) but did not want to sell their share, so he had the plane all to himself, for 1/3 the costs.

And finally, look around, you may find that buying a plane is not as much as you think, if you don't set your sights too high. But do realize, that buying the plane is only one part of owning. Insurance, hanger/tie down, annual inspection, maintenance, upgrades.