I'm curious about flying....being a pilot.

[Scarpozzi]

First off, I'm going to get my pilot's license next year. I simply don't have time right now to take the lessons and study, etc...

My questions have more to do with the logistics of airports, etc... If I were to jump in a plane and fly to another city, how would I know which airport would be best for me to land? Would I need to call ahead and make a flight plan? When I get to that airport, would I have to pay money to tie the aircraft down and ground it, etc.? I'm just curious how that stuff works and what security at these places is like considering the recent changes in the airport environments.

I doubt I'll be able to purchase an airplane for the sheer costs, but I may be wanting to make weekly or biweekly trips about 150 miles away and having a plane would be nice to cut the drive time down. I know it will be expensive, but would it be better to rent or buy a cheap cesna? (just curious what hanger costs and insurance usually are)

 

[radioouman]

You usually have to pay a fee for another airport to hold your plane.
There may also be a landing fee, but that can be waived if you purchase fuel (at many airports).

You can get involved with a club out of your airport that has planes available for rent.

You should file a flight plan, but under VFR you don't have to. You just fly to the desired airport and either call the tower if there is one, or put out a call on the local freq. to let the other planes know that you are landing.
http://www.studentpilot.com

 

[Mellman]

wel your VFR license will be ~$5000 total cost, prolly cheaper, but all your costs will be $4-5k

since youll be VFR you wont have a flight plan (should still tell someone where you're headed...and you fly there, and request to land

 

[Scarpozzi]

Yeah....I will be flying VFR for the first year probably. Here, there is one main airport, but I don't think they do lessons out of that airport. There is a smaller airstrip to the north that I know has a pilot school...they just have a crappy website with zero information and some really poor attempt to sell an ultralight.

I hope it doesn't cost all that much to land and park for a weekend...but I'll probably want to get my IFR license pretty quick because it would suck to fly and get stuck there if bad weather hits.

 

[radioouman]

Another website to help you find airports:
http://www.airnav.com

 

[OutHouse]

Originally posted by: Scarpozzi
First off, I'm going to get my pilot's license next year. I simply don't have time right now to take the lessons and study, etc...

My questions have more to do with the logistics of airports, etc... If I were to jump in a plane and fly to another city, how would I know which airport would be best for me to land? Would I need to call ahead and make a flight plan? When I get to that airport, would I have to pay money to tie the aircraft down and ground it, etc.? I'm just curious how that stuff works and what security at these places is like considering the recent changes in the airport environments.

I doubt I'll be able to purchase an airplane for the sheer costs, but I may be wanting to make weekly or biweekly trips about 150 miles away and having a plane would be nice to cut the drive time down. I know it will be expensive, but would it be better to rent or buy a cheap cesna? (just curious what hanger costs and insurance usually are)

unless you have a lot of income or go in with 4 other people buying a plane is only the initial cost. you got your 6 month maint that has to be done by FAA mechanics, you got hanger/pad fees, insurance, fuel. general upkeep... owning a plane no matter how small is $$$$

there is no security at local airports. my friend and I fly all the time and we just pick a place we havent been and fly there. most small airports have a courtsy car and let you use it free of charge for a couple of hours, just fill it with gas when you return it. when he and i go on these little outtings we call it our 100 dollar hamburger because we normally grab lunch. also we have never been charged a landing fee or ramp fee. some airports do but we dont go to those.


also for your IFR rating you will need a min of 50 hours of cross country flight time after you get your license. so for example the place we rent from you can rent a Cessna 152 for 75 bucks a hour. so you will need to spend atleast $3,750 bucks in rental fee before you can even go for your IFR. So cost may be a delay as well.

 

[MixMasterTang]

There is a consultant that does some work at the company I work for, and he is a retired airforce pilot and does flight training on the side. He told me that generally most airports don't charge you to land or keep your plane there overnight as long as you fill up with gas, and a lot of the smaller airports even have courtesy cars they will let you use. He said usually just the big airports like Midway/Ohare/DFW (we are in the midwest) are the ones that charge landing fees of 15-25 dollars.

He broke down his costs for us and says he spends about 2000-2500 a year in insurance on his plane, about 2400 dollars on hanger fees and something like 1200 a year in annual FAA inspection. Fuel also is about 4-5 dollars a gallon.

But if you fly a lot like he does, he estimates that with all those above costs broken down with fuel costs included it costs around $200.00 a flight hour if he flys around 100 hours a year.

 

[dmcowen674]

Originally posted by: Scarpozzi
First off, I'm going to get my pilot's license next year. I simply don't have time right now to take the lessons and study, etc...

My questions have more to do with the logistics of airports, etc... If I were to jump in a plane and fly to another city, how would I know which airport would be best for me to land? Would I need to call ahead and make a flight plan? When I get to that airport, would I have to pay money to tie the aircraft down and ground it, etc.? I'm just curious how that stuff works and what security at these places is like considering the recent changes in the airport environments.

I doubt I'll be able to purchase an airplane for the sheer costs, but I may be wanting to make weekly or biweekly trips about 150 miles away and having a plane would be nice to cut the drive time down. I know it will be expensive, but would it be better to rent or buy a cheap cesna? (just curious what hanger costs and insurance usually are)

You'll learn all this. The airports you are talking about are called FBO's.

Cheaper to partner up with someone looking to reduce his costs first.

Good luck and fun.

 

[EagleKeeper]

Just remember that all the PC gaming will be fairly useless.

Also, it is easier to get up than down.

But it is fun....

 

[Winchester]

First off, you always need to file a flight plan on any cross-country flight. Anyone who does not is an idiot. Learning to fly is the easy part, the book (rules) portion is the hassle.

Some airports do charge to "tie-down," especially overnight. It is always a "courtesy" to fill up at municipal or county airports because at least in my area they do not charge. Single-engine aircraft are not that expensive. Remember, a 1970ish Cessna 172 is the same as the 2007 Cessna 172, just doesnt have the latest electronic goodies. Which IMO you need to learn to fly without anyway. You can get a nice Cessna 150/152 well below $30,000.

The best thing you can do is get hooked up with your local CAP. There is always people willing to help you and get hooked up with someone who does fly a lot and go with them for some unofficial "free training." (flight time)

FYI: You normally dont solo until at minimum 20 hours of instruction depending on how well you do. Also, dont wear a nice shirt when you solo.

 

[radioouman]

Originally posted by: Winchester

Also, dont wear a nice shirt when you solo.

:laugh: