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Is anyone here a private pilot?

M

manlymatt83

Lifer
I've been thinking about doing it for some time now, and was considering trying it this Summer. There's a school near me that looks pretty good:

http://www.horizonaviation.com/

What does the private pilots license get you? Anyone have any idea on average costs? It allows you to fly Cessna's I assume?
 
I pilot my privates on a daily basis!

Seriously though, my Uncle was trying to get me to do it when I was in my teens, he even had a small Cessna he was going to let me practice on. I probably should have done it, but I was just not into it at the time. Too busy being an angsty teenager I guess. 😀

KT
 
It gets you a pilot's license for life. You can use it when you have a current medical and Biennial Flight Rview (BFR).
Ask them for their rates, they did not post it on the site. Figure 55 hours of plane time and 30 hours of instructor, plus ground school.
If you learned in those planes, you could fly any fixed gear aircraft with less than 230 HP.
There is an additional endorsement for retractable gear/high performance aircraft. It is a simple checkout and it would be part of the rental checkout anyway.
 
Yes, I am.

You can fly anything you are rated for, depending on what all endorsements you get. Generally you start with SEL (Single Engine Land)
 
Is it worth doing? Here is the long answer.
Some people are not interested after the introduction ride. Others will quit once they 'solo' the airplane, because in their mind they have accomplished the goal. I think about 10%~25% really do go all the way to checkride. Get the intro ride and then think on it.
10K is plenty, but be sure to have it all on hand so you can finish it in one go. I've seen many would-be pilots with interruptions in the process, and it adds greatly to the cost. Say you have 25 hours in, you've soloed and then for whatever reason you need to leave it for a few months. It may take you 5 or 6 hours of instruction to get sharp enough again to solo. That is just money down the drain.
 
I am, although not current.


I agree a lot with skyking - it's a completely personal decision if its "worth it". I have a huge passion, but have not been able to fly for the past 3 years because of owning a home and not being able to afford to, but I will get back into it.

$5-10k is good, figure $150/hr with a minimum of 40 hours = $6k. FYI, it took me almost 80 hours to get my license because I ended up doing what skyking mentioned - taking a few 2-3month long breaks.

Theres a ton of information to learn, a lot of regulations and book knoeldge - for every hour you spend in the plane plan to spend 3-4 hours studying.
 
Since I've been thinking about this for a while myself I'll also throw this out there... once you take your intro flight and find out whether or not you enjoy it you can also consider a sport pilot license if $$$ is an issue.
 
Do you have problems with the IRS or the US government in general?

No really.. I think they're going to start some kind of new bill or law into proposition now..
 
I was thinking about this a not long back and it's something I'd like to do eventually.

Some people are into big houses, lots of cars, yachts, and such, but I was thinking how could it'd be to have a plane! But I guess you wouldn't do it enough so you would rent instead? Heck if I hadn't been laid off I'd have all the money needed for the instruction now. Maybe in the next couple years.

I remember this girl in high school I knew had a pilots license. Sheesh, we were like 17-18 only!
 
It's been good times for me. I've spent 24 years and a lot of $100 bills, but I have some fine experiences and memories.
 
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I've always thought of how cool it would be to own and fly a small plane. You need to rack up TONS of hours before you can actually fly alone though, it's pretty much a full time commitment, not so much a hobby. I went in a plane for my first time about a year ago and it was awesome, to be in the cockpit would be even better!
 
duragezic said:
I remember this girl in high school I knew had a pilots license. Sheesh, we were like 17-18 only!
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I got mine my senior year in high school (about a year ago).. Paid my way through from a part time job.

I feel it was completely worth it, and now that I'm in college I still try to fly a few times a month. It helps that 60% of my classmates are pilots.

For me, it made sense to do. A lot of internships in my field of study require engineering experience/classes, as well as atleast some flight experience.
 
I don't understand what's the point of being a private pilot if you don't own a plane. Can you just rent a plane?
 
manlymatt83 said:
Thanks all! I called the school and left a message.
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let us know how it goes! Just looked at their site, I DEFINITELY recommended learning on a "steam gauge" panel. I know lots of pilots that only fly airplanes with "glass panels", basically a computer screen. It helps a lot to have the ability to do both
 
JMapleton said:
I don't understand what's the point of being a private pilot if you don't own a plane. Can you just rent a plane?
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Yes, yes you can. Lots of places rent lots of planes.. I have been renting airplanes for a year or so, but I wont be able to rent a car for almost 2 more years
 
JMapleton said:
I don't understand what's the point of being a private pilot if you don't own a plane. Can you just rent a plane?
Click to expand...
A plane (used) will cost around 60K and up.

You can join a flying club to keep your hourly rental costs down.

You can rent a plane.

Hourly costs are based on engine time, not clock time.

Getting Uncle Sam to cover your costs is wonderful.😀
And if you work in the aviation industry; you can wirte off your flight school costs as a business expense.

However, I expect to never get the chance to go Mach 2+ in the civilian world.🙁
 
Wait, you take the train everywhere because you're afraid of flying, but you want to get a pilot's license?

This is illogical.
 
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