one of these classmates is not like the others

[cellio]

Folks on the mailing list for the Sh'liach K'hilah program have been discussing travel plans for this July's session (mainly, I think, so that those who are flying can coordinate airport transport). One person posted that he'll be flying his personal plane.

His what? *boggle*

Comments

[metahacker.livejournal.com]

There are an astonishing number of people who own small planes nowadays; you can get kits for the cost of a car ($15k, some go for!). And there are whole communities for people who want to live with their plane -- basically with a runway going down the middle of the community.

So while it's exceptional, it's not crazy-crazy like him arriving with his private wing of Lear Jets or something...

[cellio]

Wow. Ok, thanks -- I had assumed that the ante would be about ten times that. And building a community around a runway is new to me. (Do they have to file flight plans with the nearest regular airport or something?)

[dsrtao]

IFR (Instrument Flight Rules) need to file plans. VFR does not, but it is encouraged, and some airspaces will kick you out immediately without one. Your destination may not accept you without prior contact.

Joining a flight club and owning a share in several planes is about on the same order of expense as "I'm building a professional-quality recording studio in my basement" or "I'm living in a luxury gated community" or "I'm going to collect and rebuild classic cars". Expensive, but doable by a middle-class person with dedication or a rich person with a strong whim.

[cellio]

Thanks for the information.

I hadn't considered the model of joint ownership. That would make a plane much more accessible, yes.

[jducoeur]

FYI, I basically grew up in a plane -- my father has owned one for most of my life, and I learned to navigate by looking out the window and playing navigator for him starting when I was about ten. I knew that times had gotten hard in my teens when he had to sell it, and that he had his feet under him again when he bought a new one. I did a modest amount of work towards a pilot's license, and my stepbrother and Dad both still fly avidly and regularly.

I honestly don't remember whether Dad owns an entire plane at the moment. At times, he's gone down what you might think of as the "condo" route, owning a sixth or thereabouts of a more expensive plane. I think he's back to owning the whole thing again, though; far as I can tell, he enjoys having the right up keep fiddling with the instrumentation and putting the fanciest current toys into it. (And even a whole Bonanza doesn't cost nearly as much as the Florida condo he just bought.)

Mind, owning a serious plane still isn't cheap -- while you *can* get a plane for the price of a car, a decent prebuilt one will cost more like the cost of a very high-end luxury car. But it's a game for the affluent, not just the wealthy...