"kontiki" wrote in message
...
Matt Barrow wrote:

It seems there's a lot of pilots with only slightly more flight hours
than MXMANIAC. :~(
Excellent point. The fact is, that those of us that own our own
planes do it because it is a part of our lives, not because it
makes sense based upon some numbers arranged on a piece of paper.

I drive a 1999 Ford Ranger... paid for and well maintained. My
insurance on that truck is $250 a year. I don't play golf, and
I don't have a boat or do a lot of other hobbies that consume
a lot of time or money. For that reason owning a plane is worth
it and within my budget.

We take a lot of weekend trips that would not be possible if all
you could do was drive a car to get there (who wants to drive 6
hours one way just for a weekend getaway!). Renting an airplane
for the whole weekend or a three day weekend is not always possible
or finacially feasable.

Renting isn't feasible for over-night trips either, especially if you have a
lot of them.

The first year when we (wife & I) started our business, we rented. Had
massive problems with availability, and RON charges were sometimes more than
we made in profit some months.

Then too, my first buy was a T210 that was a real lemon.