"Dr. Anthony J. Lomenzo" writes:

So folks say, hey, forget the pipedream of winning a new bird and
tax free yet and figure they'll go the old familiar road of locating
a used..ehhh...make that pre-owned...172 or, hey, the venerable
150/152 and build-up so to speak UNTIL they check out the prices!
Whew!

It's not cheap, and it's definitely not the same as buying a mountain
bike or an ATV, but ownership is doable for a typical middle class
person who's motivated enough. For example, a good 1960's Cherokee
140 will run maybe USD 35,000. It will cost somewhere around USD
7,000-10,000/year to own and operate the plane, depending on how much
it flies and where it's kept, though there can be a lot of volatility
in any given year due to maintenance surprises.

A lot of people who want to fly can afford that kind of flying by
themselves. For people who cannot, a partnership drastically reduces
the overhead -- split that 140 three ways, and an awful lot of
not-even-close-to-rich people can afford to fly. Partnerships are
also better for the plane, since a plane that flies more tends to last
longer and have fewer problems than a plane that sits around.

Point? I agree...while owning is nice, it's also expensive. VERY
expensive. Tell you what...I'm going to make a prediction...[are you
listening old amigo, Jim Fisher?]--you'll see the day that
eventually the level of SIMULATOR flying and I'm talking MOTION type
albeit if only limited to simple four axis down/up, left/right but
limited if only to create a system that can be affordable linked to
high level flight simulation that can be constructed and flown
within the home basement!

I respectfully disagree on this point -- pilots don't mind practicing
on sims, but the point of flying is to be up in the air and/or to go
places.


All the best,


David

--
David Megginson, , http://www.megginson.com/