Took the Kids Up (First Time)

Hmmm,
Jay as an ex very avid golfer I would say you have not played alot of golf.
I played twice a week for years,...and greens fees vary greatly according to
what part of the country you are in. Amazingly it costs alot more to play
golf in the south than it does out west! Go figure, since they spend tons of
money watering a course in Palm Springs! Playing Indian Wells was very
cheap, on the other hand Ameilia Island , FL you would almost have to
mortgage the house! HAHA Ok not really but it was over 100 bucks.
Smart golfers have custom clubs built for them, my last set which still
sits in my basement collecting dust now, was built for me in Myrtle Beach ,
SC . Built just for me, to my swing , height and with the proper weights for
me. It was about closing time at the golf shop and the fellow really wanted
to make a sale, and I got my new clubs for $189.00. Ok and I really splurged
and spent another 30 on a new putter!
And like everything else in this world you can spend alot or you can
spend alittle. You can play a 20-30 buck green fee course or a 60-80 one.
Most duffers don't play the big buck ones ALL the time.
And thankfully my clubs did not require annual inspections, oil changes,
wiring harness, tires and brakes, and insurance. No finance charges, no
hangar fees, no tie downs. No new GPS to find my way on the course No old
avionics to replace. Sure you could spend 3,000 on a set of clubs, but you
don't have to! And the best set of clubs are ones made for you.
And golf my friend is the most frustrating fun you can have! But it's
just like anything else, it's only as cheap as you are smart. I would bet
alot of you guys spend more in maintinance in a year than I did playing golf
twice a week.
Aviation can be alot cheaper as well. But unless you build a 3000 buck
plane yourself , have your own private airfield on a farm, do your own
maint. You will spend more money. And hey if you get good at golf you never
have to buy the beer!!!!!

Patrick
student SPL
aircraft structural mech
"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:vQUKe.19096$084.3545@attbi_s22...
Not sure what "in-water boater" means but assuming it means the average
boat owner you have got to be kidding. Owning a boat costs a small
fraction of what operating a 182 does.

An "in-water boater" is a Great Lakes or open ocean boater. These are
the "big guys" -- the kind that are too big to be transported on a
trailer. Fly around the Great Lakes, and you will see thousands of them.

Each of these guys spends an unbelievable amount of money so that they can
spend 14 weeks each year (on the Great Lakes; more on the ocean, if down
South) getting drunk on what amounts to a small, floating hotel room.

We've got friends who own a 40+ foot yacht on Lake Michigan. It cost over
$300K to acquire, and an amazing amount of money to maintain. (Each year
they have to pay to have it removed with a crane, and then shrink
wrapped -- I'm not kidding -- for winter storage.) Worse, it is a
depreciating asset, meaning that it is worth less and less every year. It
has two 350-cubic inch Chevy engines, gets 6 gallons to the mile, and they
never, ever leave the dock.

Yet, they look at Mary and me flying all over the country as an
unaffordable extravagance, even though they know that what we spend is a
tiny fraction of what they spend on boating. And the guy took flight
lessons at one time.

The same goes for golf, only more so.

Clearly you have not rubbed elbows with really serious golfers. I know
guys who spend hundreds per WEEK playing golf, all over the country.
Hell, a single Big Bertha driver can cost $400 bucks -- and tee times at
the best courses run into many hundreds of dollars for a single round of
golf.

And these guys never play a single round.

It ALMOST makes a Garmin GNS 530 look like a justifiable expense!

:-)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Jay as an ex very avid golfer I would say you have not played alot of
golf.

Well, I used to belong to a club in Kenosha, WI. Played 2 or 3 times per
week for a few years.

And I *still* sucked, so I started flying...

:-)

And golf my friend is the most frustrating fun you can have! But it's
just like anything else, it's only as cheap as you are smart. I would bet
alot of you guys spend more in maintinance in a year than I did playing
golf twice a week.

True enough, but I'm not talking about the guys like me (and, apparently,
you) who played the local courses. I'm talking the guys who throw their
clubs on a commercial flight to go play Pebble Beach -- and there are a
surprising number of them out there. I used to work with two of them, yet
they thought that owning a plane was outrageously extravagant.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Jay Honeck wrote:
Jay as an ex very avid golfer I would say you have not played alot of
golf.


Well, I used to belong to a club in Kenosha, WI. Played 2 or 3 times per
week for a few years.

And I *still* sucked, so I started flying...

And I was just the opposite. About 1993 I joined a local country club
for $500 and $60 per month. 27 hole course and the cheapest golf in
town if you played more than once a week. I played often and got my
handicap down to 5. This with store bought clubs and not much in the
way of practice and no lessons. Then I asked myself what's the point?
To get better would require better clubs, much more practice and work
with a pro. But to what end? I came in third in the club championship
that summer, shooting 76 and 75. I've hardly played since. I play a
few times a year and can shoot in the upper 70's when I try. I may pick
it back up again when the kids go to college.

Yes,
I do guess there are a few guys who just take commercial flights and go
play..all of my friends who did that used their travel miles and went for
free from all their biz trips. Myself I have played more courses in more
states than I even remember. Championship courses in CA, AZ, FL and even the
Augusta National. But like I said even most avid golfers do not play the
high dollar clubs all the time.
I never paid for a commercial flight, well I was a mech and I traveled
all over this great land..working on planes and playing golf! it was great!
Some of the best courses I have played were some of the cheapest in out of
the way places alot of people have never heard of. And on that note some of
the worse ones were the high dollar ones, go figure huh? You can't lump all
golfers into the throw clubs on a 747 and go play, that is just a small
group.
Kind of like saying all pilots have a Learjet in the hangar! Now we
probably wish we all did, but fact is most of us can't put that kind of
money into a recreation. And if you played golf you also know it is like
wanting to fly two times a week, sometimes you can , others you can't.
Winter golf in Wisconsin would be a bitch!
Golf is not as easy as people think, Iwas not ready for the tour myself!
I avg. low 80's and just could not get it any lower! I'd drive like an old
woman now so Lord only knows how my score would go to 150! HAHA I wouldn't
even attempt it! Bums me out sometimes, but at least I have an aileron in my
shop with my rollaway open for the first time in almost 3 years.

Patrick
student SPL
aircraft structural mech

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:Z81Le.20076$084.1711@attbi_s22...
Jay as an ex very avid golfer I would say you have not played alot of
golf.

Well, I used to belong to a club in Kenosha, WI. Played 2 or 3 times per
week for a few years.

And I *still* sucked, so I started flying...

:-)

And golf my friend is the most frustrating fun you can have! But
it's just like anything else, it's only as cheap as you are smart. I
would bet alot of you guys spend more in maintinance in a year than I did
playing golf twice a week.

True enough, but I'm not talking about the guys like me (and, apparently,
you) who played the local courses. I'm talking the guys who throw their
clubs on a commercial flight to go play Pebble Beach -- and there are a
surprising number of them out there. I used to work with two of them, yet
they thought that owning a plane was outrageously extravagant.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Jay, your talk of expensive planes, expensive golf, and expensive boats
PALES in comparison with the care and upkeep of Mary and the kids.

{;-)


Jim



"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:Z81Le.20076$084.1711@attbi_s22...

Jay, your talk of expensive planes, expensive golf, and expensive boats
PALES in comparison with the care and upkeep of Mary and the kids.

Whatdya mean? They seem to be keeping me in the manner in which I am
accustomed...

(AKA: "Broke")

:-)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

And do you even want to get into the comparison of "expensive annual
inspections?"

{;-)


Jim


"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:rldLe.264390$xm3.105947@attbi_s21...
Jay, your talk of expensive planes, expensive golf, and expensive boats
PALES in comparison with the care and upkeep of Mary and the kids.

Whatdya mean? They seem to be keeping me in the manner in which I am
accustomed...

(AKA: "Broke")

:-)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"