Fri Sep 04, 2020 9:58 am
#1794454
Thanks everyone for your kind and constructive words. This forum has always been a great source of wisdom (and wit!) and this thread continues to prove it.
I've had a few PMs about this and wanted to respond more publicly also, as I had a chance to think last night and some comments popped into my brain.
The reason I learnt to fly - or my 'mission' - is I'd eventually love to explore the UK and further afield in an aircraft I part-own. At least, that was the starting point. I have a wife and two kids - all of whom have flown with me, survived and sort of liked it - and like many I had this fantasy we'd go on day trips to the Isle of Wight, or down to Devon/Dorset, or up to the Peak District, or maybe even explore further afield. If you watch YouTube then my (virtual) role model is SoCal Flying Monkey - if I could get to that point, I'd be a very happy man.
I'm not interested in aeros, or high performance per se...but as many will spot, the flaw in my plan above is that longer-term, I doubt my kids will really want to join me on these trips and so my backup mission remains the same, but just my wife and I bimbling away to nice places.
From a technical perspective, I like being a pilot, as opposed to 'just flying'. I like flight planning (seriously) and love all the responsibility that comes with my new skill. I like sharing insight with my passengers and showing them how things work and what everything does. I like to have a destination to fly to, or a purpose to a flight, whether that's visiting a new place, or practicisng a skill, or putting into practice something I don't get to the do much.
With that in mind, I'm very much torn between the 'I'd like to convert from a C42 onto a 4-seater to take my family away' vs 'being practical, why not join a permit 2-seater group and do a bit more exploring'. At this stage, I've been looking at a cub, or kitfox and have also spoken to a few others about either forming or buying into an RV7/9 build syndicate. I've looked at the Jabiru 430 for the 4-seater option, but if I'm completely honest with you - I'm so early in my flying career that I don't really know what aircraft type is right for me. As someone else said, maybe the aim should be 'just buy anything' and then take it from there, rather than this paralysis analysis.
Right now, I'm flying in the C42 which is a great, fun, benign little aircraft. I have only positive things to say about the club where I learnt and rent. But, the C42 is slow...and the locations I'm renting from mean there aren't many 'destinations' that can reached by a renter easily.
If I fly from Deanland (where I learnt), then it's a solid 2 hour return trip to the IoW, for example. From Headcorn, some of the East coast strips are accessible in a similar timeframe.
But what's really happened is I've spent 50 hours (including my training) flying over the South-East, around the Seven Sisters, Beachy Head, Bewl Water...and the same locations crop up: Redhill, Lydd, Shoreham, Rochester etc. I'd like to break free of that little corner of the South East.
To my original post, the thing that's actually killing me as a club renter at the moment - and pushing me over currency - is that I'm finding it really hard to find a combination of a) when I'm free, b) when the aircraft is free, c) when the airfield is open and d) when the wind is within limits, with a specific focus on d) and x-winds. Although I can rent from either Deanland or Headcorn, the runway orientations are fairly similar and so if winds exceed club limits (10kts x-wind) at one airfield, chances are they will at the other - and in any event, you have to book ahead so it's not until the day itself you have a clearer view of the conditions, by which time you can't easily swap locations.
It's a vicious circle really, but all with good intentions and totally correct and proper from the club: if it's too windy, I can't fly, but if I don't fly in windier conditions I'll never learn. I remember reading an website that I'm sure someone on here will be able to reshare, where someone had done the analysis on historic TAF/METAR to work out how many flyable days there are really each month in the UK; the conclusion was 'learn to love the wind'.
So, wrapping up my waffle, what I'd love is:
- to be able to look out the window and see it's a nice day
- to be able to drive a short distance (less than 30 minutes ideally) and jump in the aircraft
- to be able to fly it for as long as I like, as far as I like, subject to other owners wanting it after me
- to do this in something that's comfortable, easy to handle and ideally on the less expensive side to run
Once again, thank you for all the great advice. I think the conclusion to take from this is that renting from the club is a perfect way to start your flying adventure, but I now need to find a way to build up the hours to get to a point where I can switch into a syndicate early next year, so that should be my goal. Also, I'll join the local LAA strut and start 'networking' (I hate that word!) - and posting on noticeboards where possible.