I think you are close but not quite there.
It was the...
Forked Tail Doctor Killer
(but you are correct about the skill level. Easy to get those early Bonanza's too fast or in an ever deepening spiral. or both)
Buying a plane after retirement
- Thread starter Northfl
- Start date
It was the...
Forked Tail Doctor Killer
(but you are correct about the skill level. Easy to get those early Bonanza's too fast or in an ever deepening spiral. or both)
I looked at the same thing when I retired, even looked at a Mooney because a friend's brother had one and loved it. Decided it wasn't worth the money. First class tickets in the long run would be cheaper.
Think about this, JFK, Jr went down in a Piper Saratoga (high performance) with his wife and sister in-law. It is guesstimated he had only 30-40 hours in that airplane. About 300 hrs total.
Think about this, JFK, Jr went down in a Piper Saratoga (high performance) with his wife and sister in-law. It is guesstimated he had only 30-40 hours in that airplane. About 300 hrs total.
A & P, Airframe and Powerplant Mechanic. My brother was one.
He was an VFR pilot that flew into IFR conditions, be it stupid or over confident in your skill set. It is real easy to get lazy when you hit a few hundred hours or so.
All of the little plane records are available, just look, and pilots time in type.
It could be the same thing. I see a little airplane as a tool to travel to places harder to get to. If I still flew you can bet I would take a good look at flying to shooting events. Your own plane would make that real easy. And as I said if you have family in Halls TN it is real easy to do and no worry about things like a car as family is there. It was really nice.
As I am not a boat person I can't comment on them, but I think the travel aspect of a boat is much less than an airplane.
My advice to the op if he wants to go the little plane route, look at a Tiger or Cheetah the are about the quickest simple plane out there. I also flew a Musketeer, and while slower and more heavy the others in its class it was very roomy and had up scale features. It was just bigger feeling.
Most little planes will make a little 1960's British sports car feel big. If you are much over 6' and 200lbs it is going to be a tight squeeze, double that in the little trainers like a 150 or Thawk.
I made money on both of my planes. The profit paid for all the fuel and maintenance…. Flight hours for free.
They consider them luxury items and fuck you accordingly. My last boat was considered a “yacht” do to the size so everything cost more
Buddy of mine used to fly a Bonanza, but he started out in F-86's, so not much of a step up in performance from that trainer.
He refused to give it to his son, b/c the kid (45 yrs old) wasn't disciplined enough, even though he drives me nuts with his methodical and regimented approach to nearly everything.
He refused to give it to his son, b/c the kid (45 yrs old) wasn't disciplined enough, even though he drives me nuts with his methodical and regimented approach to nearly everything.
Flying over the ocean at night, pretty easy to loose the horizon. Flying in instrument weather as a VFR pilot. It feels right when it’s damn near not. Your eyes and your ears and your butt will lie to you worse than a democratic politician from San Francisco.
So i started lessons last week. Flown 2 times now in a 140. First was 1 hr, i actually took off. Pretty sure the cfi had feet in pedals during this
Second flight was 1.3 hrs.
I have a heart condition called wpw that i figured was gonna give me a fit for medical
Talked with the ame near me and explained that i was diagnosed with this over a decade ago and have never had any issues and the cardiologist i went ti at first said not to worry about coming back unless i started having issues.
Anyway all that to say i have a bunch if hoops to jump through for medical cert if i can even get one. Cfi said to come fly once a minth until i get medical cleared so if i cant get it i aint out a bunch of $$ or time if i cant get it
Second flight was 1.3 hrs.
I have a heart condition called wpw that i figured was gonna give me a fit for medical
Talked with the ame near me and explained that i was diagnosed with this over a decade ago and have never had any issues and the cardiologist i went ti at first said not to worry about coming back unless i started having issues.
Anyway all that to say i have a bunch if hoops to jump through for medical cert if i can even get one. Cfi said to come fly once a minth until i get medical cleared so if i cant get it i aint out a bunch of $$ or time if i cant get it
Sweet a tail dragger. Yeah smart money is get the medical so you don't get fucked.
I tend to agree. Get the medical then worry about flying. Most CFI’s won’t let you near the left seat without one.
Um yeah, completely different.
While I don't have time in an F-86 I do have time in the NA-265 Saberliner, same wing. Its the second easiest aircraft I have ever flown. King Air being the first (turbine wise).
Props and jets have completely different handling characteristics.
Not to mention props have more controls and you have to baby them more the a jet engine.
I found out my little local airport has a flight club. $150/mo, 2 planes to fly. $150hr flight rate includes fuel.
Guy I work with is working on his private license. Said it is the cheapest way he found, but his BIL is certified so he's not paying an instructor either. They just go up twice a week and log a few hours cruising around (Yellowstone Park is just south, so there's plenty of scenery).
Guy I work with is working on his private license. Said it is the cheapest way he found, but his BIL is certified so he's not paying an instructor either. They just go up twice a week and log a few hours cruising around (Yellowstone Park is just south, so there's plenty of scenery).
Holy shit! Dude I used to work with just cut off his right arm trying to clear the prop on his plane… 
He was manually rotating the prop trying to clear a starter issue; did it right the first time, but forgot to turn off the ignition the second time. He’s damn lucky to be alive.
He’s an extremely experienced pilot, with 10’s of thousands of hours in jets and of course his private aircraft…please take your training seriously and be deliberate in all things related to flying. This is a singularly unforgiving activity in all phases of flight, even the ground ops, and you need to slow things down, especially when first starting out.
He was manually rotating the prop trying to clear a starter issue; did it right the first time, but forgot to turn off the ignition the second time. He’s damn lucky to be alive.
He’s an extremely experienced pilot, with 10’s of thousands of hours in jets and of course his private aircraft…please take your training seriously and be deliberate in all things related to flying. This is a singularly unforgiving activity in all phases of flight, even the ground ops, and you need to slow things down, especially when first starting out.
Just because it has four seats in it doesn't mean you can load it up and put full fuel in it.
I am a boat guy. Hundreds of hours day and night offshore, running inlets, waterways etc. Night and instrument running with radar, etc is very difficult. In a boat you just pull back the throttles, stop and regroup. I can't imagine that same situation in a plane.
Ive never flown a 152 under max gross... me and my instructor + full fuel(the fuel gauge in a 152 is a suggestion, only way to know if you have gas is top it off) we were ALWAYS overweight... never killed ourselves... We did weight and balance once, looked at each other, and promptly burned the worksheet...
But the wing on a Mooney is not nearly as forgiving as a high wing cessna wing.
You’d be appalled at the shit we used to in the bush. I started in the last days of the old school bush ops, I’m convinced those old timers were batshit crazy, but they taught me a bunch of stuff and how to stay alive. One of which, “Airplanes fly really well over weight. They don’t fly well without fuel.”
Dude, like others have said, rent before you buy and strongly consider a club to reduce costs.
Buying a plane after retirement sounds like a golden pathway out of retirement back into the working world if you’re not careful.
Buying a plane after retirement sounds like a golden pathway out of retirement back into the working world if you’re not careful.
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Simple as it sounds. It’s better to be down here wishing you were up there than up there wishing you were down there. It gets exponentially worse over water and especially over water at night. Not much fun either is finding yourself in trouble with nothing but a solid cloud bank below you.
Its a job, its a lot of work, and its very unforgiving.
In the old days a lot of fellows wanted to become pilots for the status and little else. Real pilots rarely bring up the subject unless asked.
Really surprised (and disappointed) that none of y'all even looked:
Just needs some finishing touches!
Just needs some finishing touches!
I would have jumped on it but with both engines needing overhaul, forget it. That’s ok, probably doesn’t come with a brace of Sidewinders and is the model without the 20mm cannon. If I can’t have it all, I don’t want it.
A General Electric J-79 engine consumes fuel at a rate of approximately 35-40 gallons per minute at full dry power and 85-90 gallons per minute with afterburner, according to a aviation blog post. This translates to roughly 2,100 to 2,400 gallons per hour at dry power and 5,100 to 5,400 gallons per hour with afterburner.
The F4 has two so plan on 4400 gallons per hour just flying around and when you want to really impress your friends and destroy every window in the area, crank up the afterburners, get her above the speed of sound and enjoy a fuel usage of roughly 10,400 gallons per hour. However, not to worry, She ain’t got big enough tanks to fly for a full hour at full tilt.
Fuel is running between $5 and $8 a gallon so for every hour, you’ll only be out between $22,000 and $35,000 depending on the daily fuel cost.
Might want to check out the going rate for a Cessna 150, might save a bit though it is just a tad slower.
Old joke from when we first started formation flying from my IP, who was an F4 pilot:
Lead: Phantom Flight check in
…Two’s in…
…Three’s in…
…Four’s in…
Lead: Bingo fuel, RTB.
Wing suit, a case of red bull, and find someone that has a helicopter
.
Actually, you can get a membership that allows for flight time as part of a club. Or else buy a plane in partnership with another pilot. Depending on location and what you want to do, a super cub is really cool, or else a Cessna 182 with a STOL kit.
. Actually, you can get a membership that allows for flight time as part of a club. Or else buy a plane in partnership with another pilot. Depending on location and what you want to do, a super cub is really cool, or else a Cessna 182 with a STOL kit.
Speaking of wingsuits and RedBull, Felix Baumgartner, the RedBull-sponsored skydiver who went supersonic free-falling from from (~)120K ft, passed away this week in a paragliding accident in Italy.Wing suit, a case of red bull, and find someone that has a helicopter
Actually, you can get a membership that allows for flight time as part of a club. Or else buy a plane in partnership with another pilot. Depending on location and what you want to do, a super cub is really cool, or else a Cessna 182 with a STOL kit.
OMG... I was going to make the same smartass remark, but was going to add: The great advantage of getting a used F4 is that you'll spend so much time working on it, that's you'll barely have time to crash!
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