Prince Valiant
07-04-2009, 03:07 PM
FLYING!!!
Some may have notice I'm not posting as much recently (well, at least one person has :goof ) and there is a simple reason for this. Taking advantage of my summer work schedule, I've started working on my private pilot license. I'm still in the first few hours of a minimum of 40...of which it generally takes ~50-70 hours to obtain your license.
So far, working on taking off, trimming the plane for level flight, communication, turns, coordinated flight, patterns...so much it's unreal. Can't believe how much you learn in but a few hours, but how much more to go is unreal, lol. Next I'll be working on stalls, which will help prepare me for landings :thumbsup
Flying out of timmerman, just down the street from my house. The plane I'm flying is my brothers, a Beechcraft Skipper (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beechcraft_Skipper). It's a small, two seat trainer that he's had for about a year now. It's really keeping the cost of obtaining a license down as normally you are both paying the instructor AND renting the plane....now, I'm just paying for gas and for the instructor.
So far, it's been a blast though...and the cost aren't too bad. My brother and I just flew in literally 15 minutes ago. We came down from crivitz, which by car normally takes a little under 3 hours or so. But by plane, we got in a scooch over 1 45 minutes...and believe me, it's far more interesting in the plane.
Here's the bro's plane:
http://brewcitymuscle.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=5490&stc=1&d=1218061236
N6711R (http://www.airport-data.com/aircraft/N6711R.html) (just in case someone wants to verify it's registration)
We generally cruise around 95 knots (~110mph), and get roughly the equivalent of 18mpg or so...so for a plane, very economical. For what it's worth, we paid 3.17 for Avgas in Waupaca along the way up...it was 3.77 on the way down (we didn't need any though).
It surprising how much variability is in gas prices...airports that don't move much gas will have very inexpensive prices...whereas some airports will have nearly double the cost. The price will fluctuate fairly dramatically. My brother actually has his iphone set up to find the cheapest avgas in the area, and it can make a big difference (as much as 70 dollars) in the total fill-up where he goes from cheapest to most expensive.
I know there is at least one other pilot on the board (fly150 iirc)...any others? BTW, I resolve to NEVER have a "flying" section on the forum :goof
Some may have notice I'm not posting as much recently (well, at least one person has :goof ) and there is a simple reason for this. Taking advantage of my summer work schedule, I've started working on my private pilot license. I'm still in the first few hours of a minimum of 40...of which it generally takes ~50-70 hours to obtain your license.
So far, working on taking off, trimming the plane for level flight, communication, turns, coordinated flight, patterns...so much it's unreal. Can't believe how much you learn in but a few hours, but how much more to go is unreal, lol. Next I'll be working on stalls, which will help prepare me for landings :thumbsup
Flying out of timmerman, just down the street from my house. The plane I'm flying is my brothers, a Beechcraft Skipper (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beechcraft_Skipper). It's a small, two seat trainer that he's had for about a year now. It's really keeping the cost of obtaining a license down as normally you are both paying the instructor AND renting the plane....now, I'm just paying for gas and for the instructor.
So far, it's been a blast though...and the cost aren't too bad. My brother and I just flew in literally 15 minutes ago. We came down from crivitz, which by car normally takes a little under 3 hours or so. But by plane, we got in a scooch over 1 45 minutes...and believe me, it's far more interesting in the plane.
Here's the bro's plane:
http://brewcitymuscle.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=5490&stc=1&d=1218061236
N6711R (http://www.airport-data.com/aircraft/N6711R.html) (just in case someone wants to verify it's registration)
We generally cruise around 95 knots (~110mph), and get roughly the equivalent of 18mpg or so...so for a plane, very economical. For what it's worth, we paid 3.17 for Avgas in Waupaca along the way up...it was 3.77 on the way down (we didn't need any though).
It surprising how much variability is in gas prices...airports that don't move much gas will have very inexpensive prices...whereas some airports will have nearly double the cost. The price will fluctuate fairly dramatically. My brother actually has his iphone set up to find the cheapest avgas in the area, and it can make a big difference (as much as 70 dollars) in the total fill-up where he goes from cheapest to most expensive.
I know there is at least one other pilot on the board (fly150 iirc)...any others? BTW, I resolve to NEVER have a "flying" section on the forum :goof