After learning to fly in Fullerton, CA with Fun Outside, I wanted to keep flying and started to consider my options.\u00a0 Having the opportunity to own a plane for the first time sounded exciting but expensive.\u00a0 I started comparing different ways to stay flying and here’s what I came up with.<\/p>\n
The easiest answer I came up with was to continue to rent by the hour.\u00a0 This is the answer that made most sense on a short term basis.\u00a0 It required no additional effort from me and I was already familiar with all of the planes that Fun Outside offered.\u00a0 There was no added stress or pressure to be checked out, learn new systems, learn a new POH or flight characteristics.\u00a0 This is a no brainer.\u00a0 The only downside was the competition for scheduling.\u00a0 I didn’t have the luxury of taking a plane for a day away or for a long weekend.<\/p>\n
The next option I considered was joining a flying club.\u00a0 There’s typically a buy-in fee and you’re still paying an hourly rate.\u00a0 Borrowing the plane has a little bit more flexibility but as the club grows the rules get stricter.\u00a0 You’ll get to meet a big group of other pilots and a club is great fit for some, particularly those who fly infrequently.\u00a0 Many clubs have multiple planes and multiple CFI’s that are happy to work with other club members.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Then, I turned my attention to buying a plane.\u00a0 Having my own plane was always the dream but there are many challenges that go along with purchasing an aircraft.\u00a0 So, I considered the possibility of buying with partners.\u00a0 I quickly found a post outside the Wings Cafe for a 1\/5 share of a 172.\u00a0 The partnership was already established and the plane was in a hangar.\u00a0 Since I was only paying for 1\/5 of a plane, the price reflected that and turned out to be within my budget.\u00a0 \u00a0After meeting the current owners, things moved quickly.\u00a0 With the hangar, I could easily park my car in the hangar during flights or trips and the man cave was established.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
The competition for plane usage was a concern going on but I knew that I wouldn’t be fighting with scores of other students or club members.\u00a0 In this case it was just four others but it was still a worry.\u00a0 As it turned out, the comradery was there and the scheduling concerns washed away.\u00a0 There was great synergy amongst the owners.\u00a0 Some of the pilots flew weekly and I knew their schedule.\u00a0 Others flew rarely.\u00a0 All in all, partnership was a good experience.\u00a0 Whenever I wanted to take the plane overnight or longer, I would simply notify the other owners and ask for any concerns or conflicts.\u00a0 Almost always, it was fine to go away for a weekend.<\/p>\n
In the end partial ownership worked well for me.\u00a0 Plus, if the plane was ever in maintenance, I still had the option to rent from Fun Outside.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n
Whether you join a club, buy in to a partnership or purchase your own plane, you’re going to get more involved, learn a lot about the proper care of your plane and become a more rounded pilot.\u00a0 All of that, while growing your hours and ratings.\u00a0 You’ll meet more pilots and other community members at the airport and feel more connected.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
After learning to fly in Fullerton, CA with Fun Outside, I wanted to keep flying and started to consider my options.\u00a0 Having the opportunity to own a plane for the first time sounded exciting but expensive.\u00a0 I started comparing different ways to stay flying and here’s what I came up with. The easiest answer I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[141],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[67,68,21,9,19],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funoutside.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1271"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funoutside.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funoutside.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funoutside.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funoutside.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1271"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.funoutside.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1271\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1272,"href":"https:\/\/www.funoutside.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1271\/revisions\/1272"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funoutside.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1271"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funoutside.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1271"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funoutside.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1271"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funoutside.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=1271"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}