Seeing the catamaran thread got me thinking about a hobby I want to pursue after med school. Anyone fly here? (JPP? others?!) On an MD salary what kind of options can you realistically afford for buying vs. renting vs. timesharing or other options? I'd like to fly a single engine Cessna, but I'd love even more to jump into something a little bigger like multi-engine aircraft that can go higher and further, if it's affordable.
I come from a flying family.
My father was an airline pilot who flew the 747 for that last ten years of his career. Mom was a flight attendant.
I have single engine, multi-engine, instrument, high altitude sign off ratings, with about 1500 hours in my log book.
I'll answer your questions by reflecting. Most of my time came during my years in a small Louisiana town. I owned a Piper Cherokee-6...a wonderful single engine airplane. I flew that thing all over the southeast!
What
really made me a pilot, tho, were my friends. I had a core group of aviation buddies who were much more experienced than me, who I often flew dead head legs with on hardware I never would've been exposed to, in weather conditions I never would've challenged alone.
Buddy Mark had a Cessna 210..highly versatile, 170 knot single engine. Several hundred hours with Mark and I exchanging the left seat.
Buddy Larry was a corporate pilot who flew other people's airplanes. When he had to go to Dallas or wherever to pick someone up, the owner or maybe the owner's friends, he would call:
"Bill, going to Little Rock. WANNA FLY?" Larry "grew me up"as a pilot. He put me in the left seat. Walked me through systems. Eventually I got comfortable with all the aircraft he flew since he was patient, tolerant. He gave me the airplane very similar to how an attending gives an anesthesia resident a case. Yeah, you're scared s h I t less initially but you catch on.
With Larry I flew a Piper Saratoga. Piper Navajo. And finally,
The Promised Land...TURBOPROPS!
Larry gave me a little at a time...constantly guiding me. Essentially, Larry provided me an
AVIATION RESIDENCY.
We flew thru weather....working the radar to find weak spots...
Me in the left seat, piloting an aircraft way above my financial means, learning how to fly said aircraft from a
GURU.
I logged hundreds of turboprop hours in a Cheyenne 1, a King Air 90, a King Air 200.
Here's my points about flying, dude:
1) Its addicting. It's EXPENSIVE. Yeah, you can own a little airplane on an MD salary. That's fabulous! I found quickly tho that unless there was a
purpose to the flight, it was boring... I.e. Going up just to go up isn't where it's at. Going
somewhere gives purpose. I flew to New Orleans a lot for a purpose back then in my Cherokee 6. I flew in instrument conditions frequently. It was awesome.
2)one always wants to fly bigger stuff. My friends supplied that for me. I flew hardware all the time I couldn't afford, thanks to them.
3)flying is expensive, even for a small aircraft. You've either gotta be single with no financial obligations or making major jack, or...best scenario...have friends with big airplanes.
That said,
Flying is the bomb man.
