jjmango18

@bradp its funny you mentioned the experimental route. I've heard before how expensive owning a certified aircraft can be, seems like you can get more bang for your buck with an experimental. I don't know if anyone has heard of this new one - Raptor Aircraft. (just google it) Probably going to take a few years to prototype and build but seems amazing. This guy is trying to change/move forward general aviation. He posts videos twice a week on updates. I'm mechanically inclined and don't mind getting my hands in some grease, so building something seems pretty cool. As a side note, it seems like flying is SO expensive and time consuming BUT I'm trying to get back to a time when taking off and being able to point the plane in any direction I wanted was... pure joy... I feel like others my age might look at a vacation house but to me that just seems to anchor you to one place. Having an aircraft gives you freedom and places to see ... that seems priceless.

@ryoder Can I ask you much you paid for your plane? I keep thinking that if I buy the best plane I can ... maintenance will be "relatively" low. Couple grand a year. Yes, I spent about $2,000 on my sim rig. I keep debating on selling that and using it to fly for the next two years. I just want to fly IFR and feel like it can help me learn. How was your insurance?

thanks @steingar About the VR Sim - the thing I find valuable is talking to ATC and IFR procedures. In the program pilotedge, there are "proficiency ratings" that you can get - Both VFR and IFR. For example, rating 1 for VFR is going from an uncontrolled airport to a class d one ... all the way up to rating 10 VFR is a Bravo to a Bravo. Then there are 10 ratings for IFR. I remember my biggest angst when I was flying 15 years ago was using the radio. I think this is where Simming works. Learning to fly - I agree nothing is a substitute for the real thing. Mind if I ask what you spent on your panel? Is it better to by a good engine/airframe + crap avionics and then build what you want in a panel? Think I could find something in the low $40,000 range with great airframe/engine and spend $15,000/$20,000 on good avianics (WAAS GPS and autopilot). Someone had mentioned Trutrack's upcoming certification for GPS and the Dynon Skyview. I definitely want to get IFR. I feel like the weather in New England is super unpredictable and everything everything is very congested. My plan is to buy the plane April 2020 (still need to pay off student loans). In the mean time I want to rent a 152, get proficient, gain some hrs, go to mooney specific training, etc

thanks everyone. Looks like saving up for a good m20c is the way to go. As soon as I can, I'll get flying in a 152 and look for that mooney! I hope my post can help others my same age. I feel like there are many who learned when they were in their early 20's and then picked it up again 15 years later at the time VR rigs are coming into being. @bradp definitely the communication/ATC with a rig is super helpful. I think I'll keep my rig. I'll let everyone know when I start looking for my m20c. Great group ... thanks!

you guys are great. So you've convinced me to sell my flight-sim rig (all in, cost me $2,000). I think you're all right in that it really isn't saving me too much time. The best training is just getting in the seat and flying. I like the advice of getting current in a trainer and then search for good m20c. Seems like in the long run pipers are not that much less expensive than m20c to operate. @DXB Airframe and engine seem most important. Mind if I ask, when you redid your panel, what did you add? Cost? It seems like it's worth buying the best airplane you can find rather than updating it after you buy it. thoughts? @MIm20c how many hrs in the 152 did you have before you bought the m20c? Did you have a tough time finding insurance? thanks!

hey guys ... thanks for the advice. Just to add to the VR thing and how "scary" it is ... Although I know intellectually that my a$$ and my money are not on the line if I crash ... when I first started using "pilot edge", I sat on the ramp for a few minutes nervous to his the mike. I got "yelled" at a couple times while in the pattern for interrupting a conversation. So shame works pretty effectively as a stress-inducing learning tool

Ok. So I’ve run through much of the forums before I’m asking this question. It seems like a number things have changed recently in general aviation. I got my pilots license back when I was 18 y/o in 1999. I learned on a piper warrior. I really haven’t flown in the past 15 years. My log book has something like 100 hrs on it. Money got in the way. Now that I’m 37 I have some more disposable income and would like to get back into flying. I live in the northeast, close to Boston, MA. I’m a 15 min drive from Norwood, ma airport (KOWD). My mission is to fly my wife and I on weekend trips (as close as Martha’s vineyard or may be as far away as Montreal in Canada) with a couple times a year longer cross country flights. We don’t plan on having kids, so room for 2 adults mostly with the occasional couple in the back seat. I don’t want to rent because I like the freedom of owning (no minimum flying or adhering to a schedule). Here’s where I get stuck. I know the most “economical” route would be to buy a piper Cherokee (possibly 140/160/180), build some time and then get a mooney (m20c). BUT, if I was pretty sure I was going to buy a mooney … why not buy your second airplane first? What keeps jamming up my cogs is I recently got into simulator flying with x-plane and VR headsets with real rudder pedals. WOW. I know its not exactly like flying but because I already have my pilots license, I’m not “learning” any bad habits like other simmers who aren’t pilots and just fly. There is even a program called “pilot edge” that you login to and they have real-time ATC. It really is the future and it very cost effective instead of just flying around the pattern for $150/hr. They have very realistic models of Mooneys … I know, I know … you don’t learn everything in a sim but it really does cut down on learning as I can really narrow down my procedures, talking to ATC, etc Ok, after a long winded preamble … I’m looking to saving up some money in the next 2 years to buy a plane. Why not fly in the sim first, gain as much experience as I can and then instead of buying a time-builder … I can skip that step and go to a m20c? Its the plane I really want. Yes, yes … I know insurance will be higher the first year ($1,800 … higher??) . I think eventually I would get my instrument too because I live in the northeast and the weather can be unpredictable. I’m looking to spend some where between $45,000 to $55,000. I’d rather spend more money upfront and buy a better airplane then sink my money slowly into repairs. Something with good avionics and a 2 axis autopilot … I don’t see flying single pilot IFR without one … Ok … so … fly on the sim for 2 years and gain a couple hundred hrs with real time ATC and a virtual mooney .. and then when I’m ready, buy a m20c, find a good mooney flight instructor and get proficient. OR … tell me I’m crazy and I should still build hrs in my flight sim but get a Cherokee and build “real” hrs and then a few years after that get a mooney. Thoughts? It just seems like the future keeps creeping up on us .. VR will only get better as the years go by and training will be even more enhanced. Thanks, John