Rental Mooney

[RLCarter]

  On 3/8/2019 at 3:04 PM, flyboy0681 said:

I'm wondering if all of these old aircraft keep potential new pilots away from flying. Looking at the sites given here reveal mostly old, crusty 172's and Cherokees. Paying $135/hr for a 1970's vintage 172 with original panel and a portable Garmin pasted into the panel with an Air Gizmo mount is not exactly a welcome mat for new flyers in the 21st Century.

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New canidates probably wouldn't know the difference, learn to fly the aircraft then become a systems manager 

[flyboy0681]

  On 3/8/2019 at 4:18 PM, RLCarter said:

New canidates probably wouldn't know the difference, learn to fly the aircraft then become a systems manager 

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A great deal of these planes were flying before their grandparents were born and Nixon was still president.

[HawkGT]

I started my PP training just over a year ago at a small rural airport that had an old Cherokee 140 and a Cessna 152 trainers.  Both planes had steam gauges, old radios and well worn however the rental price couldn’t be beat, especially with low cost fuel at that airport.  Half way through my training I relocated to an area with class B airspace and my local airport has 4 schools all with late model Cessna/Cirrus planes with G1000s and all the bells and wistles, and wet rental prices starting at $175/hr.  I’m glad I have had the opportunity to train in a full glass cockpit with A/P and fuel  injection but I must admit that I never would have started this at over $200/hr once you add in instructor time.  I’m not saying the planes or instructor’s time isn’t worth what I am paying, I’m just pointing out it creates a higher threshold for new people starting on their pilots license.

Back on topic, now I just need to find a local Mooney owner who will lease/rent me time in their plane until I find my own Mooney! 

Edited March 8, 2019 by HawkGT