When Did You Buy Your First Airplane?

[Omega703]

Ppl at 17. Commissioned USAF at 23 (2004) purchased my mooney from a bank ( repo ) on a non-flying assignment at Age 30 (2011). Cashed out what was left of withering stocks and now have something tangible; best thing I could have done. Was hard to convince the wife at first that this would be in OUR best interests but an unpleasant encounter with the perverts at tsa sealed the deal (thanks napolitano). Our first is due this April and his care and feeding will undoubtedly come out of my 100ll budget but middle east stability and 20$ oil I'm sure is just around the corner.

Sarcasm aside, it has been such a pleasure and the wife and I have made some great memories not otherwise possible but for the mooney. I look forward to many more years of flying, military and civilian (knock on wood), my Roth IRA be damned.

[Ned Gravel]

PPL at 33 in 1987.

Bought into an Arrow partnership in 2002 at 49.

Bought my Mooney in 2005 at age 52.

In 2002, I had 120 hours.  Today I have over 600, more than 450 on my E model and an instrument rating.

I am a 59 year old man, living the dream of a 14 year old boy.

 

[Scott Aviation]

After visiting mooneyspace for 2.5 years now I have to say this is my favorite and most insightful forum topic to date.

[Parker_Woodruff]

Quote: KSMooniac

[Vref]

21 PPL glider (1986)

28 PPL SEP

41 First Ownership of a (TMG) Taifun 17E  hi-performance motorglider

44 Mooney M20J...and loving it

[MooneyMitch]

Quote: JimR

It looks to me that we have a great mix of high and low timers, early and late bloomers, and young and old here. I'm actually a bit surprised that the median age appears to be as young as it is, which I think is very encouraging regarding the health of our hobby and the future for MAC, even if only in its current form. 

Jim

[fantom]

Quote: Mitch

[N9453V]

First Flight: July 2004 (Age 18)

Private Certificate: August 2008 (Age 23)

Instrument Rating: August 2009 (Age 23)

Commercial Certificate: In Progress

First Plane: 1970 Mooney M20-G, purchased in July 2010 (Age 24)

 

Since I bought the plane I've put around 170 hours on it so far on both pleasure and business trips.

-Andrew

[Z W]

Quote: M016576

I disagree about the "sterner stuff" comment.  I've seen some real steel in my peers both flying around the carrier, and on the ground in the middle east....  It's all a matter of perspective, but I still think its more of a cost issue than anything else... Oh, and video games/high def movies and special FX... They tend to make "fake flying" more "stimulating" than the real thing!! (J/K on that last part!)

[GeorgePerry]

Quote: Mitch

There ya go!  Much more positive situation than we think, eh?  It's not really dying is it?  We just have some hurrdles to deal with and some obstacles we have to overcome.  Keep tryin' and flyin'!

[galt1074]

OP...excellent post and something I've been curious about for a while now. It looks like I'm going to be one of the later guys. Military, single-income, two kids kind of keeps me on the sidelines for now. Even Major's pay with the incentives I get for being a flier don't make me comfortable enough to afford a plane even though my wife is very supportive of my wish to spend ridiculous amounts of money on this.

Money is all that is holding me up right now. If I had the extra cash laying around to operate the aircraft I'd buy tomorrow becuase I have the money for the plane itself. I would love to see these posts keep rolling in because it is inspiring to see that someday I should be able to do this. For you guys that are in the military, I would love a PM on how you swing it...I know that's a really personal question but I just can't make the numbers work.

As some of you have stated, I really think money is what is keeping a lot of people out of GA. I read a lot of articles that talk about how many kids start and never finish their PPL and I can't help but think they are just running out of disposable income. It's not so much the state of the economy I think as the insane price of fuel (by Euro standards cheap but still...) and how much it costs to maintain these old girls...and a new airplane is completely out of reach from all but the highest earning types. I'm not envious, 99% of the 1% earned that money.

For my part of the thread:

PPL in 2000 at 23

Graduated military pilot training 2002 at 24

MEL/COMM/Instrument 2011 at 33

MEI/CFI-I 2012 at 34

ATP MEL next

ATP SEL and CFI soon

 

Greg

3112140

[Becca]

Quote: pjsny78

I bought My first plane last June at age 33.

[mulro767]

Started my aviation career at age 18 flying Cessnas.  My real first Mooney experience was when I was instructing at David Wayne Hooks in 1992 at age 22.  A wealthy commercial student of mine called and asked if I had any Mooney time, to which I replied no.  He said, "Well I just bought one. And my insurance requires you to fly with me for the first 25 hours."  It was a M20L PFM (Mooney Porsche).  It was a blast to fly and I was hooked!  I always dreamed of one day owning my very own Mooney. My aviation career as been so much fun and very rewarding.  But I didn't have the money to own until two years ago when I bought my first, and last airplane at age 39.  A 1981 M20J.  

[Becca]

Quote: KSMooniac

[Ron McBride]

I was exposed early, at 14 Dad learned to fly and bought  a C Model.  At 17 I got my private, was working at Mc Donalds, $1.60 per hour.   Flew off and on for years, wives, kids etc. Multi at 31,   fortuanately Dad could afford to support the planes, I helped with maintenance and gas.  Bought my Mooney at 52, IFR at 54 and loving it all the time, currently 57

Ron

[aviatoreb]

I always wanted to fly, but it was not even a hint of a whisper of maybe in my family - so I had to "grow up" first.  I should have started when I was on the (civilian) faculty at the US Naval Academy from 1997-2001.  They had a great and exceedingly inexpensive program for the students at KANP that was also open to faculty. (And I should have learned to sail in the 44' boats too - that is a different shoulda-coulda!  At least I learned to sail the dingys).  But I was in the tenure track and had little wee kiddies and I figured I would do it "next year" until I left after a few next years and before "next year" came.  

I started flying in 2008 at age 40.  After a few years teaching at my new job ( here for 10 years now!)

PPL in 2008.

IFR in 2009.

After just a few months I was very unsatisfied with the selection of rental airplanes in my small-town airport, as they were older and less stylish and not as available as I wanted.  And I liked the idea of having my own airplane where I could follow every detail of its maintenance and enjoy ownership in its own right.  And 2009 was a good time to buy an airplane.

In 2009 I bough a 2003 Diamond DA40.  And I did my instrument in it.  Its a really nice plane and I thought I would keep it indefinitely - but I soon learned that it was impossible to install an autopilot in it - no STC covers that install - and all the big shops said no way on a field approval, and the factory said they weren't interested in installing the OEM as they were busy trying to certify their new jet on a short staff.  And I started dreaming of my next plane.  I sold it in the summer of 2011 after having flown it 260 hrs or so.  SO I went for faster, higher, autopilot and TKS.  Enter my Mooney Rocket.  (Actually I owned two airplanes for about 4 months and that is not very good politically on the homefront...)

So May 2009 enter Mooney Rocket.  I have as of today flown it 95hrs M/M and about 450hrs I have TT.

I will do commercial this summer or next I think.  It is good to always keep moving forward.

[aviatoreb]

I have a unique opportunity next week to talk airplanes to a room full of young aerospace engineers.  I am a math professor so I don't get to talk airplanes normally in my own classes (I am teaching graduate complex analysis this semester and I still am trying to figure out how to squeeze Mooney's, Cauchy's integral theorem, and the intracacies of an LPV all into the same sentence in class...).  Since the university is only <2 mi from the airport, it is common for a trickle of our engineering students to enroll in flight lessons on their own time.  And a few of them become aware that I am a pilot and pop into my office to talk airplanes...

BUT!  Next week a good friend of mine who teaches an actual class on the finer points of aeronautical engineering in the MAE department has to go on travel to a panel in Washington and he asked me to cover for him.  

These are students who learn the detailed engineering of flying but not necessarily the day-in-day out of actually flying.  He says I should just talking about flying airplanes.  He says I should just bring my iPad and show how I flight plan, with all my software, foreflight, weathermeister, etc, including the charts and weather, and talk about weight and balance.  Not as a lesson, but just a demo.  Then talk about altitudes, and speeds and engine ops and temps.  Just an hour of talking out loud as if I were planning a flight somewhere fun like the coast of Maine and back.  I will bring my O2 mask and make a show of putting that on and show some slides of fun places I have been, and with my kids and bikes.  I am really looking forward to it.

[Ned Gravel]

Quote: aviatoreb

(And I should have learned to sail in the 44' boats too - that is a different shoulda-coulda!  At least I learned to sail the dingys).

[fantom]

I'd sure like to see a video of that lesson, aviatoreb...hint, hint.

Sailing took a back seat to flying for me also. As a kid, from about 10 to 15, I used to get hops, usually in DC-3's out of KTEB usually around Christmas time. Talk about icing. Had my introductory C152 ride out of Teterboro when I was 16. Air Force and TxANG flying after college for ten years, then occasional flying for about 12 years until I purchased the Mooney MSE that I've owned since new.

Today's professional military is better than ever, but shrinking as I type, and far too many of the latest generation are unwilling to serve, much less take a GA flight.

On another note, for the past two weeks I'm unable to post from any Windoz PC. Could it be a sinister 'smiles plot ;-)

[Joe Zuffoletto]

Quote: thinwing

Colojo...are you time traveling or what?...you bought a 1980 aircraft at age 35 and just 12 years later buy a 28year newer mooney at age 47...whats your secret??

[thinwing]

Me too understand that part..its buying a 1980 model year at age 35....12 years go buy..the newest mooney should be a 1992 model not 2008...or did I miss something..a typo maybe..k

[Becca]

Quote: aviatoreb

I have a unique opportunity next week to talk airplanes to a room full of young aerospace engineers.  I am a math professor so I don't get to talk airplanes normally in my own classes (I am teaching graduate complex analysis this semester and I still am trying to figure out how to squeeze Mooney's, Cauchy's integral theorem, and the intracacies of an LPV all into the same sentence in class...).  Since the university is only <2 mi from the airport, it is common for a trickle of our engineering students to enroll in flight lessons on their own time.  And a few of them become aware that I am a pilot and pop into my office to talk airplanes...

BUT!  Next week a good friend of mine who teaches an actual class on the finer points of aeronautical engineering in the MAE department has to go on travel to a panel in Washington and he asked me to cover for him.  

These are students who learn the detailed engineering of flying but not necessarily the day-in-day out of actually flying.  He says I should just talking about flying airplanes.  He says I should just bring my iPad and show how I flight plan, with all my software, foreflight, weathermeister, etc, including the charts and weather, and talk about weight and balance.  Not as a lesson, but just a demo.  Then talk about altitudes, and speeds and engine ops and temps.  Just an hour of talking out loud as if I were planning a flight somewhere fun like the coast of Maine and back.  I will bring my O2 mask and make a show of putting that on and show some slides of fun places I have been, and with my kids and bikes.  I am really looking forward to it.

[1964-M20E]

Becca

I’m an electrical engineer and I like a practical approach to engineering education along side the theoretical approach.  Aeronautical Engineers should be made to solo as part of their curriculum.  Civil engineers should go out and play with Tonka trucks, electrical engineers should have to get shocked   J.

 

[N601RX]

Quote: 1964-M20E

Becca

I’m an electrical engineer and I like a practical approach to engineering education along side the theoretical approach.  Aeronautical Engineers should be made to solo as part of their curriculum.  Civil engineers should go out and play with Tonka trucks, electrical engineers should have to get shocked   J.

 

[N601RX]

Quote: 1964-M20E

Becca

I’m an electrical engineer and I like a practical approach to engineering education along side the theoretical approach.  Aeronautical Engineers should be made to solo as part of their curriculum.  Civil engineers should go out and play with Tonka trucks, electrical engineers should have to get shocked   J.