Is your own trike the right thing?

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Ou Man
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Is your own trike the right thing?

Postby Ou Man » Wed Nov 30, 2005 4:07 pm

Het iemand al die som gemaak om te bepaal of dit nie dalk meer lonend is om die klub se vliegtuig te huur een of twee keer per maand nie. Ek weet dit is 'n emosionele ding om jou eie aerie te hê, maar logika moet ook in die som in kom. Rente op 'n belegging van +/- R100,000 kan waarskynlik vir 1 uur se vlieg per maand betaal, sonder al die schlepp van eienaarskap. :?:
An old pilot told me the other day that if you ever think of buying your own plane and plan to fly once or twice a month, you must find a quiet corner and sit very still until the buying craze disappears. :? Is that true?
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Big-D
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Postby Big-D » Wed Nov 30, 2005 5:51 pm

This is like saying that it is cheaper to rent a "wife for the night" than it is to actaully have one. Off course it is, however - Having your own airy/bird is just different. You said it yourself - It's an emotional thing. I am solo on my own plane and unlike the other student-okes I don't really have to worry about bending the airy on landings because I can fix it in my own time, seeing that it is my own plane. Think of buying a plane as exchanging paper with pictures of animals on it (money), for something beautiful. Damn!! Think I must buy me another one
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Griffin
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Postby Griffin » Wed Nov 30, 2005 6:19 pm

If you are flying once or twice a month probably not. Is there a club in Malmesbury where you can hire a trike or would you be hiring from the flying school at FAFK??
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RV4ker (RIP)
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Postby RV4ker (RIP) » Wed Nov 30, 2005 6:48 pm

Suppose would be similar argument as to Bliks shares although MPI is far more expensive than annual AP so in bliks it pays to fly as close as possible to 100hrs a year. Availability is one huge issue and only reason I own my aeries outright. I sell time and often have to leave on short notice, so availability is a huge issue for me personally. Your own aerie is always available and (usually) just like you left it. Hrs will build very slowly, even if you fly plenty and damage is limited to your (in)ability. Downside is 100% of costs are yours and if it does not fly alot these add up. the fixed costs are biggest portion of these in bliks, but trikes insurance is cheap and so is hangarage.

I have had a couple shares/partnerships in bliks and from a cost point of view they work very well, but there are frustrations and politics and often ego's clash... That said trikes tend to sleep at home base every night and do not spend plenty time away from home so I would have thought there would be much more in the way of trike syndicates around (and/or hire & fly), but assume due to (relatively) low cost and "tinkering aspects" it is not the case. (tinkeringaspects relate to tinkering on the plane. It is not easy to tinker on a blik, but a trike can be rigged incorrectly or damage could be hidden quiet easily so partner selection becomes difficult)

Based on my ltd knowledge of trikes and hear say I would far rather own for eg a 33% share in ZU-FLY, than own outright a 15 year old 503. Nothing against the 15 year old 503 boys, but there seems to be a fixation with ownership? Often circumstances dictate this, but in Jhb there are a huge number of trikes flying only a couple times a month.

PS
Project over the Christmas season is to put together a hitching post for synicate minded flyers in SA on the web. (eggbeaters, woer woers, trikes & bliks for that matter, with document templates, spreadsheets, suggestions and contacts of others looking to do the same) Seems there are plenty who want to do it, but none wanting to take the plunge. Couple companies making a killing in the blik market managing syndicates and it is actually a piece of pissss....

PPS
By way of example (but am keen if there interest)
Anybody keen on syndicating ZU-FLY as a start which looks like a nice package deal.
(Nice trike (with 4 stroke), a hangar (assume can she remain at Rieties), nice bunch of guys (sometimes) and am sure a funny name could be arranged at no extra cost for same price as 503 windlass)
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CloudBase
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Postby CloudBase » Thu Dec 01, 2005 2:29 pm

When I flew a trike I used the club planes to fly around the patch, and I occasionally rented a school plane for a week or so in December when the school closed. Once I started going on extended trips however, my own plane was inevitable.

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Wart
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Postby Wart » Thu Dec 01, 2005 3:07 pm

Very much a personal preference.

I just can't wait to own my own trike!
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Ou Man
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Postby Ou Man » Fri Dec 02, 2005 8:40 am

Griffin wrote:If you are flying once or twice a month probably not. Is there a club in Malmesbury where you can hire a trike or would you be hiring from the flying school at FAFK??
No rentals in Malmesbury area that I know of. So it would probably be FAFK
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Cali
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Postby Cali » Sat Dec 03, 2005 8:56 am

Hi Ou Man. As jy ernstig is oor vlieg sal jy jou eie vliegtuig meer geniet as 'n huur/deel een. Kan jy jou voorstel jy word op 'n windstil bloulug oggend wakker en jy wil vlieg, jaag na die vliegveld en daargekom is daar nie 'n vliegtuig beskikbaar nie?
Dit sal dalk OK wees die eerste en tweede keer maar daarna gaan dit veroorsaak dat jy ophou vlieg.

'n Deel vliegtuig kan dalk werk maar almal voel nie dieselfde oor hulle eiendom nie. Jy pas die vliegtuig pragtig op en die ander ou/ouens het nie 'n saak met hoe dit lyk nie. Dit sal vir my baie moeilik wees om so 'n deal met 'n bekende of vreemde persoon aan te gaan.

Dit sal natuurlik jou eie besluit bly maar oppas dat dit nie veroorsaak dat jy al hoe minder vlieg omdat dit altyd 'n storie is om 'n vliegtuig in die hande te kry.

Nog 'n ding om in gedagte te hou is dat trikes hulle waarde redelik goed hou.

Sterkte met jou besluit.
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Cloud Warrior
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Postby Cloud Warrior » Sat Dec 03, 2005 9:58 pm

Ou man - Ek sien nou eers jy is amper my buurman. Kom vlieg op Saldanha! Ek is seker daar sal een of twee ouens wees wat miskien geinteresseerd sal wees om 'n 'partner" aan te neem of om hulle trikes uit te huur. Johann Froneman - my instrukteur - is elke dag op die lughawe en is altyd bereid om advies te gee.
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Smiley
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Postby Smiley » Mon Dec 05, 2005 7:50 am

Hello Ou man

Maybe if you fly 1 or 2 hours a month, but as Demon said, that is unwise and unsafe! I fly from Springs and our flying group is very active. I probably fly atleast 2 hours a week, and sometimes more. Thus at R500-00/hour to hire you looking at about R4000-00 minimum per month???

The other thing is freedom. If I decide I want to fly somewhere now, I just go to the airfield and go and comeback when it pleases me.

I fly about 120 hours/year. If hiring it's about R60 000-00/year. After one years flying you could already have owned your own plane :D :D
Flying tha beast named "Wollie"
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RV4ker (RIP)
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Postby RV4ker (RIP) » Wed Dec 07, 2005 7:25 pm

Got this from EAA690. It is a real Gem...
Why Buy or Build and Airplane?
Anything related to flyingfwd'd to me by Paul 'Rosie' Rosales, fellow formation pilot and good friend from the L.A area.

I have read many posts on the web site from members and on MMAIL who are thinking about owning their own aircraft and looking for ways to offset the cost of ownership. I have heard many reasons for and against ownership. Why buy an aircraft? It's cheaper to rent and you do not have all the hassle with maintenance, fuel and insurance. Well, here is a little story that I think explains it all as to why I own my own airplane.

It was a beautiful Saturday morning. No winds and the temperature was just right. So instead of mowing the lawn like my wife had planned for me, I decided to go to the airport and take the Sport out for a run. She yells back at me, "WELL IF YOU GO, TAKE YOUR SON WITH YOU." So I ask my son. Want to go flying with dad? In which he says Yea, Can I take my light saber?

You see, my 9 year son thinks he is a Jedi Knight and that our Sport is his personal X-Wing fighter. He is only 4'5 and has to sit on a pillow in order to see over the glare shield and he always carries his light saber just in case we land on a strange planet in which there might be trouble or civil un-rest. Always prepared this one is. So away we go.

THERE I WAS....

We were straight and level at around 6,000ft and I let him take the controls of the X-Wing to do some turns to the left and right. Joshua Approach called and said there was traffic at our 2 o'clock 2 miles opposite direction and my son said to me "Look over there dad, Tie fighter coming right at us". I told him to steer clear of the Tie Fighter because our lasers were out for repair and we were un-armed. No reason to provoke a fight.

So even though he is having a blast, I am starting to get a little bored and thought, "Let's go do a practice approach on the ILS". So I called Joshua Approach, requested the ILS 25 Approach to Palmdale Full Approach and off we went. I maneuvered the X-Wing to the VOR and started the turn outbound to the outer marker. Now my son is just really enjoying this. At the outer marker, the blue light started to flash and you could hear the BEEP in the headset. My Son jumps in and said "That Tie Fighter has locked on to us" I said "That's Right" and I started my evasive maneuver on the procedure turn.

My Son is listening to the exchange between me and the controller and wants to chime in on the conversion. I said to my son, "Just hang on; I will give you a chance". I never should have said that because now he is all excited to talk on the radio. As I start to turn inbound on the turn, the Approach control said "Contact tower when established on the localizer". So I told my young Padawan Learner "OK, when this needle gets here on the dial, push the radio button and tell the tower that 93 Romeo is inbound on the localizer".

Now imagine this, I am giving basic instrument instruction to a 9 year old, I cannot get adults to say this during training. So before I can give him something simpler to say he keys the mike and says "REBEL BASE, THIS IS RED 5. WE ARE STARTING OUR ATTACK RUN ON THE DEATH STAR".

Good God.

Now this post 9/11 and before I can key my mike and say anything, the tower jumps on and says "RED 5, YOUR CLEARED FOR THE APPROACH TO THE DEATH STAR. REPORT HITS AWAY"

Now I am waiting for the tower to add "And tell your dad to call this number" But I hear nothing else. So we continue the approach. Now my son is in heaven. This is real life stuff to him and he is doing everything I tell him to do as far as tracking the needle. As we approach the outer marker inbound, the light starts to flash and there is that tone again. "Dad, the Death Star has a lock on us". Yes Son, you keep on the approach, I will worry about the guns.

Everything is going great and now we are approaching the middle marker. My son has noticed the GPS has a red line with an airplane on it and it ends at the Death Star. So he asks me "IS THAT A TARGETING COMPUTER DAD?" Well of course it is, and it shows us where we are to the target. So now he hears Obewan tell him to USE THE FORCE SCOTT and he turns the GPS OFF. Tells me he is OK and does not need the targeting computer because he is using the FORCE.

Now the middle marker light flashes and the tone comes on. I apply full power and the airplane,,,X-Wing,,, Starts a climb. I start the turn to the missed approach path when my son keys the mike and says "HITS AWAY". The tower answers back with "GOOD JOB RED 5, CONTACT REBEL APPROACH ON 126.1"

We go back to Mojave SPACEPORT, and I decide that the X-Wing needs a bath. So out comes all the cleaning stuff and we spend the rest of the day washing and waxing the turbo jets and laser pods.

So you see. This is why I own my own aircraft. You cannot beat this kind of quality time with your kids. And there is no way you can put a price on that.


Jeff Bryant
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