The article really sets out what it's like to learn to fly such a wonderful aircraft and it's not helping me resist the urge to go out and buy a plane. I share this because I've had my eye on an airplane recently. It's not a T-28 but it is a classic warbird that I could, with some financial rearranging, swing the purchase of. However, what I can't seem to swing without a major lifestyle change is the maintenance and upkeep of said clasic aircraft once it's mine. Insurance, hangaring, annual inspections on a high-performance twin, and the inevitable list of yearly repairs conspire to make it an unaffordable proposition. Dreams are great, but I've been lucky enough to have Brigid on speed-dial and she's bopped me on the head with the common sense bat several times in relation to this aircraft, so now I just look at it's ad and sigh a few times, then go back to shopping for used Cessna 172s. I will have me a plane one day soon, but it's probably going to be the one that I can afford, not the one that I lie awake at night fantasizing about.
"If you can't afford the plane that you love, love the plane that you can afford."
T-28's are FUN! :-)
ReplyDeleteI would think that flying anything that is yours would be wonderful if you can afford it. B. on speed dial is cheaper than therapy!
ReplyDeleteHell, I can't afford ANY of my hobbies anymore! 2K for a Lionel toy train?!?! Toolind around in cars that get oh 10-12 MPG? Seriously?
"If you can't afford the plane that you love, love the plane that you can afford."
ReplyDeleteI didn't know Stephen Stills also offered aircraft advice...
Do not hang around your local airport on a Saturday. Nothing good can come of it. You will see dozens of people, none of them you, flying in for breakfast or just for the joy of dancing the sky. They will climb out of an array of craft, many of them "home" built (which means they bought them from a serious craftsman so they don't kill themselves if it comes apart because they didn't insert tab G into slot 4 and fix with cotter pin BB). You will have fantasies of that really cool J-3 recreation with 125 HP six instead of Continental 4-banger and a full panel of radio/GPS/instruments.
ReplyDeleteListen to me. Stay away from the airport. No good will come of it. But buy lottery tickets and keep an L-29 in the back of your head.
I've owned a Piper J-4 and a Cessna 150. If I can ever get another 3rd Class Med, I want a 150/152 with the Sparrow Hawk upgrade.
ReplyDeleteIs this twin warbird the same warbird you had talked about with me before, or has something else caught your eye?
ReplyDeleteAide from the warbirds and Cessna 172s, I can see you in one of those Rutan Long-EZ types with the bubble cockpit and the M-60 mounted forward.
wv: tightin. yes, owning that warbird would mean tightin your belt some.
@ Aaron: Different aircraft, same type. After talking myself out of the last one, I found a better one for just a little more money. Stoopid internet!
ReplyDelete@ Ed: Mmmmm...L29.
I will have me a plane one day soon, but it's probably going to be the one that I can afford
ReplyDeleteWhat? Living within your means! You'll never go far in government, I'm sorry to tell you.
Go with a Piper Tri-Pacer or build an RV-7, both are pretty serious traveling machines.
ReplyDeleteOH yeah, listen to Ed. . .
ReplyDeleteHanging around airports has netted me, to date, four successive hangars (each one bigger and more expensive than the previous one sold to buy the next one, with the final one built custom), a myriad of airplanes, two of which still sit in the hangar (my beloved 172 which is STILL fun to fly and always will be, and the RV8--made in the garage, then in two of the previous four hangars).
Oh, and there's a Taylorcraft being rebuilt from the ground up, a dozen different Controller and TAP ads for Cessna T210s around the house and hangar, plus a pile of mail from Lancair regarding information and deposit procedures for the Legacy I'm wanting to begin building at the end of the year.
Listen to Ed: Do NOT hang around local airports. Marinas are much safer. . . except for the Sea Ray we presently have and the luxury pontoon boat with head and mini-galley the wife is negotiating on.
No, I think hanging around gun stores and ranges is much safer and better for you.
--AOA
She's a beauty. I don't know much about planes, but I love them. My grandfather had a Cessna and when I was little he used to fly me to Catalina Island for lunch. Great memories.
ReplyDeleteIf it Floats, flies, or Fu*ks it's cheaper to rent.
ReplyDeleteWV: Hedoo
I adore my lil' Taylorcraft, but she and I have an understanding: I'll abandon her in a heartbeat to go droo...ahem, look at a Mustang. Doesn't mean I won't come back, and she doesn't need to ever worry or get jealous, but a girl can dream.
ReplyDeleteTwins... twice the engines, thrice the maintenance (if you're lucky), four times the bills, but wouldn't it be nice?