7 ms·

Anyone here want to weigh in on the value of a private pilot license?

anorphirith 6y ago
-some professionals take great benefit from it. it's the fastest way to move around the US. -look up STOL flying, that's a really fun hobby to get into, you can land anywhere in the world -you can do a bunch of volunteer work with a license. -I personally do it because of the challenge and I find it very fun !
- fh973 6y ago
  That's surprising. I was under the impression that landing outside of an airfield is only permitted in a few states and parts of Canada? In Europe it's generally forbidden (with the sailplane exception of course).
  - taborj 6y ago
    Look on YouTube for folks flying something like a Kit Fox (start with Trent Palmer). You'll find some fun videos of some cool spots they land. Also, STOL drags are cool to watch.
  - repiret 6y ago
    In the US, you may generally land anywhere the landowner permits it. There’s lots of publicly owned land, and although it’s up to individual management agencies, you can generally operate a plane wherever you can operate any other motor vehicle.
  - ScottFree 6y ago
    Crop dusting is still a thing. I live in the middle of nowhere and there are several strips of flat grassland that are landing strips for crop dusters.
OldFatCactus 6y ago
Fun, expensive hobby
- dehrmann 6y ago
  And it's as expensive as your budget allows.
ldargin 6y ago
There's no set value in that. You just can't pilot an airplane without a license.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- gmu3 6y ago
  You actually can pilot a plane without a license after some instruction and passing a medical exam. The main thing getting a license changes is the ability to fly others.
  - gbacon 6y ago
    In what jurisdiction?
    - idanman 6y ago
      You can fly a category of airplanes called ultra-light and you don't need a pilot's license. You can take a single passenger. It is based on airplane weight and horse power. Different countries have different standards. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultralight_aviation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultralight_aviation As a student pilot in the US you can fly without a passenger but also with other restrictions like your flight instructor has to give you an endorsement to fly and most won't give you an unrestricted endorsement. It is really there to get you a certificate and not as a way to bypass it. All other require a certificate (technically it is not a license but rather a pilot certificate). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pilot_certification_in_the_United_States#Recreational_pilot https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pilot_certification_in_the_Uni...
      - redis_mlc 6y ago
        No, ultralights are single seat to protect members of the public: "For example, the assumption can be made that a person who elects, without pilot qualifications, to operate an uncertificated vehicle alone is fully aware of the risks involved. This assumption does not hold true of a passenger selected randomly from the general public. Persons in the general public will likely assume that the operator has certificated pilot qualifications." Also, not all airports allow ultralight operations. https://www.usua.org/Rules/faa103.htm https://www.usua.org/Rules/faa103.htm Also, for insurance and legal reasons, no professional CFI is going to endorse you as a student pilot on an on-going basis.
tylerhoran 6y ago
Best decision ever. You don't see the world the same way. Nothing beats the convenience. Buy yourself a cheap Cessna and don't look back.
- dehrmann 6y ago
  I took a lesson in a Cessna, it was enjoyable enough, landing was a little scary. A few years later, I got to ride in an L-39. It's hard to go back to a Cessna.
  - TomMarius 6y ago
    They recently made an ultralight version UL-39
    - zzless 6y ago
      Wow. I thought you were joking but UL-39 really does look like an amazing concept. Jet propulsion with a piston engine! And an LSA at that! Incredible. Thanks for the reference.
      - TomMarius 6y ago
        It's also going to be rather cheap - around 5 million CZK ~ 210k USD
base698 6y ago
Do you want to travel up and down the California coast in 2 hours, or spend 3 hours in an airport getting groped by TSA?
gbacon 6y ago
I can cut a long drive in half or by two-thirds in what are considered slow (read: beginner-friendly) single-engine airplanes. You take on an entirely different relationship with the weather. Flying into expected congestion beats driving any time. I really enjoy flying to college football games, where just getting out of town afterward may take 90 minutes or more and then the rest of the trip home. It creates flexibility and opens up options that road travel does not. I can get to the beach in two hours from where I live, making a day trip for fresh seafood doable. My son was in Auburn last year for the Tennessee game. Another couple flew down with me; we picked him up in Auburn and thence headed to Tuscaloosa. He got to watch four SEC teams play each other live in the same day. Charities Pilots N Paws and Angel Flight transport rescue animals to their forever homes and vulnerable medical patients to and from treatments. Fewer interactions with TSA creeps. Maintaining my required medical certificate and protecting my investment in flight training creates a strong incentive to stay healthy. I’m in my best shape in decades. Of course it’s possible to find overweight pilots. If you intend to fly to any sort of scheduled event, strongly consider adding an instrument rating, which will make you a much safer, more precise pilot and should increase your likelihood of surviving inadvertent flight into IMC. It’s a rewarding intellectual and physical challenge. Phil Greenspun posits[0] that it keeps the mind active and young longer. If you go to the local general aviation airport, you'll find lots of guys in their 60s and 70s who are tackling challenges that are way beyond your own capabilities. Certainly these guys are much sharper and in better mental and physical shape than the average person of their age. Flying requires mental acuity and real-time decision-making that seems to keep pilots young. A lot of older folks seem to be preoccupied with trivial matters, such as organizing their junk mail or minutia within their childrens' lives. Old pilots don't seem to be subject to these preoccupations and the topics of their conversations have more in common with young pilots than with other old people. [0]: http://philip.greenspun.com/materialism/early-retirement/aviation http://philip.greenspun.com/materialism/early-retirement/avi...
- jcims 6y ago
  Do you own your plane? That’s the part I’m trying to sort out before i get started.
  - 6y ago
0xfaded 6y ago
In my case made me reconnect with friends in LA while living in SF which totally altered my life trajectory.
redis_mlc 6y ago
Get a PPL if: - you plan a long-term commitment to flying, and more ratings later - you live near an airport, or can trailer in an airplane - you make a good salary for your region (or live at home) - you're healthy (can pass a required FAA airman exam) - you plan to fly at least once or twice a month for airplanes, twice per month for helicopters Don't get a PPL if: - you want to travel and can't afford a fast-enough airplane - it's an expensive bucket list item to cross off, then forget - you have severe ADHD, dyslexia or problems reading - you have a DUI or seizures (disallowed), diabetes, apnea or cardiac problems (on-going special issuance paperwork.) - you care about family approval, but your partner is afraid for your safety - you don't like rules (FAA, flight schools and clubs have tons of rules and regulations) - want to make money flying (you need a commercial+ rating to charge money) Note that after you get your PPL, you will have a baseline of skills that lets you fly safely under cheaper, less-regulated rules, like ultralight, experimental and LSA. For example, for safe, low-cost long-term flying, a PPL followed by purchase of a Hummel all-metal ultralight trailerable airplane (~$30k) would be ideal for local VFR flight for one person. https://flyhummel.com/ https://flyhummel.com/ Source: commercially-rated pilot.
- hirundo 6y ago
  I have well controlled diabetes type 2 and sleep apnea that has never resulted in nodding off. What's the scale of additional red tape for that?
  - gbacon 6y ago
    The Aviation Medical Examiner (AME) may request months of CPAP data. Insulin-dependent diabetes may require special issuance. For a broad reference, see the Airplane Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) database on health conditions that may affect medical certification. https://www.aopa.org/go-fly/medical-resources/health-conditions https://www.aopa.org/go-fly/medical-resources/health-conditi...
  - redis_mlc 6y ago
    I'd recommend avoiding trying to obtain the PPL with those medical conditions, since there will be a lot of paperwork, and the goalposts can be moved on you. The 2 better options are: 1) Do some research on Sport Pilot and LSA planes. No FAA medical or PPL required, just a valid drivers license. 2) Get involved in the ultralight community, ask around about training, and buy a Hummel. No FAA medical or license required, but I'd recommend doing PPL-level training for safety reasons. Just for those reading along: all FAA licenses require demonstrating mastery of the aircraft to certain tolerances. PPL has pretty basic requirements that get you from Point A to Point B, but no acro or IFR, so it doesn't make you an ace. But a PPL is still a world away from an untrained ultralight pilot.

-some professionals take great benefit from it. it's the fastest way to move around the US. -look up STOL flying, that's a really fun hobby to get into, you can land anywhere in the world -you can do a bunch of volunteer work with a license. -I personally do it because of the challenge and I find it very fun !

fh973 6y ago
That's surprising. I was under the impression that landing outside of an airfield is only permitted in a few states and parts of Canada? In Europe it's generally forbidden (with the sailplane exception of course).
- taborj 6y ago
  Look on YouTube for folks flying something like a Kit Fox (start with Trent Palmer). You'll find some fun videos of some cool spots they land. Also, STOL drags are cool to watch.
- repiret 6y ago
  In the US, you may generally land anywhere the landowner permits it. There’s lots of publicly owned land, and although it’s up to individual management agencies, you can generally operate a plane wherever you can operate any other motor vehicle.
- ScottFree 6y ago
  Crop dusting is still a thing. I live in the middle of nowhere and there are several strips of flat grassland that are landing strips for crop dusters.

OldFatCactus 6y ago

Fun, expensive hobby

dehrmann 6y ago
And it's as expensive as your budget allows.

ldargin 6y ago

There's no set value in that. You just can't pilot an airplane without a license.

deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
gmu3 6y ago
You actually can pilot a plane without a license after some instruction and passing a medical exam. The main thing getting a license changes is the ability to fly others.
- gbacon 6y ago
  In what jurisdiction?
  - idanman 6y ago
    You can fly a category of airplanes called ultra-light and you don't need a pilot's license. You can take a single passenger. It is based on airplane weight and horse power. Different countries have different standards. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultralight_aviation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultralight_aviation As a student pilot in the US you can fly without a passenger but also with other restrictions like your flight instructor has to give you an endorsement to fly and most won't give you an unrestricted endorsement. It is really there to get you a certificate and not as a way to bypass it. All other require a certificate (technically it is not a license but rather a pilot certificate). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pilot_certification_in_the_United_States#Recreational_pilot https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pilot_certification_in_the_Uni...
    - redis_mlc 6y ago
      No, ultralights are single seat to protect members of the public: "For example, the assumption can be made that a person who elects, without pilot qualifications, to operate an uncertificated vehicle alone is fully aware of the risks involved. This assumption does not hold true of a passenger selected randomly from the general public. Persons in the general public will likely assume that the operator has certificated pilot qualifications." Also, not all airports allow ultralight operations. https://www.usua.org/Rules/faa103.htm https://www.usua.org/Rules/faa103.htm Also, for insurance and legal reasons, no professional CFI is going to endorse you as a student pilot on an on-going basis.

tylerhoran 6y ago

Best decision ever. You don't see the world the same way. Nothing beats the convenience. Buy yourself a cheap Cessna and don't look back.

dehrmann 6y ago
I took a lesson in a Cessna, it was enjoyable enough, landing was a little scary. A few years later, I got to ride in an L-39. It's hard to go back to a Cessna.
- TomMarius 6y ago
  They recently made an ultralight version UL-39
  - zzless 6y ago
    Wow. I thought you were joking but UL-39 really does look like an amazing concept. Jet propulsion with a piston engine! And an LSA at that! Incredible. Thanks for the reference.
    - TomMarius 6y ago
      It's also going to be rather cheap - around 5 million CZK ~ 210k USD

base698 6y ago

Do you want to travel up and down the California coast in 2 hours, or spend 3 hours in an airport getting groped by TSA?

gbacon 6y ago

I can cut a long drive in half or by two-thirds in what are considered slow (read: beginner-friendly) single-engine airplanes. You take on an entirely different relationship with the weather. Flying into expected congestion beats driving any time. I really enjoy flying to college football games, where just getting out of town afterward may take 90 minutes or more and then the rest of the trip home. It creates flexibility and opens up options that road travel does not. I can get to the beach in two hours from where I live, making a day trip for fresh seafood doable. My son was in Auburn last year for the Tennessee game. Another couple flew down with me; we picked him up in Auburn and thence headed to Tuscaloosa. He got to watch four SEC teams play each other live in the same day. Charities Pilots N Paws and Angel Flight transport rescue animals to their forever homes and vulnerable medical patients to and from treatments. Fewer interactions with TSA creeps. Maintaining my required medical certificate and protecting my investment in flight training creates a strong incentive to stay healthy. I’m in my best shape in decades. Of course it’s possible to find overweight pilots. If you intend to fly to any sort of scheduled event, strongly consider adding an instrument rating, which will make you a much safer, more precise pilot and should increase your likelihood of surviving inadvertent flight into IMC. It’s a rewarding intellectual and physical challenge. Phil Greenspun posits[0] that it keeps the mind active and young longer. If you go to the local general aviation airport, you'll find lots of guys in their 60s and 70s who are tackling challenges that are way beyond your own capabilities. Certainly these guys are much sharper and in better mental and physical shape than the average person of their age. Flying requires mental acuity and real-time decision-making that seems to keep pilots young. A lot of older folks seem to be preoccupied with trivial matters, such as organizing their junk mail or minutia within their childrens' lives. Old pilots don't seem to be subject to these preoccupations and the topics of their conversations have more in common with young pilots than with other old people. [0]: http://philip.greenspun.com/materialism/early-retirement/aviation http://philip.greenspun.com/materialism/early-retirement/avi...

jcims 6y ago
Do you own your plane? That’s the part I’m trying to sort out before i get started.
- 6y ago

0xfaded 6y ago

In my case made me reconnect with friends in LA while living in SF which totally altered my life trajectory.

redis_mlc 6y ago

Get a PPL if: - you plan a long-term commitment to flying, and more ratings later - you live near an airport, or can trailer in an airplane - you make a good salary for your region (or live at home) - you're healthy (can pass a required FAA airman exam) - you plan to fly at least once or twice a month for airplanes, twice per month for helicopters Don't get a PPL if: - you want to travel and can't afford a fast-enough airplane - it's an expensive bucket list item to cross off, then forget - you have severe ADHD, dyslexia or problems reading - you have a DUI or seizures (disallowed), diabetes, apnea or cardiac problems (on-going special issuance paperwork.) - you care about family approval, but your partner is afraid for your safety - you don't like rules (FAA, flight schools and clubs have tons of rules and regulations) - want to make money flying (you need a commercial+ rating to charge money) Note that after you get your PPL, you will have a baseline of skills that lets you fly safely under cheaper, less-regulated rules, like ultralight, experimental and LSA. For example, for safe, low-cost long-term flying, a PPL followed by purchase of a Hummel all-metal ultralight trailerable airplane (~$30k) would be ideal for local VFR flight for one person. https://flyhummel.com/ https://flyhummel.com/ Source: commercially-rated pilot.

hirundo 6y ago
I have well controlled diabetes type 2 and sleep apnea that has never resulted in nodding off. What's the scale of additional red tape for that?
- gbacon 6y ago
  The Aviation Medical Examiner (AME) may request months of CPAP data. Insulin-dependent diabetes may require special issuance. For a broad reference, see the Airplane Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) database on health conditions that may affect medical certification. https://www.aopa.org/go-fly/medical-resources/health-conditions https://www.aopa.org/go-fly/medical-resources/health-conditi...
- redis_mlc 6y ago
  I'd recommend avoiding trying to obtain the PPL with those medical conditions, since there will be a lot of paperwork, and the goalposts can be moved on you. The 2 better options are: 1) Do some research on Sport Pilot and LSA planes. No FAA medical or PPL required, just a valid drivers license. 2) Get involved in the ultralight community, ask around about training, and buy a Hummel. No FAA medical or license required, but I'd recommend doing PPL-level training for safety reasons. Just for those reading along: all FAA licenses require demonstrating mastery of the aircraft to certain tolerances. PPL has pretty basic requirements that get you from Point A to Point B, but no acro or IFR, so it doesn't make you an ace. But a PPL is still a world away from an untrained ultralight pilot.