4 ms·

Honestly: at least in my circle there is an oddly massive cross section of tech workers who have private pilot's licenses. In my relatively small circle (less

by tw04 5y ago

Honestly: at least in my circle there is an oddly massive cross section of tech workers who have private pilot's licenses. In my relatively small circle (less than 200 people) of close friends/acquaintances, 25% of the tech workers have a private's pilot's license and 0 of the non-tech folks. Maybe it's truly just my circle but I always found it odd/amusing that such a high percentage had or were going for their pilot's license. Maybe the same personality trait that pushed them to tech pushes them to want to fly themselves. And/or it's just a matter of having more expendable money and free time than the average joe. Either way I think it's less HN and more the profession.

DaiPlusPlus 5y ago
I think it’s because we all played MS Flight Simulator as kids (Disclaimer: I don’t have a PFL, but my boss does… and his own Cessna)
- ericbarrett 5y ago
  That was me. Played FS2, F/A-18 Hornet, Falcon 3.0, tons of others. Always wanted to fly. Finally grew up, made some money, and got a lesson. Turns out I'm terrified of small planes. Then I learned they're roughly as dangerous as motorcycles for a given distance traveled (about 10x the risk of an auto) and gave up the dream for good.
  - smackeyacky 5y ago
    Ha. I did exactly the same thing. Took a lesson, was terrified the entire time. I like flying in the bigger stuff but a cessna seems like somebody has thrown a volkswagen beetle into the air. Every time that thing dropped a metre due to turbulence i was glad i went to the toilet beforehand.
    - GekkePrutser 5y ago
      > Volkswagen Beetle Not a bad comparison actually. Between the airframe design era, air-cooling etc it's pretty apt. Fwiw I think the overlap is also because the tech thing. Flying airplanes is a pretty technical hobby so it makes sense it appeals to people like us tech workers
  - ppg677 5y ago
    Wow, exactly my experience.
- DaiPlusPlus 5y ago
  *EDIT: PPL, not PFL. HN won’t let me edit my post.
machinelearning 5y ago
I think flying is especially attractive to people in tech because it is cognitively demanding (flight planning, comms, instrument work) but also requires a lot of physical coordination and prediction (landing, stall recovery, maneuvers) that working in front of a computer doesn’t help you develop. It also requires you to develop a certain level of personal responsibility and good decision making to fly safely. This positively impacts the management of a team/company.
- sokoloff 5y ago
  It’s also one of the few things that lets me entirely unwind from other things going on and focus only on flying (technically and enjoying it).
bobthepanda 5y ago
Flying is fairly expensive, no?
- m4rtink 5y ago
  Depends - here in Europe you can jojn the local "aeroclub", pay a reasonable yearly fee, perform various work alignments from the club (airport and aircraft maintenance, manning the advisory radio service on the tower, etc.) and then you can fly the clubs gliders at first come first served basis (after appropriate training of course). This way even university students can fly (gliders) without being rich & quite a few of my friends did. Also, not really a problem with leaded fuel in most gliders. ;-) (The towing aircraft or the winch might be a different matter.)
  - lutorm 5y ago
    Yeah flying clubs and/or experimental aircraft are the way to go, cost wise. There are some complications for learning to fly that way, but it can be much cheaper. We estimate the hourly cost of operation for our Sonex (https://www.sonexaircraft.com/ https://www.sonexaircraft.com/) is $35/h.
- RNCTX 5y ago
  tl;dr: private license is gonna run you about $10k. Instrument add-on another $10k (for flying in less than fair weather, it's basically required). You don't have to own an airplane, the above presume renting one ($150 to $200 per hour depending on the particulars).
  - verst 5y ago
    Definitely closer to $15k for VFR alone in the Seattle area. Doing this right now at Boeing Field. Cessna 172 with G1000 avionics rental rate is 185/hour wet (with fuel) if you pay for a membership program at the flight school. Otherwise ~200/hour. For rentals you pay for engine time only. There are usually minimums per day if you wanted to rent a plane for a weekend trip or something like that. Flying Seattle to Orcas Island is a fun little trip.

by tw04 5y ago

DaiPlusPlus 5y ago

I think it’s because we all played MS Flight Simulator as kids (Disclaimer: I don’t have a PFL, but my boss does… and his own Cessna)

ericbarrett 5y ago
That was me. Played FS2, F/A-18 Hornet, Falcon 3.0, tons of others. Always wanted to fly. Finally grew up, made some money, and got a lesson. Turns out I'm terrified of small planes. Then I learned they're roughly as dangerous as motorcycles for a given distance traveled (about 10x the risk of an auto) and gave up the dream for good.
- smackeyacky 5y ago
  Ha. I did exactly the same thing. Took a lesson, was terrified the entire time. I like flying in the bigger stuff but a cessna seems like somebody has thrown a volkswagen beetle into the air. Every time that thing dropped a metre due to turbulence i was glad i went to the toilet beforehand.
  - GekkePrutser 5y ago
    > Volkswagen Beetle Not a bad comparison actually. Between the airframe design era, air-cooling etc it's pretty apt. Fwiw I think the overlap is also because the tech thing. Flying airplanes is a pretty technical hobby so it makes sense it appeals to people like us tech workers
- ppg677 5y ago
  Wow, exactly my experience.
DaiPlusPlus 5y ago
*EDIT: PPL, not PFL. HN won’t let me edit my post.

machinelearning 5y ago

I think flying is especially attractive to people in tech because it is cognitively demanding (flight planning, comms, instrument work) but also requires a lot of physical coordination and prediction (landing, stall recovery, maneuvers) that working in front of a computer doesn’t help you develop. It also requires you to develop a certain level of personal responsibility and good decision making to fly safely. This positively impacts the management of a team/company.

sokoloff 5y ago
It’s also one of the few things that lets me entirely unwind from other things going on and focus only on flying (technically and enjoying it).

bobthepanda 5y ago

Flying is fairly expensive, no?

m4rtink 5y ago
Depends - here in Europe you can jojn the local "aeroclub", pay a reasonable yearly fee, perform various work alignments from the club (airport and aircraft maintenance, manning the advisory radio service on the tower, etc.) and then you can fly the clubs gliders at first come first served basis (after appropriate training of course). This way even university students can fly (gliders) without being rich & quite a few of my friends did. Also, not really a problem with leaded fuel in most gliders. ;-) (The towing aircraft or the winch might be a different matter.)
- lutorm 5y ago
  Yeah flying clubs and/or experimental aircraft are the way to go, cost wise. There are some complications for learning to fly that way, but it can be much cheaper. We estimate the hourly cost of operation for our Sonex (https://www.sonexaircraft.com/ https://www.sonexaircraft.com/) is $35/h.
RNCTX 5y ago
tl;dr: private license is gonna run you about $10k. Instrument add-on another $10k (for flying in less than fair weather, it's basically required). You don't have to own an airplane, the above presume renting one ($150 to $200 per hour depending on the particulars).
- verst 5y ago
  Definitely closer to $15k for VFR alone in the Seattle area. Doing this right now at Boeing Field. Cessna 172 with G1000 avionics rental rate is 185/hour wet (with fuel) if you pay for a membership program at the flight school. Otherwise ~200/hour. For rentals you pay for engine time only. There are usually minimums per day if you wanted to rent a plane for a weekend trip or something like that. Flying Seattle to Orcas Island is a fun little trip.