shantyboatliving.com

Out on the beach with Lucetta, the whippet, on a windy Tuesday noon-time, a day that’s really too cold for this sort of thing. There must be 200 people or so down the length of the beach, each cluster spread out just so, assuring some privacy and a sense of alone time at the beach. I tried to walk a ways with Cetta, but the old girl just isn’t up to it anymore. Instead, she lies at my feet partially wrapped up in a blanket. There’s a great deal for her to see here, and to smell, these two senses being her final way to explore this beach wonderland.

Back to PPCs and PPGs, the abbreviations for the two aircraft types I am considering. I got an email from the man who took me up on Saturday laying out the price of learning to fly. Not sure I am going to proceed, but am leaning heavily in that direction. For the sake of this conversation let’s just say it will happen.

Let’s take a step back to the part 104 versus PPC for a moment, as I am still not certain about which path to take. My friend Dan considers the Sport Pilot path somewhat burdensome, filled with far too many regulations to be a reasonable path, especially when compared to the unregulated nature of the part 104 type. I’ll have to ask him to explain that a bit more, as the only bottom line difference I notice is the initial $1500 in additional training, and then an additional $100 a year for the bi-yearly check ride. That $1500 is nothing to sneeze at, as few of us have that lying around with us just looking for a way to spend it. The $200 bi-yearly check ride, on the other hand, seems money well spent, a small price to pay for training and regulatory updates. While these craft are pretty safe, it just makes sense to do all that you can to remain the best pilot possible.

Once you have gotten your training, no matter which path you take, you are still free to choose a Part 103 or a Sport Pilot license aircraft. One of the advantages of going for the sport pilot license is that it allows you to rent a two seat aircraft any time you want to take passengers up.

That actually seems like a pretty good path, Sport Pilot, only renting a two seat PPC as needed to take others up, allowing me to save considerable funds by purchasing a single seat aircraft for my own use. Let’s do the math on this. Let’s assume I would save $7000 on the purchase of a new single seater versus a new 2 seater. At $75 an hour in rental fees that $7000 would allow me more than 93 hours of two seater rental! The savings would be far less on a used craft, but I could still most likely pay for at least 40 hours of dual flight time. Assuming the purchased two seater would have resale value at the end, one might assume that much of that value would be consumed by maintenance and consumable costs such as gas and oil. Seems like a no brainer, though I am probably missing something as a newbie.

So why not rent a single seater as opposed to buying one? It may make total sense, too, but at they don’t have any of them to rent out at this point. Speaking of which, what if I bought a single seater and rented it out, thereby helping to pay for my purchase? It’s a possibility I guess, though it would take 400 and some rentals to totally pay my costs, not including insurance, which could be prohibitive if it is used as a rental.

So where does this leave me? At this point I would proceed with the training, not making any purchase until I lose the weight I have set as a goal, made sure that I am really interested, and then saved the money in order to proceed. That could be well over a year from now. If I saved $300 a month and combined that with the cash I have on hand now, I could buy a very nice single seater in two years. Sigh.

Clearly my interests have taken a new direction. Actually, I rarely have a new interest, as I have had so many in the last that I might call it interest recycling. For example, I was a student pilot about 27 years ago, making it to about 45 hours of flight time before my flight logs and all were stolen from my car.

If you are a reader of this blog, know that you can concentrate your reading on any category that interests you. Simply look for the category list to the right and click on the word that matches your interest.

Monday on the cliffs above Manzanita, alone, as Karen stayed in Seattle through the weekend, helping out with kid duties. Alex bought a truck for $400, a price that would explain the problems he was already having this morning. The battery was dead after he went for a spin, then he noticed the cooling fan wasn’t connected. Ah, youth. He was in such a hurry to get it and rather trusting of the seller. I’ve been there, and not that long ago!

Today’s ramblings…..

Should I pursue powered parachutes as a hobby, and if so, should I go for the sport pilot license or the part 103 ultralight licensing? This may seem way off topic, but I think the fundamental question applies to boats as well as to powered parachutes in that the answer is based, for me at least, on intent.

As you can see in an earlier post, I am thinking of pursuing powered parachutes or paragliders. To start off, let’s lay out some of the groundwork, for example what’s the difference in those two types of craft? A powered parachute is a tricycle with a motor and propeller on the back, hanging from a square parachute. The directional controls are most often foot bars which, in turn, are connected to the back edges of the chute, allowing the pilot to warp the wings to turn. Paragliders are basically a parachute with a motor strapped to your back, where instead of jumping out of a plane, you run like heck until you are going fast enough, with the assitance of the motor on your back, to fly. The parachute is much more agile, and therefore less inherently stable, then the one used on a powered parachute, and the wing is most often warped via hand controls, just as is done in parachutes worn when you jump from planes.

powered paraglider

There is no doubt that I am too old to be running at break neck speed with a motor strapped to my back, as I would clearly fulfill the promise and break my neck.

But there is now a class of paraglider that is clearly a combination of the two kinds of craft, offering a cart, greatly simplified and downsized, but with all the other features of it’s type, such as hand controls and elliptical chute.

What is an Ultralight Trike Buggy? — powered by eHow.com

From that description the hybrid paraglider would seem the obvious choice, but not so fast, as there are some regulatory issues to consider. A paraglider requires no license, no inspections, no training. You can get inspections and training, but they aren’t required. As a result, if you are flying under the part 103 guidelines of a paraglider you are not allowed to take up passengers. In order to do that you must get a Sport Pilot license from the FAA, and once you get it you must be updated every other year with two hours of instruction, and have done three take offs and landings within the last 90 days. There’s an initial flight test, written test, and an oral quiz from the flight examiner, and those bi-yearly check rides will set you back about $300. With the part 103 flying you can, either in small single seat powered parachutes, known as PPCs, or in the foot or wheel launched single seat paragliders, fly within a handful of hours of instruction. Any future training is up to you, your sense of safety, and your pocketbook.

So the answer could seem clear, go part 103. If you want to be extra safe, go with part 103, but get as much training as you consider appropriate. It’s safer, it’s faster, and the single seat aircraft cost 30 to 50% less than the two seat PPCs.

Here’s where the connection with boating comes in, one I’ll address with a question: Why do we build boats? It’s not to save money, as in most cases it is cheaper to buy used than to build, especially these days. For me there are two reasons. First, I can’t buy the kind of boat I’d like to own! My Escargot is, for the time being, the only one in the state, perhaps only one of 6 or fewer in the country. If I want a boat like Escargot, I have to build it. But there is another reason, and this is where the connection to aircraft comes in. It’s the thrill of learning, and doing, the unknown and the uncommon. Every time I have tackled building a boat I have tackled far more than I really knew how to do. Throughout the project I made mistakes, and then found solutions. I’d get discouraged, and then make progress. It was a journey, a challenge… and ultimately it was discovery and adventure.

It was also something I shared, with my wife, my daughter, my son, my neighbors, even other builders seeking inspiration. I’ve enjoyed going out in the boat myself, in fact lately I’ve done it more alone, as my family is so busy. But part of the thrill was in sharing.

In flying part of the thrill would be in sharing, not just with others in their own machines, but also with my family and friends, those who wouldn’t fly otherwise.

And all the extra work required to take someone up, all the work, time and hassle? I say it’s all one of the most valued parts of the journey.

I was going to work on my boat while down here, and did do some of it, but I forgot a saw, and when I asked Alex and Karen to bring it down today, they forgot. That means I’m stuck on boat building. In it’s place I have been reading study materials for my Sport Pilot test, certainly putting in well over 12 hours so far. And it’s been fun.

The mistake I’ve made in some of my past “adventures” is that the itch was scratched and fulfilled too quickly. When I bought a three wheeled car I enjoyed the search, the learning and the driving, but after a handful of miles there was nothing left. It’s the same with many purchases… a flash of fun, then this exciting new adventure quickly becomes a boring old toy of the past. With the right attitude I am sure one could make the single seat, part 103 flying, a lot of fun, but why not go with the full meal deal, the brass ring of adventure? There is a cost difference, but if you have the money the cost could be worth it.

It’s crazy, but I drove 5 hours yesterday so that I could make it home, go to sleep, then wake up at 5am to go on a powered parachute flight. Total blast. Better than I recalled. Here’s a video

Now, to drive 5 hours again to get back to the cabin. Call me crazy. I’ll stay at the cabin until Wednesday.

Bryan