I’m selling my plane

[dmc]

I’ve decided to sell my plane. We were on a little vacation and on the way from Chicago to SW Florida and I lost a piece of my exhaust. We were not in danger and I landed the plane safely, but the wife has always been a nervous flyer. The engine was making a lot of noise and she was pretty upset. I’m pretty sure she would rather not get in a small plane again.

I drove her to Indianapolis and she flew home on a commercial flight.

this happened on Sunday, I ordered a new exhaust and it was installed on Tuesday. I had a very nice flight on the way home by myself on Wednesday.

I put the plane up for sale on Friday and I’m expecting a deposit check today for my full asking price, Pending a pre buy inspection, which should pass.

We are planning on buying a new house on the water, so this will at least mean the boat budget has gone up.

[iris lilies]

Thank you. You are no longer in danger. i am with your wife.

—signed,
iris, nervous flyer

30+ years ago I read all of the airplane crash books. One factual nugget that stood out was the death rate of private plane pilots. Plane Crash was rather high on the list of causes of death, something like 4th, 5th.

[catherine]

I've flown over a million miles, and a pilot who wears a crisp uniform and sounds "mature," confident and experienced on the PA system still makes me feel more at ease. dmc, I'm sure you sound confident and experienced. Maybe you should have invested in a pilot's uniform. :)

[pinkytoe]

I am with your wife as I have personally known several people who died in private plane crashes.

[bae]

Heck, I'm getting my license this coming year.

[Teacher Terry]

I won’t fly in a small plane. My step son is a pilot in the military and has taken my husband up but I am chicken.

[Gardnr]

I've been in small planes only a few times. I LOVE it! My first time? A woman I worked with had just gotten her license. "Want to go north with me for lunch? I need to get some hours and some touch n' go time". Sure! It was awesome getting a back country tour flying low.

At work on Monday when I told people the response was "why on earth would you go up with someone who has only 50 hours in the air?" "Gotta die sometime. It was great fun".

I'm glad you've enjoyed your plane and wish you the best with a new boat! Now you'll get to fly low:cool:

[razz]

I took an intro course including ground school to learn about flying small planes at the local flying club at a discounted rate. Loved it! The world is so different from that perspective.

Then reality set in. I would never have the money, DH had no interest in going flying with me and I had two kids needing post-secondary schooling. I am really glad that I had that experience though.

[Float On]

My dear uncle has survived numerous emergencies, and even a few crashes. He crashed one of his planes on an icy runway getting to my wedding. His first crash? He was 9 and built a plane to launch off the giant barn roof on the ranch. Broke both arms but didn't stop him or his love of flight. I'm kind of sad to hear you are selling off, always enjoyed your plane mentions.

[dmc]

I’m not giving up my license, and I have scheduled my medical in a few weeks. I’ll still be able to go up with friends, or rent if I chose.

But it it was really nice to own my own plane and be able to go when I want.

[ToomuchStuff]

I expected maybe you would say your changing to a different plane with one of those backup parachute systems.

I wonder on the specs of the crashes that were mentioned above. How many of them were in bad weather with pilots that were not instrument rated?

[Tybee]

Aw, I am sorry that happened, I know you loved that plane.

I would buy the biggest, fastest, coolest boat I could find and a house on the waterway to dock it. Very fun for the whole family, and entertaining.

It's hard to overcome fear of flying, especially in small plane--my ex had a plane and I found it absolutely terrifying.

A boat, on the other hand, would have been heaven.

[iris lilies]

Heck, I'm getting my license this coming year.

I’m surprised you haven’t been flying around prior to this, given your location and other factors.

[bae]

I’m surprised you haven’t been flying around prior to this, given your location and other factors.

So far I've just been going down to the airfield and sticking out my thumb, which has worked reasonably well.

As my mother is aging, I'd like to be able to get her over for medical appointments more easily and predictably though, which this would help with - she's not really up for the crossing in a small boat on some days.

[dado potato]

This thread stirred up the old croc's love of old planes.

CF-BHS, a Norseman bush plane, "the scarlet woman", owned by Lambair, based in The Pas, Manitoba, Canada. She is now permanently bolted on a stand in Thompson, MB, equipped with floats, not skis.

Lambair went out of business in 1981. Lamb's motto was Don't ask us where we fly, tell us where you want to go.

http://www.lambair.com/page28/page39/page62/page51/index.html

[Anne Lee]

I've flown over a million miles, and a pilot who wears a crisp uniform and sounds "mature," confident and experienced on the PA system still makes me feel more at ease. dmc, I'm sure you sound confident and experienced. Maybe you should have invested in a pilot's uniform. :)

I used to be a nervous flyer too. And then a friend of mine whose son was a pilot in the miltary said they flew constantly in these buckets that were barely held together with spit, duct tape and prayer with constant in-flight emergency alarms. Whereever the military funding is going, it's not going to the cargo planes.

Once I heard that, I relaxed since I know that commercial aviation is really driving a Greyhound bus in the air. The "drivers" are better trained and the buses are better maintained. Less nervous, not that I fly anymore.

But private planes? No thank you.

[sweetana3]

I grew up in Alaska. Father was only survivor of a small commercial plane crash (all eight others died including the pilot). He lost his partner in a small plane crash and knew many who survived and who did not in small plane crashes. No way am I ever getting on anything smaller than a large jet. I still pray taking off and landing and want to kiss the ground whenever I get off.

[pinkytoe]

Sometimes it is hard to ignore a woman's intuition. She would have worried about you even if she was no longer flying. I recall a simple living member (Jill Sanders?) whose husband went down in his small plane. She disappeared from the forum after that happened.

[early morning]

I love flying in small planes. Especially vintage ones. Big ones, not so much. I've grown up with planes, although I'm not a pilot - my DB and SIL flew a wing-walking act all over North America for many years, my father was taught to fly by a Tuskegee Airman. My mother stopped work on her private pilots license because she said when pregnant with me it got too uncomfortable to climb into the cockpit, and then was "too busy" -so all my fault, lol. Took my first flight at 5 days old in my dad's Aeronca Champ. DH and my first home together was on an airport - the house, before we moved in, had actually been clipped more than once by a taxiing airplane. My first child spent many happy hours in the airport office since my aunt and cousin babysat her and my brother and uncle ran the airport. Both my kids love to fly. Dangerous? Not really all that bad - the glide path of a small plane is pretty long, and around here, there are plenty of places to set down a small plane. In more mountainous areas, not so much, though - I get that. But wherever you are, airliner glide paths tend to be much more - ah, vertical. I know people who have died in small planes, sure. And in car accidents, bike wrecks, and tractor roll-overs, among many other things. I think we all live much of the time with a false sense of security. Of course it makes sense to do the risk/reward comparisons, and then do what you love, as safely as you can. I remember Jill. Even though she lost her DH in a small plane crash, she was interested in setting up a scholarship or something for aviation students in his memory, because she wanted his love for flying to play forward. I thought that was lovely.

[catherine]

I used to be a nervous flyer too.

I'm not a nervous flyer--With over a million miles in the air, I'd have been better off in another occupation if I were! I love flying. I was just pointing out how a pilot's demeanor can instill confidence in their skills.

However, while I'm comfortable in commercial planes, including small ones, I definitely would not want to fly regularly in a private plane. There are just too many accidents in private planes. Gee--just look at the people in the music industry alone who we have lost: Ricky Nelson, Patsy Cline, John Denver, Buddy Holly.

I'll stick with the planes with redundant systems and pilots who got their training in the Air Force.

[early morning]

To be fair, John Denver ran out of gas - a rather avoidable condition. Weather impacts small planes more than large ones, and can be a critical factor if one is pushing to get somewhere when conditions are iffy. Many Air Force pilots also fly small planes. I agree that pilot training - and temperament - are crucial. Like that old saying - there are old pilots and bold pilots, but there are no old bold pilots.

How's the boat, dmc? Hope you found a great one! I know absolutely nothing about boats, but really enjoy looking at and riding in them - as long as I have a life jacket, since I float like a rock. . .

[dmc]

Boat is coming along. I just got it home a few days ago, I was waiting for my dock and lift to be completed. The wife is having a few regrets about selling the plane now, she just realized how nice it was to have one. But I don’t have a hangar any longer and there is a two year waiting list to get one. Along with a $100 per month increase in rent . I’m going to look into getting into a club or renting when things go back to normal.

i had my boat engines serviced by a local mechanic, his hourly rate was $20 a hour higher than my aircraft mechanic. And I had to wait 3 weeks for him to get to it.

[dmc]

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[early morning]

Oh, lovely! I hope you get many hours of enjoyment from her! Does she have a name?

[dmc]

Oh, lovely! I hope you get many hours of enjoyment from her! Does she have a name?

Not yet, I’m taking my son, grandson, and a friend out Sunday to do a little fishing. I’ll probably not go to far out this trip, kind of a shakedown run.