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Thread: [IAC-L:45] Adding Category to WACs
Message: [IAC-L:45] Adding Category to WACs
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From: H Brad Antin <antin at sound.net>
Date: Tue, 10 Jun 1997 03:14:15 UTC
I'm just the new kid on the block, and maybe I don't know what I'm talking about, but it seems to me that European pilots have been dealing with a much higher cost of flying (for a lot longer) than we have. I've got several friends over there, and most of them use "club" aircraft rather than buy their own. If a competitor progresses to the unlimited level, perhaps he or she could get a partnership together and buy one of the "super-monoplanes." When I saw the cost of buying a competitive airplane (even though I'm just a beginning Sportsman pilot), I realized that I'd soon get bored with what I could afford. Well, maybe I just got lucky, but I talked around and found three other people in my area who would also like to have a "super monoplane" to fly. We found a used Extra 300 for $200,000. That's only $50,000 each (and we were able to easily finance 90% of it at a decent rate). So, for about the price of a good used Decathalon (OK, late model), or a good used Pitts, I'm flying (although not very well), a top level plane. Plus, it's actually even better than that because I'm only responsible for 25% of the care and feeding and upkeep. Maybe that's an option for those unlimited pilots wanting to more easily compete at the top level. Warmly, Brad