Why Fly?

[aja8888]

Yep. Airplane ownership is not for the faint of heart. I had one of the cheapest airplanes to own yet it cost me a lot of money...and that is with me doing most mechanical work myself. For anyone considering owning, you will hear a term when it applies to costs. This term is called an AMU (aviation monetary unit). When you ask how much something is, you might hear 'that's about 6 AMUs'. One AMU is 1,000 USD, so as you can imagine when you are working in those denominations, it's far from a cheap hobby.

Sent from my mobile device so please excuse grammatical errors.

Fits in quite nicely with boats.

B.O.A.T. - Break Out Another Thousand

 

[LoneAspen]

Yep. Airplane ownership is not for the faint of heart. I had one of the cheapest airplanes to own yet it cost me a lot of money...and that is with me doing most mechanical work myself. For anyone considering owning, you will hear a term when it applies to costs. This term is called an AMU (aviation monetary unit). When you ask how much something is, you might hear 'that's about 6 AMUs'. One AMU is 1,000 USD, so as you can imagine when you are working in those denominations, it's far from a cheap hobby.

Sent from my mobile device so please excuse grammatical errors.

Yep - I've read plenty about the costs of owning an airplane. It's probably one of those things you don't even attempt to justify financially, at least I know I never would.

I've got family members who own (or owned, past tense) boats, and heard all the horror stories about what money pits those were. Planes are a magnitude beyond boats even. With the costs of fuel, engine maintenance, upgrading avionics, etc, "AMU" definitely rings true.

What makes a plane fly? Money.

 

[Khan]

I too hate all the hassles of flying these days. I recall the "good old days" when folks "dressed" to fly. Flight attendants were friendly, there were rarely delays and there was actually some leg room in the seats. But, I have to admit, for less than a grand, I can do a 5000 mile - round trip (total time, one way, with plane switching) is typically 10 to 15 hours. Essentially one day and less than a grand and I'm a fifth of the way around the world. Looking at it that way, it's still some what of a miracle.

My question is why do airlines still advertise? All their seats are filled. Once you fly them, you swear they are your new "worst airline ever." It's as if they go out of their way to make your flight as uncomfortable as possible. So, airlines, save your advertising budget and just call it pure "profit." I never pay any attention to airline ads. I fly whatever airline is going where I want to go, when I want to go and has the cheapest seat. I have absolutely no loyalty to any airline as they show me none. YMMV

My opinion exactly.
Can I get from here to there in a reasonable time?
I fly because I can't handle driving from OH to FL.

 

[Walt34]

It's probably one of those things you don't even attempt to justify financially, at least I know I never would.

Oh, I never did, it was just very nice to be able to achieve a childhood dream - learn to fly an airplane - at the age of 25. There is good reason I only owned that airplane for two years.

But it sure was a fun two years!

 

[dm]

I went flying today just to do it. I took a old friend up for the first time and we just flew around the local area.

 

[Walt34]

I went flying today just to do it. I took a old friend up for the first time and we just flew around the local area.

I always enjoyed doing that. "Here, you fly it. Just use your fingertips".

They were always amazed.

 

[clifp]

I fly because I see how hard it is for outrigger canoe paddlers to go from one island 30 mile or so to the next. I know paddling or sailing to the mainland would get me killed.

 

[Bestwifeever]

We had reservations on Southwest to visit DS next week and decided to drive instead (maybe six more hours door to door travel time each way--a short audiobook's worth of time!) and although I still don't prefer SW over any other airline, I am thrilled that I could cancel the reservation and the funds are being held to use toward a future trip within a year, no extra cancellation/rebooking fee charge. Southwest at least still makes it easier to fly (or not to fly in this case) than the other airlines.