996 Turbo vs An aeroplane(seriously)
Discussion
Ok here is something a bit different...
My premature mid life crisis is defo here. I've been dreaming about a 996tt for about 5 years now and am now in a position to buy one(with some pain of course!) Thing is I've suddenly thought...
Where the hell am I actually going to use that 420BHP? Already got 6 points, speed cameras, bumps etc. I only live 5 miles from work.
The 996TT was/is a dream car, once that dream has been fulfilled what then? A Fezza? Lambo? Where will it all end? How much money will I spend on buying the next supercar?
So I'm thinking shall I learn to fly instead? The money I'll waste in deprec/running a supercar over a year, say £10k will pay for my license and allow me to fly a couple of hours a month.
As the years go by I can learn to fly more powerful machines(ie not just Cessna buckets). Maybe even VERY SIMPLE aerobatics if I have the ability.
Would'nt this be much more fun and challenging then pootling to and from work in a very powerful car?
My premature mid life crisis is defo here. I've been dreaming about a 996tt for about 5 years now and am now in a position to buy one(with some pain of course!) Thing is I've suddenly thought...
Where the hell am I actually going to use that 420BHP? Already got 6 points, speed cameras, bumps etc. I only live 5 miles from work.
The 996TT was/is a dream car, once that dream has been fulfilled what then? A Fezza? Lambo? Where will it all end? How much money will I spend on buying the next supercar?
So I'm thinking shall I learn to fly instead? The money I'll waste in deprec/running a supercar over a year, say £10k will pay for my license and allow me to fly a couple of hours a month.
As the years go by I can learn to fly more powerful machines(ie not just Cessna buckets). Maybe even VERY SIMPLE aerobatics if I have the ability.
Would'nt this be much more fun and challenging then pootling to and from work in a very powerful car?
Hi
I fly myself and enjoy it very much.........you should be able to learn to fly in about 50 HRS (45 is the legal minimum to qualify for a licence) so the cost would be around £6K.........you can buy a small plane (Piper PA28 size) from as little as £20K although it will be old .....I spent 50K and got a lovely plane that has given endless fun...hope this helps
poorcardealer said:
Hi
I fly myself and enjoy it very much.........you should be able to learn to fly in about 50 HRS (45 is the legal minimum to qualify for a licence) so the cost would be around £6K.........you can buy a small plane (Piper PA28 size) from as little as £20K although it will be old .....I spent 50K and got a lovely plane that has given endless fun...hope this helps
Alternatively, if you wanted to start with a cheaper license instead of the PPL you could go for the NPPL which requires less hours. There are restrictions in where you can fly (i.e you have to stay in the UK) but you can always progress onwards from the NPPL if you enjoy it.
What I am basically saying is buy the car and drive it to the airport a couple of times a week and learn to fly as well.
Steve
You could do both if you are careful maybe?
Buy a car which has just been serviced and has a warrenty for at least a year. It needs to have had a recent clutch, tyres, exhaust and brakes plus....
oh its too hard to find.. sod it and go flying!
You are always going to lose money on cars, the more expensive the car the more you will lose unless its a classic but then you can't use that every day.
Another question I thought of over the weekend is:
What is the speed of a Boing 737 at take off? I was flying with Roshambo at the weekend and we wondered how fast you actually got to before take off?
Buy a car which has just been serviced and has a warrenty for at least a year. It needs to have had a recent clutch, tyres, exhaust and brakes plus....
oh its too hard to find.. sod it and go flying!
You are always going to lose money on cars, the more expensive the car the more you will lose unless its a classic but then you can't use that every day.
Another question I thought of over the weekend is:
What is the speed of a Boing 737 at take off? I was flying with Roshambo at the weekend and we wondered how fast you actually got to before take off?
Agreed, you could do both. My flying lessons were a long time ago and I no longer fly (except as a passenger) but back then it was common to take a share in a light aircraft rather than go for an outright purchase, as all the costs are shared too. If this was an option it might be easier to realise both your dreams, it all depends on how deep your pockets are.
I can sympathise with your choice as I've always been really keen on flying (despite having a fear of heights and falling) and have tried Helicopters, microlights, Auto gyros (a must) with the ultimate aim of going to the USA and coming back with a Helicopter license, in the end though I decided on a 993TT and instead of spending loads of money learning to fly I spent it doing track days.
Learning to drive is just as expensive as learning to fly and every bit as enjoyable but with some real life benefit (unless you happen to be a frequent flyer and your pilot dies)!
Learning to drive is just as expensive as learning to fly and every bit as enjoyable but with some real life benefit (unless you happen to be a frequent flyer and your pilot dies)!
Yep don't underestimate the subtlety of driving theres a lot to it if you choose to learn, although a TT isn't really the car for track work.
Just pick whichever appeals the most. As Aceparts says, you can spend a fortune learning to drive well and its a skill you will likely benefit from all the time.
I think that flying is a different sort of thrill...you don't really get an impression of speed once you are up, unless you cloud-chase and that's dangerous, only taking-off and landing gives you a 'speed rush'. Much as I enjoy flying I think driving a truly responsive car is more rewarding...so driving lessons it is?
I'd go for the flying if I were you.
My ol' man did the whole flying thing, so I have a bit of an idea about what it involves.
I was going to do it, but when I thought about the costs, and the practicality of the whole thing I decided to stay earthbound.
In many ways, I'm quite glad I did, cos I can't afford to run the car now, but I still have something to show for it.
Think carefully about running costs though. I think they might blow your 996 Turbo's costs into the dust.
My ol' man did the whole flying thing, so I have a bit of an idea about what it involves.
I was going to do it, but when I thought about the costs, and the practicality of the whole thing I decided to stay earthbound.
In many ways, I'm quite glad I did, cos I can't afford to run the car now, but I still have something to show for it.
Think carefully about running costs though. I think they might blow your 996 Turbo's costs into the dust.
Lucky enough to have and done both at the same time! 996tt on the ground and flying above it.
The cost of a PPL as above post said is about £6-7k and you will get about 50hrs flying in a basic training aeroplane maybe over a year or 18 mths or 2 years depending on how much time you want/able to put in.
The 996tt is much more fun to me now then a basic A-B aeroplane. I dont get much fun anymore just going from A-B in a little Cessena. If its a fast jet then that was allways fun and a different ball game.
420 bhp in the car or more precicly the touque is used every day and is awsom. I live about 2 miles from work! but often take the long way home.
or have a blast when its quiet. I can polish it and go wow every morning and night.
Flying can be fun, aerobatics is an aquired taste but can be expensive,
flying can be expensive so can cars. Both can be dangerous.
The learning to fly in anything is fun, some are happy to have learnt a new skill and move on, others continue down whatever line they like with flying.
You may be able to do both, perhaps look for a slightly cheaper 996tt.
My advice is have some trial lessons first See if you will like it (stupid advice really as you no doubt will) what you dont want to do is stop the training half way. Its got to be 100% commitment and all your free hours you can do weather permitting.
Perhaps get you PPl then see about a 996tt. Research the flying club, ie how long they have been running, who runs it, what qualifications they have, etc.
Let us know what you decide
The cost of a PPL as above post said is about £6-7k and you will get about 50hrs flying in a basic training aeroplane maybe over a year or 18 mths or 2 years depending on how much time you want/able to put in.
The 996tt is much more fun to me now then a basic A-B aeroplane. I dont get much fun anymore just going from A-B in a little Cessena. If its a fast jet then that was allways fun and a different ball game.
420 bhp in the car or more precicly the touque is used every day and is awsom. I live about 2 miles from work! but often take the long way home.
or have a blast when its quiet. I can polish it and go wow every morning and night. Flying can be fun, aerobatics is an aquired taste but can be expensive,
flying can be expensive so can cars. Both can be dangerous.
The learning to fly in anything is fun, some are happy to have learnt a new skill and move on, others continue down whatever line they like with flying.
You may be able to do both, perhaps look for a slightly cheaper 996tt.
My advice is have some trial lessons first See if you will like it (stupid advice really as you no doubt will) what you dont want to do is stop the training half way. Its got to be 100% commitment and all your free hours you can do weather permitting.
Perhaps get you PPl then see about a 996tt. Research the flying club, ie how long they have been running, who runs it, what qualifications they have, etc.
Let us know what you decide
I was speaking to a mate of mine the other day about learning to fly, and his suggestion was if you want to do it on the cheap, take a few weeks off, and head over to South Africa rather than the US, mainly because 90% of the requirements are the same over there, as opposed to about 60% in the UK, so you spend less time converting the qualification.
Plus I suspect going to Florida to a learn to fly school is a lot less fun than four years ago...
Plus I suspect going to Florida to a learn to fly school is a lot less fun than four years ago...
Did my PPL in the UK around 6 years ago.
Loved the effort involved to learn how to do it and pass.
Afterwards found it somewhat of an anti-climax, had to invent journies that I did'nt really need to do, and even in a Cessna 182 there's no sensation of speed once you are at altidude.
I let it lapse in the end.
Loved the effort involved to learn how to do it and pass.
Afterwards found it somewhat of an anti-climax, had to invent journies that I did'nt really need to do, and even in a Cessna 182 there's no sensation of speed once you are at altidude.
I let it lapse in the end.
I got my PPL before my driving licence at the age of 17 thanks to the Air Cadets and a momentary lapse of concentration on my driving test!
Learning to fly is a great experience but many people let it lapse soon after as the reality of flying typically low-performance 'club' aircraft. I used to liken flying a C152 to driving the Ford Fiesta 1.1L that I ran at the time! I became more interested in cars because the offered more bang-for-the-buck and the payback was there on a daily basis.
The big frstration with flying is the UK weather. Plus if you only have weekends and 5 weeks of holiday a year, it becomes diffciult to keep your licence current. If you have family commitments then you are more or less goosed.
However, I am beginning to get interested again though as a friend is building his own Vans RV-8A. Powered by a supercharged version of the Subaru 2.5ltr boxer engine it will do 200mph and will be aerobatic. In kit form, it cost less than a Boxster but by the time he has invested 2,000hrs building it, it's no surprise to find that such machines change hands for 60k+ fully built.
The cheap way to do it is of course fractional ownership and the back pages of Pilot magazine show you how realtively cheap that can be. It seems so common in aviation, it's a wonder why it is virtually non-existant in the performance car world.
Flying can certainly be cheaper than owning a performance car but where the car will always win is that you can nip out for a 20mins blast - in almost any weather and get your fix. Plus you still need a car and how far do you compromise on that?
Learning to fly is a great experience but many people let it lapse soon after as the reality of flying typically low-performance 'club' aircraft. I used to liken flying a C152 to driving the Ford Fiesta 1.1L that I ran at the time! I became more interested in cars because the offered more bang-for-the-buck and the payback was there on a daily basis.
The big frstration with flying is the UK weather. Plus if you only have weekends and 5 weeks of holiday a year, it becomes diffciult to keep your licence current. If you have family commitments then you are more or less goosed.
However, I am beginning to get interested again though as a friend is building his own Vans RV-8A. Powered by a supercharged version of the Subaru 2.5ltr boxer engine it will do 200mph and will be aerobatic. In kit form, it cost less than a Boxster but by the time he has invested 2,000hrs building it, it's no surprise to find that such machines change hands for 60k+ fully built.
The cheap way to do it is of course fractional ownership and the back pages of Pilot magazine show you how realtively cheap that can be. It seems so common in aviation, it's a wonder why it is virtually non-existant in the performance car world.
Flying can certainly be cheaper than owning a performance car but where the car will always win is that you can nip out for a 20mins blast - in almost any weather and get your fix. Plus you still need a car and how far do you compromise on that?
I fly a microlight.
Its a £20k machine, similar power and speed to a Cessna but its a flexwing (the hang glider shape). This weekend I went down to the Loire valley in it, which was 4.5 hours flying from Chelmsford. Lunch at Le Touquet is about an hour and twenty minutes from home.
I fly around 100-120 hours a year and really love it. I also fly Cessnas, Pipers and hot 3 axis microlights (which are sustantially quicker than both of these), but my passion is still open cockpit flying.
You'll never get the speed rush, as everything is so far away from you. That said, pulling 3g in a turn is pretty good fun and larking around the sky on a summers evening, with no where special to go, is an amazing thing to do.
When the weather is less clement, I have a 996 C4 facelift.
Its a £20k machine, similar power and speed to a Cessna but its a flexwing (the hang glider shape). This weekend I went down to the Loire valley in it, which was 4.5 hours flying from Chelmsford. Lunch at Le Touquet is about an hour and twenty minutes from home.
I fly around 100-120 hours a year and really love it. I also fly Cessnas, Pipers and hot 3 axis microlights (which are sustantially quicker than both of these), but my passion is still open cockpit flying.
You'll never get the speed rush, as everything is so far away from you. That said, pulling 3g in a turn is pretty good fun and larking around the sky on a summers evening, with no where special to go, is an amazing thing to do.
When the weather is less clement, I have a 996 C4 facelift.
I had the same conundrum – I opted for the 996TT and will learn to fly in South Africa post Christmas and then build a plane. Great value Kits like :
www.velocityaircraft.com/
or
www.saravin.com/
If it was a call for just one then it’s the car but only by a whisker.
www.velocityaircraft.com/
or
www.saravin.com/
If it was a call for just one then it’s the car but only by a whisker.
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