In Search of the Perfect Plane

So today found me flying over to Ft. Lauderdale to look at yet another Cessna 172 SP 180 HP single engine aircraft.  Why, you ask?   Well, I guess it's because I can and choose to do so.

Now, wife is not so shot on the idea, claiming this type even used is three or four times the cost of our first house.  I remind her that that was forty damn years ago, and a 1971 Piper Cherokee still costs 26,900 (this week's Controller ad as a source).  So, sure - 42 years of marriage later and I doubt she'd want to live in a $27,000 home - and figuring that she would live in a 300,000 thousand dollar home in St Louis, a 120,000 aircraft is relative.   So, maybe I found a suitable aircraft for my son (and ultimately me) to build hours in, as he next pursues his instrument rating, later his single engine instructor and a multi engine rating.  He wants to pursue a career as an Air Transport Pilot, but when a single engine aircraft costs 150 an hour to rent, and he needs a good 1,500 hours to get there, one can actually see the value of owning a plane.

I figure we can both build hours and then sell the plane when he gets a job flying jets.  He intends to keep his night job, pursue his CFI (certified flight instructor) and once he has that he can use it to teach his own students.

When you consider it costs $150 a hour to rent a same type aircraft and he needs a good 1,000 hours, by buying your own aircraft, you're saving $150,000 dollars, and can later turn around and sell it for probably 90% of what you paid for it.  That's a damn fine return on investment.

No need for Google Earth

This is where I live, Bay Isles Assn, Harbourside

Today, I had the opportunity to fly over Longboat Key, on the way across the state of Florida to Ft. Lauderdale Executive Airport.  While aloft, I snapped a few pictures.

Sometimes you get lucky and find a shot that gets everything you wanted, and this was it.  At the bottom, you note the Marina, and around the square "island" in the middle, you shall see Ripley Wild's favorite golf course ponds where he enjoys a cool dip on a warm day.

Within the island, you'll see two very distinct housing types - 2 and 3 bedroom condos on the right, and single family homes on the left (to the west).  That's the gulf far left, the Intercoastal Waterway and Sarasota Bay to the right.

See the small body of water inside the condo neighborhood - that's ours, that is Winding Oaks, and adjacent to that is the Winding Oaks Pool.  Leave that pool, and head roughly 265 degrees (assuming top of photo is 360 North) and you'll find my unit on the corner of Winding Oaks and Harbourside.

Or I suppose you could just strap on a chute and drop in..........or then again you could be conventional, call ahead so we can clear you and your vehicle beyond the security post where you must get a pass to clear the second set of gates.  This might explain why visitors just don't drop in, unless of course the door is ajar and the pilot pulls a bank greater than fifty degrees.  See ya!

Oh, and if the chute fails, I'd try for the golf course ponds - our pool has a no diving restriction.