New toys for the boys

Two radios (4 channels), Garmin 650, two glide slopes, weather, autopilot - what's not to like?

2001 model 172SP, 180 HP

Several months ago, I purchased a used Cessna 172 SP, registration number coincidentally 817 SP (or Sierra Papa).  It was either (1) an excellent investment, or (2) according to my wife "its a dumb plane that benefits nobody but you and J.B."

Granted, John Benjamin  is a greater beneficiary than Elizabeth, as he is already a private pilot with over seventy hours, and his mother flunked ground school when her father insisted she learn to fly before she could get  a drivers license.

2010 Grand Sport, 430 HP

And granted, this past week we've gotten tired of waiting for UPS to deliver a small part that has kept us on the ground.  The wait has been compounded by delays caused by weather, which has denied UPS a chance to move things through their system via snowed in airports elsewhere in the south.  The fix will cost perhaps a few hundred bucks, but it is better to have an ignition capacitor crap out on the ground than at 3,500 feet over water.

As soon as that part gets replaced, JB will be back in the air, in pursuit of his instrument rating, and eventually he'll get to be a CFI (certified flight instructor), and THEN he can teach me for FREE.  Oh, sure, I may indeed get my private license before then, but at this point the major cost of flying is no longer an issue - renting a plane.  He and I pay only for the instructor (about $65 an hour) instead of renting out a flight school 172 for $150 or more an hour.  In perhaps 12-18 months, I'll have paid off the plane, and maybe if lucky will have sold a condo and have enough left over to retire my wife's Volvo.   Then, she might be happy...................nah

I guess in the meantime, I'll have to fall back to playing with my other toy.   Actually, the car is faster than the plane, but sadly can't be driven over to the Bahamas.  But there's always a cruse ship leaving and that does make her happy.