Jacko wrote:
you just have to choose a more realistic personal aircraft, be it a Hughes 500, a Zenith 701, or a paramotor.
I think that is a key point, flexibility. If the aim is SR22 or nothing, then it prob 99.9 will be nothing.
OTOH, as many have discovered, but many men won’t openly discuss, an SR22 gets a higher “spouse acceptance” than anything else, due to the chute, and due to most wives worrying about their husband getting a heart attack 
But it is a plane for going places, not for popping up for a quickie. So it can be a solution if you can get your family to fly with you, which is generally a better overall solution than finding a way to fly while leaving them on the ground.
Similar situation here. After moving from the US to Europe, I wanted to continue flying (I had quite a bit of time to fly/instruct in the US). I originally thought about getting an IFR X-country machine (as in the US) and the spouse initially expressed interest in regularly going places. However, work got in the way and her interest in flying regularly, became a ‘maybe once every few months or so’ trip. So, I decided to change it up and got an aerobatics plane. So far, I can’t complain since I can quickly jump in the plane, get rid of some stress, and get back before my next day of work… So, I’d certainly echo the comment that the plane needs to be a right fit. Don’t underestimate aerobatics since it’s a lot of fun, it’ll hone your flying skills, and the spouse is happy to see you back in one piece:).
Just my 0.2: I was always dreaming about taking friends and family flying, looking for 6 seaters etc..
In the end, getting everyone to agree on a date, hoping for good weather and organization in general was a hassle. The watching over everyone on the ramp, taking care of bags, seatbelts, „don’t grab here please“ while making sure all checks are done and the flight is safe is a handful. Feels like a travel agent/tourguide.
I’m now enjoying flying more by myself or with another pilot who can appreciate what we’re doing. Hence I’m looking to partner up and get a simple plane for daytrips to close by fields around Austria, Italy, Slovenia etc… time is limited and it’s frustrating to find the rental planes all booked when I could fly.
It’s probably different for a couple that has some routine and goes for a vacation.
What I’m trying to say is: do it for yourself, not adapt it for others so you can do it.
TIME….Pink Floyd wrote a great song about it. I have always found this the biggest challenge. You work very hard, to make the money, to buy the stuff, that sits around because you do not have the time to use it. By the time you have the time, you do not have the energy, nor possibly the disposable income, to do it. Family grows up, wife thinks that you really are going to kill her on the next flight, so………..
I reverted back to flying on my own, into fields, into stips that others would not be there. I enjoy it. Like Snoppy I feel that you get to a stage where you need to simplify things, not complicate matters even further. Aviation has also changed. Small airfields with 20’ high security fences and gates. Airfields shortening opening hours which again impinges on your time.
For me flying was a de stressor, not stress inducing and when the balance tips you know you have reached the stage to alter your flying habits, alternatively buy a boat…..
Peter wrote:
OTOH, as many have discovered, but many men won’t openly discuss, an SR22 gets a higher “spouse acceptance” than anything else, due to the chute, and due to most wives worrying about their husband getting a heart attack
Practically all ULs from the last 10-20 years have a chute. To my knowledge this has not increased the “spouse acceptance”, but who knows? If anything, it has increased the “old geezer” acceptance of ULs, making the average age of UL pilots older/more traditional (more old men who previously flew “C-172s” exclusively). This may very well be a “spouse acceptance” effect of some sort Someone or something has to be blamed for the “necessity” of the chute, or the acceptance of ULs 
The truth is, no matter what or how you fly, flying a private plane is very much a “man cave” kind of thing. Your wife and kids may come along on an occasional trip, but very few do on a regular basis, almost no one. If you want your family along for any extended period (more than an hour or two), get a big boat. Sailing/boating and flying are in many ways two aspects of the same thing. Boats are also considered to be far into “man cave land” by many, but they can be very family agreeable man caves at least
LeSving wrote:
Practically all ULs from the last 10-20 years have a chute. To my knowledge this has not increased the “spouse acceptance”, but who knows? If anything, it has increased the “old geezer” acceptance of ULs, making the average age of UL pilots older/more traditional (more old men who previously flew “C-172s” exclusively). This may very well be a “spouse acceptance” effect of some sort Someone or something has to be blamed for the “necessity” of the chute, or the acceptance of ULs
Id say that the UL age factor is “no Medical required”.
I would say the “spouse acceptance” of UL would be miniscule, chute or no chute.
But that’s relevant only if family participation is the objective.
Boating is an interesting one. I have seen many pilots get into boats – previous thread – but if you are short of time that isn’t going to solve it because anything to do with sailing is massively time consuming. It’s worse than gliding and everybody has heard the jokes about getting divorced and married in the gliding club Sailing makes sense only if your family is into it, otherwise you won’t see them much.
Men like hobbies which involve purchasing huge amounts of kit (equipment). Then they buy better and more expensive kit in the belief that it will make them better. They read magazines and forums dedicated to this kit. Their house fills up with the kit. I’ve been there too. Windsurfing (all day at the beach, ok if you are single, and there is negligible “potential”). Water skiing (all day at the ski club; ok if you are single, but there can be some “potential”, on sunny weekends). Mountain biking I still do; 1hr at a time only, but every day. Skiing is a recent one; started 5 years ago (works ok with my non-skiing GF if I get a nice apartment in a nice place, otherwise the “potential” is mainly via the apres-ski booze scene). Flying has been the best, but one has to be very careful to not scare the “family”
If you can get the family involved in your hobby, suddenly the time you have available for the hobby grows massively.
Peter wrote:
But that’s relevant only if family participation is the objective.
My point was that it isn’t People make up all kinds of excuses for why they “need” this or that, especially after they have got it, be it an UL or a SR22. OK, you have this nice and shiny Cirrus or a super hitech BW 600 RG You tell your wife that in case you get a heart attack, just pull this lever. What exactly is she going to think? She will start thinking about you getting an heart attack, and why you start talking about that while flying and not while driving. Is piloting an aircraft so stressful that you consider heart attack a likely scenario? etc etc. The whole concept is nonsense IMO. The only way you are going to calm your spouses nerves, is to convince her up front that you and the plane are in top shape, and that you have 100% control of the plane no matter what happens, firmly on top of the situation, like Sully
When all that is in place, then the chute may be the icing on the cake. Cars have seat belts and air bags, boats have life vests and rafts, aircraft have chutes – kind of explanation. This makes “perfect sense” because flying without a chute “will be like” driving without air bag and seat belts. It is however very much irrelevant for the “spouse acceptance” in the first place IMO.
But I mean, wouldn’t it be much better if family participation was the goal, that your spouse had PPL and was current? That you worked as a team. How else is this going to be a “family thing” ? I don’t consider tales of 1960 “white middle class America” where dad flying the family SEP was equivalent to dad driving the family car as part of today’s reality in Europe.
Boating/sailing is time consuming. But, it’s also easily a family thing. GA isn’t easily a family thing. If it is a family thing you are after, then start with boating, not flying. Having said that, I know a few exceptions from that “rule”, but they are exceptions, few and far apart. With boating, it is more of a rule, even though “the dad” usually (at least traditionally) do the hard tech jobs/planning on the boat and the family is in it for the ride.
Jacko wrote:
One answer is to keep your aircraft at home and to use it instead of a car
That was the route I took, my planes are at home, and a part of daily life. It also makes it possible to make a 15 minute flight, and take less than a half hour total time including prepare, and tiedown afterward. It’s easy to fly more, when it’s very convenient. But it was a big investment and commitment to buy the property, and as Jacko alludes, I’m (happily) not close to town. But, I log more hours every year on lawnmover and snowblower than either airplane! It’s a lot of work to own a property which include a runway! But my mom always said “invest in real estate” so I did, and no matter what becomes of the planes, we have a nice place to live, with lots of elbow room (extra appreciated, when we were told to lock down)!
