We’re all different, I’d be completely bored with something like that, and what I could do with it.
One’s flying profile tends to change over time. When I started in 2002 I was flying anywhere just for the flight. Then about 2003 I started doing trips to more interesting places, and documented a lot of them here. Nowadays I do more “social” stuff but this is much harder to organise because it involves other people 
But also other factors might come in e.g. I’ve sunk last 2 years of my life into finishing a new product at work, and this – while an interesting learning experience, and as a side effect spinning off an embedded platform which I can use for all kinds of hobby and aviation related projects – has sucked out most of my spare time. I am nearly done with that now and look forward to doing more flying again.
So if I went to live in the US, it would depend on where I was. I would not live in Arizona, Utah, etc. Little to do there. I would prob99 live in N California; from my many travels in the US it was the place I liked most. So a TB20, say 800nm useful actual radius, would do the job getting to the mountains and other scenic places. Much like being based in the UK actually but I would like an F16 for the first 400nm 
Yes, Rome to say Tromsø to a fair distance but in reality if you look at GA travel patterns, there is practically no GA movement out of the countries around the periphery of Europe. It isn’t just the distance; GA just has not developed there, although the reasons are different. On top of that there are “cultural” reasons which dramatically shape travel patterns.
Flying is magic for sure. I do a 1hr local when not going anywhere But I would still prefer to take somebody along…
One’s flying profile tends to change over time.
If I wanted to really stretch the point, I could say I’ve been flying since 1979, when I soloed as a teenager… with a two decade break in the middle. I mention that timespan only to say GA had always been there and is a constant in my life. It’s not an ever changing journey for me, and I like it that way.
if I went to live in the US, it would depend on where I was. I would not live in Arizona, Utah, etc. Little to do there. I would prob99 live in N California; from my many travels in the US it was the place I liked most. So a TB20, say 800nm useful actual radius, would do the job getting to the mountains and other scenic places.
The actual Northern California is a bit remote for me, and the weather isn’t ideal. But central California is nice except for the taxes and SFO politics. You can avoid that to degree by picking the right lifestyle and spot – in that area I’d pick San Luis Obispo myself and naturally enough it’s not that much different from where we live now. From SLO you can go a lot of places in a light single easily, a TB20 would be fine and Dan’s RV is almost ideal. You also don’t need to hassle with IFR in that area unless you want almost zero cancellations or just wanted to do so.
Flying is magic for sure. I do a 1hr local when not going anywhere But I would still prefer to take somebody along…
I think @Dan put the core attraction of flying (“elation”) to me very nicely. I often also like to have a passenger, it’s more fun to share the sights and experiences with somebody else, dependent of course on the particular somebody else!
Peter wrote:
much harder to organise because it involves other people
That is where I am at! For me part of the enjoyment is sharing with other people, and that is the most difficult part of my flightplanning! See for example our Moroccan trip
But as you say, life changes as you drive along…we shall see what the future brings and maybe I end up swapping the P210 for an RV…(oh no! Dan’s fault, of course)
Silvaire wrote:
I could say I’ve been flying since 1979, when I soloed as a teenager
Had my first solo in 1982 in Belgium flying gliders. I was 16 A great time. I don’t think my interest has changed. I got my PPL 10 years later. Did some (token more or less) longer trips in C-172s (a nice one with 6 cyl, CS and autopilot), but didn’t find any “magic” in it. Did some acro in a C-152 Aerobat, which was fun, until some moron in the club crashed it into the hangar. More or less stopped flying for several years (family and kids also put a damper) until mid 2000 when I tried UL, then tail wheel (Cub), and started towing gliders in a Piper Pawnee. Then the pieces finally fell in place again. Flying was fun again, like I remembered with gliders or with the C-152. More acro, STOL, gliders also, experimental and instructing. Found out to my surprise that I liked instructing also
I’m definitely a stick and rudder man. The feeling when the aircraft becomes an extension of your body is magical. Easily done in a glider and a single seater/tandem, or a STOL/bush plane, and also in a UL, not so much in a C-172, but I guess not impossible? A light C-172 with 180 HP is not a bad bush plane for one or two people.
I’m glad a live in Scandinavia also. Lots of space and lots of nice places to fly. Lots of freedom to fly, few or none restrictions and little nonsense (relatively speaking). The only bad thing is the weather and the fuel situation. Can’t do anything with the weather, but the fuel situation seems to be solving itself now, and will probably become more like it was before, hopefully, too early to say as of yet. NLF and Avinor have teamed up just now regarding fuel, we will see how it goes. It will for sure require voluntarily work by us involved, or there will be nothing IMO.
At the same time there have to be challenges. But, there seems to be more than enough of them. STOL flying alone has enough to fill a lifetime, and I’m only at the novice stage, and I’m not getting younger
Why and how often do we fly?
Well, usually I/we fly about every 2 to 3 weeks. Sometimes just to run the engine, which if I’m honest can be a bit of a chore. Sometimes we combine the engine run with a meal someplace.
For me the aircraft is another means of transport but with the added benefit of still enjoying all of the factors, which for some, driving still has, but definitely not for me.
I fell out of love with driving long time ago.
This year we’ve flown almost every week.
We also fly because we love the freedom of making our own agenda to travel, where and when we want.
We love the diversity we can experience, of flying to different places in europe. We love the speed at which we can arrive at our destination, to begin enjoying what it has to offer.
Despite my personal recognition of the US being almost the international hub of private GA, with regard for infrastructure and convenience and acceptance. I also wonder that possibly there could be, for me at least, a lack of differing, culture to experience.
Not to say its not there, but its not perhaps like visiting France, Spain, Germany and Holland all in a few months.
I would like to spend time in the US and enjoy lot’s of what it has to offer but it probably won’t happen.
I totally understand people who fly for the love of flight and would fly for an hour in the still evening air just to enjoy it, but it’s not me.
If I could I’d have a Mustang and scream around the skies to as many destinations as I could.
I fly for “often” and for two separate reasons. 1. For a living. 2. For fun on my own airplane.
1. Not as much flying as one might think. Private Jets (commercial pilot) I only fly as much as the client/owner requires, and in my case that´s about 75H a year on a high performance jet (8-12 legs per year) – yes, ridiculous, but just the way it is. I do it because it pays the bills and it´s not all that bad watching the planet from 47000 feet.
2. Much more appreciated, 4-6 times per month during the 6 months that I am at home (where my own airplane is) and on top of that 2 longer (2 × 5H trips) trips per year = around 50 hours a year.
GA_Pete wrote:
Despite my personal recognition of the US being almost the international hub of private GA, with regard for infrastructure and convenience and acceptance. I also wonder that possibly there could be, for me at least, a lack of differing, culture to experience.
The two go hand in hand, in as much as some things in the US are the same everywhere. The US is not in general a monoculture, values and ways of life vary quite a lot from place to place. Wyoming is not New Jersey in culture and physical geography varies a lot too. However for aviation specifically and other things run by the Federal Government the US is almost a monoculture, by design, and that is a huge advantage for GA in the US. As in the military the intent in the US is to eliminate cultural influence in aviation, because it’s better when run as a technology instead.
By comparison in Europe the multicultural, multigovernmental aspect introduces an unfathomable amount of BS and conflict to aviation and its a huge hassle to go anywhere unless you’re prepared to fly IFR (with its own set of hassles, anywhere) and to pay like a biz jet. Meanwhile it seems to me you miss the cultures in between points A and B by flying over them and distances on the Continent aren’t so far that speed matters very much unless it’s quick a weekend trip to a single, distant destination. The exception is if you happen to live on an island, where flying introduces a huge natural advantage.
For me the best kind of flying in Europe would be UL flying, remaining inconspicuous to authority as much as possible, flying around in a single country like Italy or France with occasional trips to neighboring countries if/when/where it can be done with a minimum of bureaucratic nonsense. For longer trips to experience multiple cultures, a motorcycle has been great in my regular European experience since 1988. Just my POV.
GA_Pete wrote:
If I could I’d have a Mustang and scream around the skies to as many destinations as I could.
If you mean a P-51, I wouldn’t recommend it. My friends who fly and maintain one apparently spent $800 on a DIY oil change last weekend. And the heads need to be retorqued every 25 hrs which means removing the cams If you mean the Cessna jet kind of Mustang, I could see that flying around in one of those might be fun because you could fly from the UK to say Switzerland or Italy for just a day or two. Then go somewhere else the next week. But to me these benefits have nothing to do with the enjoyment of piloting a plane, it’s just a very fast, albeit complex way to get from A to B. My version of that fantasy would involve somebody else to fly the plane.
Considering what I do (1 or 2 meetings in Scandinavia or Eastern Europe each month) and where I live (2h to closest international aerodome,and usually have to be there at 5am ), GA flying could also be a tremendous time saver,but at high cost- to be able to keep a schedule I would need IFR plane + IFR aerodrome at the other end. If I had a couple of millions in the bank, I would buy a MS760 Morane and enjoy it,but that’s not the reality. I might have a single business trip coming in the beginning of September to Helsinki, but it depends whether they forecast a legal weather for the days I need to go.
I like to do 1-2 longer trips (week to 10 days) each year, usually using grass fields . Gives me the chance to interact with aviation people and usually see some cool exotic planes. Unfortunately don’t have time for that this year, so this leaves bimbling around ,exploring places locally – plenty of microscopic strips I havent visited or friends who happen to have farm field which has been recently harvested. I like to take people along and there is no shortage of friends or friends of friends who like to come along.
Savannah is perfect for that kind of flying. It has always been important to me that I don’t have to think flying as “expensive”. The direct cost of flying vs not flying is about 30EUR per hour. The plane is paid and I do the maintenance myself. And in case I misjudge one of those harvested fields, I can even absorb the cost of propstrike :)
I think one of the best aspects of flying is that its a completely different world- no thoughts about politics, work, where to get money for X etc. I’m flying and only thinking about flying.
boscomantico wrote:
@Yeager an interesting profile for sure. What is your background?
Professionally, simply put (chronologic´ish); 2 year ab-initio (EASA modular ppl/cpl/sep/mep/IR) early age. B200/1900 first job (Africa/Afghanistan). FK50/Q400 first airline (Scandinavia), B744/A330 second airline (HKG/Worldwide), C208 interim fun job (Africa), C525 first biz jet job (EU/Africa), FAA ATP, G550/G650 biz jet job (current), FI hobby. Soon DTO (hopefully).
