Joining fees, in any “group” scenario, is an attempt to increase commitment.
It’s like the old debate about people dropping out of fly-ins at the last minute. Cirrus charge a few hundred € so they get a very high participation.
It can be a fine judgement… and can appear exploitative.
The aeroclub in EDKM, where I used to fly a lot and learned flying, canceled those joining fees many years ago, way before I became a member. They still don’t have them, in order to remain attractive for newcomers or rejoiners. Sure, there might be also less commitment for newcomers, but the area around EDKM has many other aeroclubs in a less populated area.
Besides microlight/UL, consider Annex1. If you have hangarage, Jodel DR1050 has good load carrying, and they are surprisingly cheap to buy and run. O200 engine, 115 kt cruise. 4 hours endurance, mogas. 320+kg load.
Sorry for you Medewok.
I think your wife is right. Owning a plane would take you a lot of time, and insurance would be super costly as you have low hours.
I would stick to renting. Do you only get your free time last minute ?
I sold my Mooney and I don’t think I’ll buy another certified machine. Certainly not solo ownership anyway. If there was a 1/4 share in a well equipped EASA tourer for <50K I’d probably go for that but it doesn’t seem to be a thing in Ireland. Thinking of going down the RV route. I asked the authority about IFR and interestingly, the answer wasn’t immediately no!
Congrats, I think I met the new owner (French?) and he is very happy 
Thinking of going down the RV route
4 seats? 2 seats? even the latter in kits are as expensive as certified IFR machine in terms of capital outlay
For fixed costs: hangar, insurance and fuel burn of IO360 they are roughly the same (that is likely 2/3 of annual cost), if one can do own maintenance on RV, they can get the annual maintenance cost down to zero
Unexpected repairs, sourcing parts and bolting avionics is cheaper though as far as 1/2 
Yea he’s in Brittany…his negotiation technique was to make out that it was the worst aeroplane he has ever laid eyes on Actually it was quite unlucky for me as the infamous tank leaks begun almost exactly when I decided to sell.
I’m thinking maybe a 9A….Outlay may be similar (100k ish) but you get a 2023(4-5-6-7?!) model with zero defects and modern avionics, not components older than me!
I understand the ongoing cost comparison, but hassle-factor is almost more important for me after my certified ownership experience. I had also considered a 12 but I think that’s too slow, and maybe not up to Euro IFR, though it is basically the Lego set of home building which is attractive.
you get a 2023(4-5-6-7?!) model with zero defects and modern avionics, not components older than me!
Indeed, you should get the sundae ice cream, the banana and the nuts
you get a 2023(4-5-6-7?!) model with zero defects and modern avionics, not components older than me!
Absolutely
Looking at some of the 50+ year old antideluvian panels, and corroding airframes makes me cringe 😬
Flying (meaning real hand piloting) some of those antiques spam cans is even worse and reveals roll command requiring 2 hands, vague pitch, near inexistent yaw control, neutral or even negative stability… no wonder most prefer using the AP when being flown by those
Get a ride in an RV, maybe try a DHC-1, a Cap 10-B, or even a SV4 Stampe, Pitts or Bücker, or any aerobatic mount, and enjoy the pure joy of piloting a responsive machine which lightly responds to your very thought, enjoy flight in its purest form and you will smile, garanteed FUN 🤩
PS
100K might be optimistic nowadays…
Jujupilote wrote:
Sorry for you Medewok.
I think your wife is right. Owning a plane would take you a lot of time, and insurance would be super costly as you have low hours.
I would stick to renting. Do you only get your free time last minute ?
Usually I know my shift schedules about 6 weeks in advance, though I will be switching jobs in April and dunno how it will be in the new hospital. I am moving up to a senior physician position with nominally less hours and more pay, but free time will not increase notably.
One relevant point is that I usually get my “free days” after a night shift. Currently these are 24 hr shifts and they are usually too gruelling to do anything on the next day except for sleeping to make up for one’s sleep deficit, but this will change to 18 hour shifts in a smaller hospital with (probably) less work at night albeit more responsibility. I will need to see how these work out, if they are relaxed then flying on the day after might be a possibility.
I have the mid-term goal of reducing to a 4-day workweek in a few years, this should be financially viable once my wife gets her own GP surgery. She has suggested “pausing” flying for 10 years until the children are grown up and I must say it is not a completely unreasonable suggestion but I am not sure if I will ever get back into GA if I do (especially if the hassle involved is high and I have to redo everything by that time).
