Aircraft type and owner personality

maxbc wrote:

Maybe owners of doctor-killers or of Cirri care a little less for the competence (just want to get places) and have too little self-doubt (success in life etc.), but I would be surprised if it’s actually measurable.

Vref wrote:

I must be suffering from a personality disorder….

Forgot to add “on average”

I think there are different kind of personalities and that’s connected with lots of things what you buy etc.
Maybe not that strong in aviation, but I absolutely think it weights in.

I don’t want to fly UL for an example, or more specific different kind of aircraft’s because they look ugly.
Or I prefer Low wing over High wing.

I think small GA flying essentially breaks down into two distinct groups:
- the UL, local bimbling people
- the travel / touring crowd

Little to do with personality, more with the (dreaded word) ‘mission profile’.

Of course there are those who can afford to have an airplane for both, but for most of us mere mortals, money is the limiting factor and we plump for one or the other.

How many pilots are there? Not so many to do significant statistics. And what other factors (other than money) come together? It’s also personal circumstances like time availability and mission profile.

I did lots of fly-to-fly when I was young, in gliders and TMG. Therefore I’m not really interested in flying just to get airborne. I do enjoy it very much but I need a mission. Most people start flying at a higher age. In that case you might just stay with just flying around, which still is absolutely great. And you would buy or use a different plane for that. But does that include a certain kind of personality? Not sure.

For example I have no problem with old planes and to some extent even enjoy doing the maintenance. It was, on the other hand, part of the reasoning to do the maintenance job self done, because that allows to keep the costs low, which for me still is a factor. But that also allows me to look for other than mainstream aircraft (but where a Comanche still is among the most built planes). I nearly bought a Mooney 231 but we decided there’s not enough room and payload for our missions. The bigger planes like the 36 Bonanza or the Cessna 210 use way more fuel, which I count as a factor. That’s when I found out about my plane.

But I would be happy flying a Microlight – if it had 4 to 6 seats…

@UdoR with 4 to 6 seats it wouldn’t be very micro or ultra light especially if filled.😁
I think we need to be careful of stereotyping ga pilots. For instance in France it would appear that those flying ULM are not just doing local bimbling. In fact as a group they are possibly doing more travelling than those flying certified aircraft.
This year I have met UL pilots who have visited Belgium, Germany, Italy, Croatia, Roumania, Tunisia, Spain, Morocco, Greece, Senegal.
I have met with pilots flying certified aircraft and F-P to UK, Belgium, Ireland, Switzerland and Egypt.
The UL pilots of course have flown far more hours, probably because the machines are slower but also because when they have visited these countries they have hopped from airfield to airfield within those countries.
The UL pilots tend to travel more in groups of 2 or more aircraft due to language difficulties.
To some extent the certified and F-P pilots do more often travel singularly as those that do travel have ELPs. The exception to this is when travelling to destinations such as Egypt when they tend to go in large groups or Rallyes/Raids.
The UL crowd tend to go to much smaller airfields and rely on assistance from groups of friendly ultralighters at their destination.
This tends to make refuelling much simpler and not needing large airport facilities for fuel or the associated expenses of handling etc.
The lower costs of ULMs means that they can spend much more time in the air. The typical travelling UL pilot and partner tend to be of the older variety who have much more time on their hands and more money to spend on what they enjoy doing.
Regulation in the certified and non certified (eg experimental/homebuilt/collection) is killing these parts of GA. In regulation I cover the medical which is why many of the travelling UL brigade in France took to UL in the first place. Many are ex airline or military pilots would have more likely changed to kit, homebuilt or collection aircraft rather than ULMs. The prospect of building or buying an RV, MCR4S or Super Emeraude gave them very little more and sometimes less freedom than they would have got with a ULM.
So I do feel the choice of aircraft comes down to a multitude of personality traits such as whether or not you enjoy cleaning and tinkering with your own aircraft. Whether or not you are a social or family person when it comes to flying or a loner in the air but a socialite or not on the ground.
How you feel about handing large sums of money over to someone to put chocks under your wheels and take you and your passengers in a mini bus a couple of hundred yards. Do you like to see things on your journey or just get to your destination?
And there are many other personality factors that one can take into account and of course many of them influence the aircraft you will buy. “The mission profile”
Fortunately, in GA there is a place for all these personality traits and more.
But there are 2 big flies in the ointment. Can you afford the cost and have you the time to do it.
IMO these flies can change our personalities over the years.

+1 for gallois. In the end it’s bang for the buck. We want to get as much flying and aircraft fun as possible for the money we have. We want as little nuisance as possible.

gallois wrote:

For instance in France it would appear that those flying ULM are not just doing local bimbling.

Probably the same around where I fly. I did lovely trips in Microlight and TMG. It just takes a bit longer, but for the price of some Donuts you get everywhere. And you can refuel just any fuel. That’s great. To the contrary we have quite some very capable certified aircraft around that never go further than 1 hour away.

Peter wrote:

I know of an SR22 which almost never did other than a short run to LFAT. I would put money on the personality profile of the renters

If you look at my flying profile this year won’t look much better, but hopefully has more to do with the personality of the UK weather in 2024 than the pilot