Not at your local Zeppellin or Messerschmitt museum – that’s for sure 
I am passionate about flying, don’t overexpose it but don’t hide it either and have never had any derogatory remarks. Well, they could have been behind my back of course And if there were any, their problem, not mine.
As to using it as a business tool, my experience is that it turned out very positive. But that may have to do that I was always in the aerospace business, so not qualified to have an opinion on that front in general. 
The great thing about flying is being able to share it. I take up lots of people, including many that could otherwise not (or not easily) afford it. This led to various of them taking on flying. I also offer flights for charity, and you should see how many extra tickets to raise money are sold..
Maybe if one is just genuinely passionate about an expensive hobby, one does not get criticized. If one just uses it to show wealth, you may get some flak?
Fresh issue for me, decided upon sticking to old story: ‘I am a member of a flying club and we all throw in a few pounds a month to it going’
problem solved!
Not at your local Zeppellin or Messerschmitt museum – that’s for sure
Oh, that’s not been my experience. One of the first places my non-pilot wife took me was the Oberschleissheim aircraft museum, where we saw one of very few examples of a particular type of plane. A couple of weeks later another one flew over to my hangar (a plane I mean). Its now a reminder of that day, as well as a flying machine. It also doesn’t hurt that her dog thinks the hangar is the best place in the whole world!
Mine is a business tool aswell!
I regularly fly to shops and they get lots of business ;-))
Alexis,
I would never discuss my private finances with others to get their approval for the things I do. I think that’s a mistake.
Well, that is not what I did, even though in the case of my workmates I did not really have to… they all earn the same :)
What I did and what I keep doing is to dispell the myth that a plane has to cost 100k upwards, that flying is a significantly more expensive hobby than others people do and perceive as less (in the case in my vicinity mostly caravans and mobile homes) and that yes, a normal middle class guy with average income CAN afford a plane if he wants to without breaking the bank and without having to miss out on other stuff. I just today learnt by accident that a friend of mine paid almost double the price of my airplane to be accepted in a golf club…. and that is without a single green fee included …… yet another one told me what his yearly tennis expenses are… all way above what I spend. That is what I mean, it’s a question about perspective.
I think way too many people shut up about flying in Europe. That is why it is still considered an “elite” hobby.
geekflyer,
o my manager: ‘Hey can I leave early on Thursday as it’s good weather and I have my final pilot licence exam?’
Response: ‘What?! You’re a pilot? We’re paying you way too much’
To a friend of my partner: ‘I can’t believe how expensive child care is in London… They just quoted us £1600 a month for nursery.’
Response: ‘Well I’m sure it’s a fraction of what you spend on your flying hobby’
Well, I would not shut up, just the opposite. Educate these guys. Tell them what it really is like, what it does cost and, if appropriate, what you really spend for your hobby in approximation. In many cases it does shut them up and possibly even gets them interested. If you shut up, all you do is get them to rave more and more about it.
Facts are the only thing which can get people to understand and with understanding comes acceptance. I remember a talk I had with an anti aircraft/noise/airport guy a long time ago, who almost physically wanted to attack me when I disproved almost ALL his arguments. Turned out, most of that gang was envy-socialist driven, noise was just the pre-text. That is what a lot of folks who disapprove of light aviation are.
Of course not all aviation is that affordable. Of course there are planes which cost a tenfold or more of the low end, like everywhere. The important bit however is to make it clear that there is a low end and that low end is something anyone with a halfways normal income can afford if he wants to.
a couple of years ago I saw a poster like that:
WHAT MY NEIGHBOUR THINKS I FLY: (Adam? I’ts for sale )
What my workmates think I do when I go flying:
And the reality:
Mine is a business tool aswell!
I regularly fly to shops and they get lots of business ;-))
ROFL!!! Love it!
Well, it really depends on what airplane you fly … but i can guarantee that you could play A LOT of Golf for what 150 hrs of Cirrus SR22 cost per year …
That was what he had to pay to join up…. I could probably fly more than one year with this money.
Mooney Driver, all your photos look about equally fun to me. All planes are fun and your Mooney looks wonderful!
Two planes, hangar, insurance, parts & maintenance, fuel, cost of money etc adds up to about $1000 USD/month for me. When faced with that and seeing the fun to be had, most people think its wonderful. Absolutely true however that the angry & envious get annoyed when faced with facts, not pacified. They react to life in general that way, not just flying. Tough for them, but conformity and risk aversion has its price.
Apologies I have arrived a bit late into this discussion. The envy brigade are very evident within the UK, and like Peter stated, as you get older, the more you actually care less about what anyone thinks, except of course business customers.
My son gets it a bit at school, because I was a bit out there, offered flights as raffle prizes, tried to spread the joy and all that. Came back a bit too him in snide comments, Oh, your father only has a PUTT PUTT aeroplane etc, etc. well my response, as in most things. Tell you what, you go and get your PPL, your IR, your display etc, then buy and operate your own aeroplane. Soon shuts them up.
However, two months ago, I was slightly disenfranchised with my flying, and I have, in true mid life crisis, bought a 45’, Blue water, Ocean going yacht.
Christ, my mother has stopped talking to me. My mother – in- law, thinks I am the Devil Incarnate, and must be dealing copious quantities of Class A. I was taken aback by the reaction. Seriously, it is as if I am Fred the Shred himself. I wish…….
I invited my father in law down to “go sailing”, and I have been told by my wife that her mother is quote, not happy, that he goes with me. If I work that lot out, I will let the forum know my findings…
