cubs and siilair planes on a budget

I'm retired and on a limited retirement income. I have built a cub type experimental and have a lot of time but not a lot of bucks invested. Lycon, bushwheel, borer, and Catto are out of the question. Interested in how others keep enjoying their planes without spending a lot of money. Don

Retiring in march so I will be reading with interest for any fixed income flying tips. I have looked at your cub Don d and I don't think you need anything more than av gas and go fly. That's a nice looking budget cub. What became of your yellow "big " cub? My ride being built in my shop now will use a small continental, that will be easier on gas.

I spend a lot of money to keep flying but if I did not have it I would just hang out at the hangers a lot!! There are guys that are upgrading to next best thing all the time. Used 26inch Goodyears will go a long way. Slow down to 2100 RPM when you fly More time in the air lots less gas. Take someone with you and make them pay for half the gas. Find a gal with money and keep her happy! Let your father in law live with you in trade for all the avgas you can burn (LAST TWO ARE HOW I MAKE IT WORK).
DENNY:lol:

Flying is getting more expensive by the day. I bought my Cub at age 21, and found that I was spending less per day than my mother was on cigarettes. Now, if I get a piece of dirt in the carb, I am supposed to send it off for overhaul. That will cost more than I paid for the airplane.

If you are willing to do your own work, keep the airplane outside, carry only liability, and burn car gas, you could maybe do what I do, and fly a half hour each day without spending more than what it costs to go back and forth to the airport. I now splurge, and keep both birds in hangars.

I keep "flying" with my Quicksilver Sprint ultralight. Costs gas and two stroke oil to operate if you don't count the hanger I bought. 3-4K buys you in (I spent more for a much better setup: carbon prop, gearbox, ailerons, radio, egt, cht, "yarn" angle of attack indicator). Made my own nose wheel brake and steering system. Strictly "no wind" flying for me. Best Kick-A** flying I've ever had and makes all other aircraft feel down right claustrophobic. But after a bit, Valdez performance and just boring holes in the sky loses it's novelty and only having a 20 mile range and did I mention "no wind", becomes boring. Not having any trim system wears out your arm and leg (yes I could fix most of that and should but I'm just building a better airplane and someone else can re rig it when they move it.), 35 mph cruise, stuff like that becomes annoying after the "thrill" is gone.

Anyone can afford to fly. It's a matter of "requirements" and if your interests are being met. Safe "Flying" costs less than a good junker car. Investment in your DIY skills, shop equipment and knowledge to use it correctly, training and the self discipline to not exceed limitations - costs the same in any kind of flying.

I think the key is to make all the major investments BEFORE you retire and then hope that you have no major maintenance issues when you go to a fixed income. Just take liability insurance and use MOGAS if possible. Certainly helps A LOT to be experimental.

I found a way to write off my fuel and maintenance costs by being a seasonal prospector. There is `grub-stake` grant money available in most Canadian provinces. So I get to fly back and forth to my prospecting areas with my fuel, oil and some maintenance expenses covered. Obviously, this option would not be available or practical for many, but it works for me in this part of the country.

And recently I`ve decided to work another year so that I can afford a new set of floats for the PA-12!

If I can do it anybody can. I drive a 12 year old truck and haven't wasted money on lunch for the last 20 years. Still using a 10 year old GPS when I need one, most things fly better without all the expensive bells and whistles. Most folks waste enough money on unimportant stuff. Smokes, chew, or a 12 pack cut from the daily diet will pay for a plane.

Glenn

There are plenty of ways to stay in the air without having it blow the retirement fund. Consider a partner MAYBE. I've done this twice on other planes and it worked out very well. Certainly not for everyone, but it worked for us and was the cheapest flying I've ever done. All the fancy expensive things might open up opportunities but people have been having fun flying without all that fancy crap for a long time. Most of us certainly can't claim we NEED any of this stuff.

If the partner route is out, fly backseat. Most of the time there's a seat available.

DENNY said:

I spend a lot of money to keep flying but if I did not have it I would just hang out at the hangers a lot!! There are guys that are upgrading to next best thing all the time. Used 26inch Goodyears will go a long way. Slow down to 2100 RPM when you fly More time in the air lots less gas. Take someone with you and make them pay for half the gas. Find a gal with money and keep her happy! Let your father in law live with you in trade for all the avgas you can burn (LAST TWO ARE HOW I MAKE IT WORK).
DENNY:lol:

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"find a gal with money and keep her happy" Ditto, I'd like to add, and make sure she is at least 8 years younger so you can retire early while she is still working and paying the bills while you are flying and having fun, I'm a very lucky Man, LOL ,the key is, to keep her happy!?!?!?!?8)

Sold my yellow airplane a few years ago. Engine was getting high time and high compression didn't allow for mo-gas. It would be a hanger queen for sure if I still owned it. Its's at Merril now. Had the little blue Escape nearly built before I retired. I have only put avgas in my plane once since I've had it flying. Have non- alcohol reglular at a station just down the road. Running a O-235C that prefers tractor gas. Hope this engine continues to run well for a few hundred hours. Hanger space is always a problem. Have had my plane outside some but have been lucky finding cheap or free inside storage most of the time.

Don