Here's a good comparison of expenses. Could you afford a new Harley-Davidson for $20,000? A real nice Cessna 150 you'd be proud to own will cost you about the same. The 150's initial price, maintenance, and insurance are the lowest you'll find, all about the same as a top-of-the-line motorcycle.
A student owning his airplane is the only way he will put in the kind of hours it takes to become a good airman. He can stay out perfecting a maneuver instead of watching that Hobbs meter.
Basic maintenance and polishing are the best ways to bond with your airplane. You'll know every rivet and seam.
Avoid partnerships, leasebacks, and payments, all certain to create hard feelings somewhere. When you decide to buy, don't bother with a "prepurchase inspection." Get an annual. Split the cost with the seller.
Having the keys to your own little airplane is the most rewarding experience a pilot will ever know.
Butch Gordo
Sparks, Nevada
I was sadly disappointed that experimentals were not even mentioned as a choice. I am a current pilot working toward an instrument rating and building a Van's RV-7A. For the money, you can't beat the performance. Many commercial pilots I know have experimentals. I would like to see more about experimental aircraft from AOPA Flight Training because of the large number of experimental pilots.
Jason Rowe
Richmond, Kentucky
The second-hand market for amateur-built airplanes has ratcheted up over the past five or six years. Still, the supply of such models is not dependable. While we have written about experimentals in the pages of AOPA Flight Training from time to time, the subject receives more attention in our sister publication, AOPA Pilot. -- Ed.
Drop that digit
I read with interest a letter in "Flight Forum" for the April 2005 issue of AOPA Flight Training that mentioned a change in the common traffic advisory frequency at the Nevada County Air Park from 123.0 to 122.725 MHz. The author of the letter said that there was a lot of confusion about the change, and that a few pilots "don't know how to select 25-kHz spacing on their radios." Well, I guess you can count me among them. During my training I was always told to just drop the final digit of frequencies with three numbers after the decimal. In the example mentioned in the letter, I'd dial in 122.72 (leaving off the 5). Is there some other method I'm not aware of for tuning a radio that displays only two digits after the decimal to a frequency with three?
Dave Burke
Huntsville, Alabama
We took the question to Craig Brown, a senior technical specialist in AOPA's Pilot Information Center. "On the newer generation radios, you need only select the proper frequency," he explained. "On some older digital radios, you may need to pull the knob out that you use to select the frequencies. This will allow access to the 25-kHz spacing, although the last, or third, number will not be displayed, as you mentioned. Some of these radios have a '25' or '25 kHz' printed on the knob. On older mechanical radios such as the Cessna ARCs, you will need to slide the frequency select switch left or right to select the 25-kHz band. If you have older 90-, 180-, or 360-channel radios, you will be unable to select the 25-kHz spacing. These frequencies are normally available only on 720- or 760-channel radios." The 760-channel radio was first required for certain airspace in 1997. -- Ed.
Erratum
A caption on p. 37 of the May 2005 issue ("How to Learn: The Takeoff") contained a typographical error. It should have read, "At rotation, pitch up to takeoff attitude and hold the sight picture until the airplane lifts off." AOPA Flight Training regrets the error.
We appre-ciate your comments. Letters should be no more than 300 words and must include your name and address. E-mail letters to [email protected] or mail to AOPA Flight Training, 421 Aviation Way, Frederick, Maryland 21701. Letters may be edited and will be printed as space permits.
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