When General Aviation was affordable

[@something7239]

I'm a 27 year old guy who just obtained my CPL 5 days ago. On the topic of today's generation and pilot careers, I can gurrantee 95% of the reason less young are getting involved is simply the price it costs now. I know so many young people who have been inspired by old age pilots their whole lives and all the stories, they dream to fly just like that. But for most of them it is simply financially impossible.

[@rjobrien7805]

Congrats on your CPL ticket. I don't think it's that expensive for 0 to 300 hours CPL, IR, ME, CFII when compared to a liberal arts degree from a mediocre college. The real expense that's difficult to predict along with the time frame is the 300 to 1500 hours segment. The beg borrow and steal part of it all.

[@excellenceinanimation960]

Yup! Hit the nail on the head!!!

[@nunyabidness3075]

Gratz on your new certification. Cost is a major issue, especially for those considering a career. For people wanting to fly for leisure and travel, it’s not just the dollar cost but how it shapes the industry. First thing most people do is start shopping the cost of getting the training. They then learn the cost of the rental is key, and they start calling schools and ask about rental costs. Only a few schools figure out how to sell themselves on something other than price so most schools follow the cheap and dirty model of running a flight school. This leads to them trying to become pilot mills. Tell your friends to choose a school based on the value of the flying experience. Would you not rather pay a bit more to enjoy your flight? If you aren’t trying to become a pilot for a living, then think of the purchase as entertainment, and not just a hurdle to something else. There is no something else. There is only flying.

[@CatRacer1A2A]

About 20yrs ago I looked into getting my CPL through PCC Rock Creek in Oregon. I was dismayed by the cost of everything it would take to finish to the point of being employable as a pilot. Sadly I quickly headed towards the door and never looked back. A career in professional motorsports beckoned.

[@shadowsrwolf]

What hurts is I finally got in to a hangger and then the airport sells the FBO and Managment to a 3rd party management service and they start hiking the prices as fast as they can

[@bobseverns5895]

I learned to fly in the 1950s, using money a teen age kid could earn. I took an FAA written exam in 1958, and became certified pilot before graduating from high school. I purchased a Cessna 120 in 1970 for $2600. I still own and fly it.

[@LandNfan]

I was determined to fly ever since I was six years old watching Sky King on Saturday mornings and seeing High Flight used as filler for unsold TV ad space. Any dream of military or airline flying went ‘poof’ with the first in a series of increasingly stronger eyeglasses starting around age eleven. But I never gave up completely. With my dreams buoyed by the writings of Frank Kingston Smith and others, I bided my time. Finally, the day after my 35th birthday, I soloed! Despite a job change and relocation, I persisted and got my PPSEL a year later. I flew for a few glorious years, even getting most of the way through an instrument rating. As they say, life is what happens when you are making other plans. I found myself paying college expenses for my older son and my youngest is the reason his orthodontist can afford a Porsche. Now, with a litany of medical and vision issues, I can neither afford to play in the sky or meet the requirements. Still, I tell those who dream of traversing the blue sky, “Go for it if you can!” Flying is still the most fun you can have with your clothes on!

[@JustJohn505]

honestly wholesome to see a airplane with its owner for 50 years when all you see these days its all these people selling them like hotcakes around the place.

[@magnocain]

That is about $21,000 in today’s money. FYI.

[@mzaite]

@@magnocain You can't buy a KIA for that kind of money now.

[@SpidaMez]

​@@magnocainthats the cost of an average car, not a plane lmao. Cheap af for a plane, especially brand new

[@v.e.7236]

I obtained my pilot's license back in '77, at age 17. It was not inexpensive, but I was determined to get that license, so I poured all of my hard earned money into that endeavor. Took another year and a half to achieve my IFR rating, but with that done, I was free to go out and explore the world via the old Piper Cub I had been renovating, while taking lessons. Great little plane that took me just about anywhere I felt safe to land. I've made landings in the Grand Canyon, where no plane has a right to be. On top of mountains that had no landing strip, just a smooth (relatively) expanse of grass on a slope. Experiences I wouldn't trade for the world. Hang gliding got real big in my life at that time, as well, and I had many a flight from remote sites I had to hike w/ glider on shoulder to get to. No way I could do any of that stuff today, as the regulations have gotten rediculously complex and prohibitive.

[@dave9351]

Age 72 and a paraglider pilot... a very inexpensive way to "catch air" ! The old days and old ways are gone forever like so many other things we loved and took advandage of Blue skies

[@weseehowcommiegoogleis3770]

Yours is nothing but a dry pipe dream now.

[@turninmonyin2noise978]

The two biggest issues that have made aviation ridiculously expensive are 1) the FAA changing thier mission statement from " promoting Aviation" to "Making AViation Safe". 2) Tort Lawyers allowed to sue everybody about everything, regardless of any involvement in the cause of an incident. The Lawyers have turned the courts into their own money grabbing theaters.

[@brockbenjamin]

I always hear this as the excuse. Torts have gone after all manner of society. We just happen to participate in the part that only produces 1000 units a year! The big three wouldn’t even dream of producing a luxury vehicle that was going to be produced in 1000 units. Ford is supposed to make 70,000 electric 150s this year alone.

[@turninmonyin2noise978]

@@brockbenjamin facts are facts and if the big three had to pay out millions of dollars ever time one of their vehicles crashed they would be in the same boat as the Aviation industry. The same goes if every time they made some little change to a design and they had to spend hundreds of thousands on certification testing to prove to the NHTSA the changes didn’t affect the vehicle. IE changing a tachometer from one design to another. Those vehicles would cost Hundreds of thousands, people couldn’t afford them just as the vast majority of Americans can’t afford $500.000+ for a new Cessna 172 which is fundamentally a 1960’s technology. ,

[@davefoord1259]

@@turninmonyin2noise978 wtf is wrong with 1970s technology. The air hasnt changed. Im sick of people who want their panel all glass then cant afford to maintain them. They call mechanical or discret gauges “steam” gauges. But meh most planes the steam gauges are still working 50 year later

[@turninmonyin2noise978]

@davefoord1259 I don't disagree at all and like you, like steam but I appreciate some new tech. My point is the smother effect the FAA cert. Rules have on GA. As well as the cost incurred because of those out dated rules.

[@davefoord1259]

@@turninmonyin2noise978 are you familiar with far23 amdt 64?

[@TheFalconJetDriver]

The lawyers where one of the major factors that caused Aviation expenses to goi up as you stated product liability! I learned to fly in the Early 70’s I could rent a J-3 for $6.50 hour wet 80 octane was 37 cents a gallon. I rented a new Cardinal RG for $28.00 an hour wet. I also rented a a PA-23-150 for $45.00 hour wet. I was in high school when I learned my private Pilot Certificate, Aviation kept me off the streets and out of trouble. Unlike many of my contemporaries. I chased airplanes instead of automobiles and girls. I caught up with them latter🤣. No one in my family flew so I did not have a network of folks behind me. Except at the airport. I retired from the 121 world and corporate world and a former examiner on 5 different transport jet airplanes. Aviation today is crazy expensive! And untouchable buy so many today.🤯🛫

[@VortexStolenName]

I think I was born in the wrong century

[@SaberToothBicycle]

Beechcraft Bonanzas killed a lot of lawyers back in the day. Mooneys too. Nowadays, lawyers seem to prefer killing themselves in Pilatuses (or other high performance turboprops). The product liability problem perpetuates because amongst the ranks of lawyers, a significant number of them are rich boys who like fast toys; and like it or not--dead lawyers all have lawyers. One might argue that pricing everybody out who didn't have a lawyer's income was inevitable and unavoidable. But closing out the general public strangled general aviation. No doubt about it.

[@othergary]

1970 I was in the Civil Air Patrol, and the wet PA-18 Cub cost $6.00 an hour to rent. I soloed at 15 years old. Owned a Cessna Skyhawk and enjoyed as a young father. Now, it's just too expensive. We never saw Sky King doing any ranch work, but he could always afford to solve crimes in a twin Cessna.

[@nonelost1]

I am not a pilot. And I only have flown as a passenger in a small GA plane twice in my life. But I DO remember watching reruns of "Sky King" before the Saturday morning cartoons back in the early '60s.@@othergary

[@robertcondit1536]

i recently found my old log book and a bill was in it from the local airport - Cessna 150 wet with instructor, $19.60. 1966, I was 15.

[@patrowan7206]

I'm almost 71 years old now, and never realized my dream of getting a pilot license -- so your choice of music for that montage of planes at the ends really hits home.

[@wilsonpickett3881]

If you can afford it, go for it. Even if you have medical issues that keep you from getting an FAA medical you can always go up as a student with an instructor. As you progress you'll be flying essentially solo but with an instructor in the right seat.

[@Magcheck]

I learned to fly in 1974 at the age of 25 while attending a midwestern university's A&P mechanic and flight school. I was inspired by Richard Bach's book of short flying stories, "A Gift of Wings". I soloed a Cessna 150 in 40 hours, took the follow-up aerobatics course and then was able to rent the school Decathlon 8KCAB for $16 per hour wet to get tailwheel experience. Got a mechanic job with Learjet and soon bought a Cessna 120 for $4,500. Still own the 1947 Cessna 120 and have put 1900 hours on it over the years. Planes current value is about $34,000. Insurance is about $1200 per yr/full air and ground liability, w/full hull coverage. It's a wonderful airplane that fits me like a comfortable old shoe. I have always flown private VFR Day and simply for the love of flying. No regrets.

[@Istandby666]

In the mid 2000s, I paid around $85/ hr.

[@txdave2]

I never flew in a 120, but did fly with my Uncle in his 140. What a fun little plane. I have a lot of hours in a 1946 Aeronca Champ.

[@Istandby666]

@@txdave2 from 1982 to 1996 we own a Cessna 150J (N51305).

[@jamestone265]

My Dad, J. I. Tone worked in a machine shop during WWII when I was born in 1944. After the war he went to work at North American Aviation in El Segundo working swing shift in the model shop and in 1947 learned to fly at Central Airport in Los Angeles (gone now). In 1949 he opened his own precision machine shop on Hawthorne Airport in a group of hangers he built on a 20 year lease from the City. We had many planes, mostly Cubs, that are still flying today in So Cal. By that time I was riding a lot when he could take the time and was flying front seat by the time I was 10 or 11. He moved his shop to Inglewood in the mid 50’s but he had bought a wrecked 1938 Ryan SCW and brought it back to life with a lot of improvements. I flew with him countless hours knowing sometime I would get a license. It was an unbelievable time to be growing up especially with a machine shop and an airport for a playground. He unfortunately passed away in late 1963 when he was just 50 in an accident and when I was in Jr. college. My life was devastated, everything changed. Everything was sold. My new job was to watch over mom take care of her if needed and I did until she passed at 96 years old. I never got back into a private airplane again….. I just couldn’t eventho I had many opportunities. I still have the love of flying even at 79 and cruise thru Municipals when on vacation which sometime drives my wife nuts. Private aviation will never be the fun it was back then…..You are so right.

[@sbukosky]

I worked at three airports in the 1960's. A young kid gassing airplanes, washing windshields, propping engines as needed and mowing grass runways and doing office work. There was a waiting list for tiedowns and hangers. We rented a Champ for $10@hr, 150's for $13, Skyhawk for $17 and the fully equipped Skylane for $20. I pumped 80/87 for 43 cents per gallon. I was paid $2 per hour. Overtime went to my flying fund, and I was allowed to fly a 150 around the patch when gassing them up at the end of the day. In 1967 my dad bought a tired old Champ for, sit down, $800 with a fresh annual and good fabric. Dad and I flew the heck out of that old bird until it failed the punch test a few years later on. As most of my time towards my PPL was in that, I figured it cost me not much more than $250 to get my license, but I had already been flying a Schweitzer sailplane for a couple years. I soloed before I could legally get a driver's license. Much of our business was training soldiers out of Korea and Vietnam using their GI Bill benefits. As that ran out, business dwindled and there were plenty of tiedown and hangers available. What stands out in my mind is when Cessna had legal trouble from the seat adjustment tracks and pins not latching and the pilot ending up in the back seat upon rotation. Insurance rates seemed to soar about that time and the price of a new Skyhawk went from that of a Chevy to that of a Mercedes. The 73 oil embargo was another nail in the coffin. Flying a Skylane at high power setting burning 25GPH was saved for departures. Paul Poberezny and the EAA were local and he'd happen by from time to time. The convention having begun at Timmerman where I worked, got bigger and bigger as alternatives to the expense of buying and flying were explored. At one private airport, ultralights became popular and seemed to be the grass roots savior of general aviation. But even that dwindled after some years. There are a lot of things out there to spend one's free time and money on. The Airlines started crowding out where a guy could fly with no electrical system. I think things just got too complicated and too expensive.

[@gravesclayton3604]

11:34 Piper's 'Flying Milkstool' the Tri-Pacer. I started flying with my parents in 1972/73 in one of these. We upgraded to a 1964 C-172, and then a 1968 C-177 Cardinal. I remember the fuel costs increasing, then aircraft parts skyrocketed up about tenfold in 1980 or 1981. My father founded a private flying club in 1982, and didn't have another airplane of his own until he retired around 1995. That last airplane was a 1975 C-150 with STOL kit and oversized tires for soft-field landings. He & my mother would fly out of a small grass field across from their house, until about 2006, when they sold the C-150 and retired from flying permanently, into their early 70's. My son is now a pilot, and owns his own 1964 Mooney 20C. His avionics cost more than any of the first 3 airplanes my father owned. I grew up memorizing VOR tower signals, and now they are also a thing of the past. How fast things changed!

[@JWells-mz1jr]

I learned to fly in the 60'. I paid approximately $14 per hour and soled at 6.5 hours of training. The first a/c I ever owned was a 1957 Piper Tri-pacer that only cost me $6800 (worth about $45000 now) I flew 22 years in the USAF. I bought a brand new Cessna 172 for only $28000. I have over 16000 (2872 combat) hours in all kinds of a/c. I am a very fortunate person for having lived my life's dream of flying for military, business, and pleasure. My daughter got her pilots license before she got her driver's license, her choice❤. As ChuckYeager always said, "FLY SAFELY!"

[@supertrooper7273]

Private pilot here. Pretty much every one of my issues is related to costs, it’s WAY too expensive nowadays and has only gotten worse in recent years

[@edwarddebolt9240]

I started in 1969, fuel was 35 cents a gallon, I could rent a Cessna 150 with instructor for $12.00 an hour. Now fuel is almost $6.00 a gallon, hangar rent in 1969 was $35 a month, but now is $200 a month, insurance is over $2000 a year and some airports are now mandating 50 to 100 gallon per month fuel purchases!I recently sold my 1946 Ercoupe as annuals are now $1500 a year or more if parts are needed. To me it simply isn't worth the cost anymore. I build and fly large RC model airplanes and I enjoy it, and it doesn't cost anywhere near the cost of full scale airplane!This and increases in costs due to FAA regulations just took the fun out of it!

[@supertrooper7273]

@@edwarddebolt9240 Ercoupes are nice planes. I love seeing them at different airports, unfortunately I think their age is catching up with them as far as ADs are concerned. It’s insane, C-172 is $175hr (with fuel) and the instructor is another $45. I sincerely hope things get better soon for the industry

[@edwarddebolt9240]

Yes it was the high cost of aircraft ownership that forced me to sell mine!

[@edwarddebolt9240]

@@supertrooper7273Yes they are fun to fly, but in the past ten years, costs have soared and I am retired and just can't afford it anymore! Yes the Ercoupe is now around 78 years old and maintenance and parts are very expensive and the fAA only makes things worse! I have also been a lifelong model airplane builder-flyer but in the past several years the FAA has stuck its nose into our wonderful hobby and made things more expensive and now is requiring a transponder type device to be installed in model aircraft over 55 ounces in weight! They have also wanted us to stay under 400 feet AGL , very difficult to do as I also fly RC airplanes which require riding thermals to stay airborn! FAA says this is all in the name of national security! We call it something else! Open US borders is a far more threat to our country than our model airplanes!I am 73 years old now and have been building and flying model airplanes since I was 7 year old in 1958!Another thing thatconcrns me is in our local model airplane lub, we just don't see kids and it's rare to see a teen aged kid in our hobby!This year at EAA I am probably going to switch from VAA Security team to volunteering with the Academy of mOdel Aeronautics and teach interested kids how to build and fly model airplanes! About 12 years ago, I built one for the VAA Red barnstore setting up a work tablke and buyilding a balsa model airplane that ws later displayed in the VAA Red Barn store. I had hundreds of people stop by that were interested as I built it piece by piece! The vAA has asked me to doinate my 1/4 scale "Mister Mulligan " RC model airplane in the VAA Red Barn store. I am uncertain whether I will or not. I Have thre years of my tim in building it and a lot of money I put into it! But RC airplane s don't require an expensive hangar, an expensive yearly annual, expensive insurance policies, $6.00 a gallon plus 100LL fuel and still keeps my interest in aviation alive! I build mostly large scale vintage airplanes , either kits or scratch built from plans! Models is what led to obtaining a PPL and owning my own full scale airplane, a 1946 Ercoupe. I sold it in December 2023 after owning it for 28 years. But the continuing soaring costs of full scale ownership just got too expensive for me! I felt I wasn't getting the enjoyment I once enjoyed!It was a hard decision to make but I decided it was the best thing for me to do! I get a lot of enjoyment out of building my models and my next projet is a kit built 1/4 scale Taylorcraft BC12D model with a wingspan of127 inches! :)

[@xenadu02]

Inflation adjusted that would be $3 AVGAS and about $110/hr for rental and CFI. Overall I'd guesstimate that aviation is 2x as expensive as it should be adjusted for inflation. Only a slice of that is lawsuits. The largest cost is aircraft capital cost. If a Cessna 172 only kept up with inflation it should be about $250k-$300k today but a new one is almost $500k. That's because all the aircraft makers are part of big conglomerates now, volumes are low, so they are jacking up the price to increase profit. You can't rent a 172 for $100/hr and expect to cover a $500k loan.

[@AirstripBum]

Lawyers happened. I have a buddy (older fellow) that payed $12 per hour to get his certificate. That included the plane (wet) and the instructor. Years later he owned 4 or 5 float planes and operated a very popular fly in lodge in Alaska.

[@lorrinbarth1969]

As a kid I used to rent a 172 for 11.50 an hour, sixteen dollars and hour with instructor. During the 1930's general aviation was the fastest means of travel. After WWII a high performance GA aircraft could maybe match an airliner. When the jets came along GA became just an expensive hobby.

[@shadow50011]

Look at accident rates in the 70s

[@maddam50]

Deaths happened. In 1960, deaths per 100,000 hrs flown was 6. Now it is 1.57. $12 in 1970 is equal to $95 today. Where I am I can get lessons for $150. So a 50% increase in price for a 75% reduction in deaths. What about cars, those are dangerous right? In 2022 in the US there were 0.00135 deaths per 100,000 miles driven.

[@brentlytle2747]

Lawyers and insurance companies made it so expensive.

[@booniebuster4193]

This video really hits home for me. I actually started my flight training in 1960 at the tender age of 15. It was in a very small town with a short dirt runway and a couple of Aeronca Champs used for training. The flight instructor was an old military pilot whose personal airplane was an old military Cessna T-50. I mowed lawns for $2.00 each on Saturdays and then went out to the airport and took a flying lesson. If I remember correctly, I paid $6.00 for a 30-minute flight. I kid you not! I only mowed 3 lawns a week, so I never had more money than $6.00 per weekend. I was able to accumulate about 5 hours of flight training before my family moved away from the area and my training came to a halt. Fast forward to 1967. I was then in the Army stationed at Ft Benny, GA. There was a civilian flying club on the base on Lawson Field. I was able to complete my training and get a private pilot certificate in a Cessna 150. I don't ever remember taking a written test. Only a flight test. Then after I was discharged from the Army in 1968 I used the G.I. bill to continue training. I eventually received a Commercial Multi-engine rating. I owned two different airplanes in my flying career. I had a Piper PA-22 108 and eventually, I co-owned a Cessna 210. However, the cost started to skyrocket for fuel, maintenance, and insurance. So I sold both planes and just rented Cherokees and Cessnas for a few more years. In 1990 I was laid off from my career job and all flying slowed to a crawl. My last flight as Poilot-in command was in a Cessna 172 in 2003. Now I am fully retired and can not afford the high cost of the rentals. When I bought my Piper colt, I paid $5,500.00 for it in about 1980. Today you will pay over $25,000.00 for a Colt. I should never have sold that airplane!

[@jimrhoads9810]

i bought a colt in 94 for 10,000 loved that little colt 6 gal. and hour gas 1.00 a gal. had alot of fun with that little plane.........

[@thomasmarshall6296]

Wow, that really takes me back. Great video. Started flying in the early 70’s renting a 150 for $8 an hour. Thought I could do it cheaper so I used every penny I could find and bought a Cub for $2800. Couple years later I had a 120 for $5000. Not sure it ever saved me money but I wouldn’t take anything for the experience. Built time instructing and got all the tickets but the aviation industry was in a downturn in the late 70’s. Took a job with the FAA just til Delta called! Life happened and I retired from the FAA years ago and aged out of the airline business last year. No regrets. This video really took me back. Thanks a bunch.

[@maxsmodels]

Those were the days.

[@fireflyrobert]

I'm in the UK. My dad was a veteran light aircraft instructor/examiner having learned to fly in 1935 in the Auxiliary Air Force (Reserve) and when WW2 broke out he was made a flying instructor in the RAF. After WW2 he went back to his job but aviation was always his passion and he was still teaching and examining at 81 years. I got my passion for aviation from him and was regularly flying in light aircraft from about 1963. I agree whole heartedly with your analysis. As a young boy I recall asking my dad how much it cost to fly. His answer was "A bob a minute". A bob was one shilling and there were 20 shillings in the £ so that equated to £3 per hour! We had quite a few years at the local flying club where I learned to fly around 1967 when the rates were £4 17s 6d (just under £5 an hour). The flying was simpler and much more fun then with less regulation and people would spend the whole day (or even weekend) at the airfield and I was one of them. I went on to be a commercial pilot but always kept flying GA instructing and also examining. After retiring from the airlines I was CFI at the same flying club but after about 3 years I got fed up with all the bureaucratic nonsense so decided to hang up my headset for good. I really believe my generation had the best days of GA. I still maintain an interest and call in at the flying club for a chat and coffee but the culture has changed now. With the mountain of rules and regulations which are now imposed on GA most flying clubs in the UK have become flying schools with very little character like the olden days.

[@nq0amark138]

My flying adventure took place in the mid seventies. I was still in high school when I got my private ticket in 1977, and as I recall it took around $3000 bucks from start to check ride. I had a blast for a few years, especially taking my high school dates flying around the city at night. I went on to go after the com/instrument ratings but costs had already began to soar and as we know prospects were not great for pilots in the early eighties unless you had a very fat wallet to move forward or were in the military. I really enjoyed my time flying, but now in my sixties have to live vicariously through watching youtube video creators and their flying adventures. Funny thing is, I could almost afford to get back into it today, but age and time are a cruel mistress and this is one hobby that can kill an old guy in short order if not careful. No regrets, but doing it on my own financially back then was just not going to happen. I did have some friends who went on to fly commercially but had well off parents to support them financially through their training. I finally abandoned the idea, but never lost the love of aviation. Those were the days ! Cheers.

[@Bhakti-rider]

MSFS with a yoke, pedals, throttle quadrant, and a good VR headset is very enjoyable.

[@nq0amark138]

@@Bhakti-rider That's been on my mind, That may be a good way to enjoy flying without leaving home... ;-)

[@alphasportstv]

Same situation ;) May just go back to sailboats...at least "skipper error" is less likely to kill you...tho' the costs are almost as high haha!

[@happhappy4465]

Nearly 30 years ago I bought a '40 Taylorcraft BL for $10k, paid a Western Mi Univ flight student $10/hr, learned on ski's, had 46 hrs when I did my check ride. Flew the '40 250 hrs, sold it for $10k, bought a '46 TC w/85hp cont for $13k, then the finest '38 TC B in the US for $16k, then a Beech Bonanza 35 that was the easiest plane I've ever flown. I've had many Ultralights & a 2 PPCs along the way. Have 2 runways on the farm & a 56x84 hanger I cut all the lumber for on a port mill. Getting a new U/L delivered today. It's been a Wonderful Ride!

[@pcbondart]

really enjoyed this video, I flew for a few short years up into the early eighties, in a Citabria that I purchased with a few other guys. We flew out of Palwaukee, now Chicago Executive Airport. There was a little restaurant there, and somebody was always in there, if you looked outside, something was always moving around, taking off or landing, actually quite a social scene tied to flying. NOW, whenEVER I pass a general aviation airport, I see nobody, nothing. SAD!

[@josephliptak]

My dad bought a 1946 Luscomb in 1967 and learned to fly from a buddy of his who taught him. Neither had a pilot's license and kept their planes tied down on a farmers field that they knew. In 1969 my dad bought a 50acre farm and made his own airstrip 2000ft long. Sold his Luscomb and bought a 1968 cessna 150 for $3500. He flew anytime he wanted with no license, no hanger to rent and he built a pole barn to house the cessna. He was a great pilot and definitely had the skills for someone who learned from a buddy who used to stop at a bar his parents owned. His buddy had a 59 tri-pacer with a 150 or 160hp engine. He used to take me up and flew that tri pacer areobatically. I remember he'd do hammerhead stalls, barrel rolls, and snap rolls. He'd have a 12 pack of strohs beer in the back seat. I remember one time he flew in to see my dad but he was still at work. He asked me if I wanted to go up and this 15 year old self never said no when he asked because he'd let me fly at times. He'd drink his beer and toss the empties out the window. One day I asked him "aren't you worried about getting a ticket for drinking in your plane and he responded "who's going to pull me over up here". That was 1975. I was 15 and he was I think 37. I couldn't imagine that happening today. He used to buzz a lot of places of people he knew. His buzz jobs were low and fast. Once a neighbor got mad and called the sheriff dept to report him buzzing houses too low. Nothing they could do without seeing him buzzing houses. No cameras around watching your every move like today. I'm still amazed today after all these years passed that it was like no big deal to fly like that and own a plane with no pilot's license. It was a different time in those days.

[@petergraves2085]

Fantastic story. I did laugh at " He'd drink his beer and toss the empties out the window. One day I asked him "aren't you worried about getting a ticket for drinking in your plane and he responded "who's going to pull me over up here".

[@williamdaley8776]

In 1971 I went to work at a part time job, in order to buy a 1946 Ercoupe, and was trying to obtaining my licence while flying off a grass strip. My instructor was a seat of the pants instructor. Every time we went flying he pull the engine back to idle and would ask me where you going to land. This later, after I got my private license, would save me with a real engine failure. I finished up with a 1955 Tri Pacer. The family and I moved to Florida. Did I fly for a living. Yes helicopters in law enforcement. Stopped flying at the age of 65. 450 hrs fixed wing, and 33 years in helicopters. However it was that first instructor. that taught me to watch my ass saying, you are not as good as you think you are. What a great ride !

[@maxsmodels]

Good times 😌

[@marinoscarponejr1017]

I got my PPL back in the early 60's $14.00 AN hour with an instructor in a Piper Colt at Westair at HPN Westchester Co airport, after getting my license I checked out in a Piper 180 I forget the hourly rate on the 180, although I have not flown in many years I enjoy KZbin videos on general avlation, but it is so expensive, enjoyed your video,, brought back memories

[@caseymcclure9653]

I was an A&P and worked for American flyers. They traded A&P work all the way up to single commercial. I doubt I could have ever paid for it. It was a big part of changing my life for the better.

[@golfnovember]

My friend and I are thinking about doing that program.

[@jamescain6414]

I enjoyed your presentation. I'm 86 and no longer fly. But I can tell you that, pursuing my private ticket in 1960, I had to take a fairly demanding written exam. I had been Navy trained, and even so, had to do a fair amount of study for the test. Then, an FAA examiner accompanied me for a flight test that lasted more than an hour. And, of course, I had to pass a physical exam. Well, I don't know how easy or rigid it was before 1960, but I can say it was not a snap of the fingers in 1960. In 1960, you could buy a nice little, brand-new plane for between $12-16,000. But we didn't need thousands of dollars worth of avionics then, either. I flew an old 65-HP Taylorcraft tail-dragger with only the "needle, ball and alcohol" instrumentation, no radio and an exterior cork-and-wire gas gauge. It cost about $2/hour to fly. But avgas was expensive: 50-cents a gallon!

[@daveboyers4549]

What a great trip down memory lane! I owned nine airplanes, mostly post-war rag bag tail draggers. I remember well when Piper advertised the "new" TriPacer, touting it as "affordable". At that point, I decided to one day own an airplane. Thanks for documenting so well the time when aviation truly was affordable.

[@Keys879]

I recently worked on a C140 that had the original dealer brochure in it. What a hoot. At the back there was a passage from Cessna that read something like "Our engineers and advisors have put the math together and your Cessna should cost no more than $17.50 for its' annual at an authorized Cessna dealer" and I couldn't help but laugh. $20 for an annual??! What a time! (Considering they'll run you at least $1,000 nowadays)

[@haldennis4302]

Nice job, Well done video. I too am one of those old guys, started flying when I was 12, sitting in my Dad's (AAF-P38's) lap flying in a Republic Sea Bee. I was only allowed to land on water. At 16 got my license, worked full time and 22 bought a Piper TriPacer, then a Cessna 180, then a Beech Deb. then off to the airlines for a wonderful 30 year career. One suggestion to you video: If it would not be too difficult, label each aircraft you have pictured. I knew most but not all. Thanks, keep up the good work.

[@Herbertv.Kerczek]

I had a paper rout and saved $300 so that I could learn to fly. I started my 1st lesson at 15 and soloed after 8 hours flight time at 16 which was the minimum age for solo flight at the time. In the following year I spent the rest of the $300 on renting the Piper PA11 and worked part time at the airport for flight time to make the required 40 hours to get the private pilot license about 3 months after my 17th birthday in 1957. I loved flying, airplanes, and cars and decided to go to college and become an engineer. Unfortunately college (through graduate school), marriage, kids, etc, stopped my flying. Now into the sunset of my life, with many pictures of airplanes of the 1930s, -40s, -50s on my home office walls I dream of my early hours in that Piper PA11.

[@55pilot]

I really enjoyed reading your post. Somewhat the story of my flying days.

[@robj4727]

Loved the great pics. Some fantastic airplanes.

[@opa1951]

Very well thoughtout and produced video. I'm in my 70's now and soloed in a new PA-28-140 back in 1966 and took my private checkride on my birthday that same year at the Long Beach Airport in California. Wet rentals in those days were $16.00 per hour for the Cherokee. I could rent a Cessna 150 for $8.00 per hour. I think you are right. Fuel shortages, airport closures, liability insurance and lawyers pretty much killed affordable GA flying. We used to have more student pilots and charters at my company than we could handle. We couldn't satisfy the demand for tie down and hanger parking we were so busy. But by 1980 everything started down hill. My airline job disappeared and my business closed down. I officially changed occupations later on and left aviation in the past. Oh, but the memories are still there. I recently took a ride in a beautifly restored Biplane in Lincoln City, Oregon. What a treat! Thank god we still have great flying magazines and KZbin. The dream is still alive.

[@Anthillacres]

I grew up in a light aircraft family. A friend owned a Funk which he called his "Pregnant Portuguese Pigeon". We (my family) belonged to the local flying assoc. Monthly we flew to some new location to meet 15 to 50 other flying families. It was wonderful!

[@DblIre]

Stupid lawsuits were a major reason the big three A/C manufacturers quit building small A/C in the mid 70s. It was much more profitable with much less liability to build corporate A/C. The recession in the late 70s was the final nail in the coffin for GA. I remember in the 60s when a company had a sweepstakes that had a PAIR of his and her Piper Colts as the grand prize.

[@briand4000]

Excellent video and great old pics! I started flying in '95 after many years of building bigger and more costly RC models. My wife just said, "why don't you get a license so we can actually GO somewhere?" I joined an Air Force Aero Club, got very solid, military standards instruction and was a Private Pilot in four months. It cost me about $6k then flying T-41's (C-172 with 200hp Continental). It would cost double that now, at least. I then built an RV8, the most massive project of my life and still is to this day. Flew it for 400 hrs, did acro, formation, travels, then our son was born. Sold it, made some money and bought a very nicely updated C-180 Skywagon. That one was fun and a true family hauler but got very costly to maintain, being it was a '57 model. I moved on from it after our son grew up with no interest in flying, to an Evektor Sportstar LSA which is currently being updated with better brakes and the crazy cumbersome rubbers replacement that is required for Rotax engines every 5 years. It seems I spend more time doing maintenance and worrying about regulatory requirements for me and the airplane. There are so many gotchas that an insuror could nail you on if you have a mishap. Today's lawyer laden society can lead to financial ruin for the simplest incident. So, I'm likely going to exit the flying life. I cannot honestly recommend flying to young folks unless they are ready to bleed money for untold numbers of years before they can actually make any money. It has gotten insanely expensive for anything...parts, FUEL, insurance, hangar rent. It's been a fun ride, but I'm done.

[@daveelmer]

I also got into some of the cheaper flying. I was 36 when I got my ticket in 1979. I learned in a C150. The plane was $10.00 an hour the instructor was $11.50 an hour. I hung in there for 25 years. I was getting close to retirement and decided it was getting too costly. Thanks for the video. I really enjoyed it. Take Care and Be Safe, Dave 😎

[@AndyTulenko]

The question has become, how do we make it afforadable again?

[@danwilhelm5845]

exactly. It seems to me that if we can't make it more affordable, general aviation will slowly die.

[@ditto1958]

I remember going to some sort of open house at our local regional airport back in the early 70’s. We went on a ride in a Cessna 206, looked at a lot of places from Cessna, Piper and other manufacturers and came back with a large stack of brochures that I studied for hours on end. A new 172 back then was not cheap, probably about $35,000, or the price of a decent 3 bedroom house. Nice new family cars were maybe $6,000 at the time. Used planes were very affordable, as was avgas and flying lessons. I was in middle school, and sincerely expected to get my pilots license and eventually own a plane when I got a little older. Right around then we had the Arab oil embargo and that set in motion the decline of general aviation. Fuel prices doubled in short order. New plane prices rose, demand for them fell and manufacturers began to fail. Sad.

[@chrismoody1342]

Had to comment after seeing the thumbnail for this video. As kid born in 1955 my father bought his first plane. It was Piper Tri Pacer. I serious got my got first airplane ride at 16 months of age. In 1964 my father bought a Mooney for his 5 state area business travel. 1967 he bought a better faster Mooney and flew into the early 70’s. That’s about the time I finished ground school, he sold the Mooney. I think he saw that in essence he’d be financing and furnishing me with a plane. LoL. Well I never finished up becoming a pilot and went on to other interests. We’ll, come the 80’s my dad bought his final and last airplane and went back to where he started with a Piper Tri Pacer till he could no longer keep his medical. So many good memories flying with my father, even my father in law was a pilot with a 172. The Mooney my dad bought was I believe about $23,000 brand new from Kerrville. Today it’s approaching $700,000 for a new Mooney or more.

[@thecoganfamily]

Awesome video. Nice to see a pic of a Tri Pacer, which I have. I wish I could fly it more but because of the $7.20 per gallon fuel price, annual, hanger, insurance etc, it’s too expensive to operate. So I get to go up once or twice a month to enjoy the golden years.

[@maxsmodels]

I had a Colt. Great little budget birds.

[@tomstarros3189]

@@maxsmodels soloed in a colt ...agusta maine...1976....15.00 an hr, wet with instroctor...n5477z..yeahhal..

[@jamesringler987]

auto gas stc??

[@Ivan-pl2it]

Bought 4 tri pacers in 70s from 2500. to 4500. Turned one into a pacer took it to Alaska, gas in Canada was 39 cents an imperial gallon with the exchange rate it was cheap.. Sad those days are gone.

[@jb-qi8fz]

Really nostalgic for me. I learned to fly on a 1946 J-3 back in 1962 in Long Island, N.Y. No electric, no radio, no transponder (what was a transponder? !!) . If you did have a radio , how did it work anyway? !! In those days the only requirement for flying overhead JFK (then it was Idlewild International), was to stay at 2500 feet or above. Hard to imagine now! It was great circling overhead watching the DC3s, DC6s, Constellations and the new fangled contraptions like the B-707 and DC8s landing and taking off under me. BTW, I paid $7.50/hr. wet including instructor.

[@maxsmodels]

it was another time...

[@jaymac9628]

Around the 11:11 mark you show 3 different Aero Commander aircraft. First is the AC100 which I accumulated some 150 hours in and then comes the AC200 which I had the pleasure of some 3 hours in to satisfy the complex aircraft requirement for a commercial license. Don't see either one of those very often, so they caught my attention seeing those. Thanks for the memories!

[@redalert7886]

Dude this was so entertaining to listen to. Your voice and cadence is so relaxing

[@maxsmodels]

thanks

[@CatholicSamurai]

Agreed. General Aviation has been dealt a series of death blows by: -The FAA lumping GA with commercial av for many years and neglecting to foster GA uniquely -Inflation and gas prices -legal issues and liability -developing new aircraft became almost impossible for manufacturers -overburdensome regs and red tape around pilot health (medicals) and initial training -CFIs becoming the stepping stone to airlines, which means that instructor fees skyrocketed to support a CFI’s income until they reach the airlines -the general trend of Baby Boomers inheriting a miracle economic period and promptly ruining it for the next generations GA in the US *will not survive* once the GenX crowd moves on unless a major comprehensive overhaul of the FAA and the entire GA industry occurs. There are simply no GA millennial/GenZ pilots (at least not enough to sustain GA separate from commercial airline pilots). If the average person in their 20s cannot afford rent, how in world can they ever afford a PPL, an aircraft, and all the related expenses?

[@redfire122]

Loved your video. I'm so glad I was able to get my initial certificates in a college flying club in the 80's. $37/hour for a 5 year old 172. I hear of students today spending upwards of $10k and even with a well paying job wondering if I would do it in todays world (ok, yes I probably would). That being said I own a relatively affordable aircraft. Open cockpit biplane, handheld radio for avionics and have a blast. For young people thinking about flying I highly recommend checking out the Civil Air Patrol. That is how I got my start in Aviation.

[@theplinkerslodge6361]

I started training in 1986, a few hours at Rochester NY before I joined the excellent Williamson Flying Club, still running pretty healthy these days, I believe. I think it was $23 an hour for the Piper Colt (tricycle gear, no flaps) and $14 an hour for an instructor. They had a Piper 235 which you showed an ad for at 5:20 of your vid - 205 hp and constant speed prop, fixed gear. That was a smooth ride with lots of fuel compared to everything else at the club.

[@marksheridan7841]

Hey, thank you for that, both educationally and photographically! 6 years to retirement from what will be a 45 year career I aviation. Your video was a walk down memory lane. I owned a 1/4 share of a 1959 Cessna 150, soloed my 1st student off a grass strip in a Colt, Flew Beech 18's out of Pontiac. It was difficult sleeping on the couch in a flight school in Detroit...but it's been worth it! Thank you again!

[@leovolont]

Yeah, I soloed in a Piper Cherokee when I was 16. Did more hours until I was 18 and flew into North Philadelphia Airport to take the FAA Private Pilots Test, because I still didn't have my Drivers Licence yet, but my Sign Off Ride required my Flying the Examiner around, which was wild too becasue... I remember his name, Paul Argis, he wanted me to land in a way I never landed before, to see if I could pick up new skills.... he had me land at Pomona, and a runway that was 5000 feet long, and so that I wouldn't slow down their Traffic pattern, he had me do my Final Approach on practically full throttle and no flaps, but he wanted me to float down the runway, notching in flaps as I went and eventually flaring to a landing. Wow! That was Fun, and so Paul Argis signed me off for being able to keep my head. But, that was at about 1970. Yeah, it was a great time to be alive, as an Aviation Interested Kid. Part time work could get you an hour of instructed flight time a week. You could fly more once you soloed. I still remember the solo flight in which I finally went up above the Clouds, and poked through a few. It was what I had always dreamed of. .

[@JamesWilliamson-w8y]

In 1991 I bought a Piper Pa38 in the USA, cost me $15500. I imported it to the UK and leased it to a UK flying school. The profit I made paid for my PPL. I am happy to say that the aircraft is still training pilots in Germany today.

[@maxsmodels]

That is the way to do it. Good on ya!

[@JamesWilliamson-w8y]

@@maxsmodels I just hope the German Students are enjoying flying a delightful aircraft.

[@dennisnbrown]

The cost of aviation has definitely went up. Those early days were the heyday. For me at 59 years old I feel that if you calculate any inflation flying a small airplane is still a relatively inexpensive. I purchased my Cherokee 180 for less than the cost of a new pick up truck. I’m able to insure it for less than I insure my pick up truck fuel cost is relatively the same as my pick up truck at this point. Yeah I spend a couple hundred dollars a month to put it in a hanger, and yes I have an annual inspection that may vary but be around 1500 bucks. I feel like this is a reasonable and comparable cost for somebody who would’ve been in a position to own an airplane in the 60s. Now if I upgrade to a bonanza or a light twin, things are very different in. To answer your question on what I feel is the primary reason that things change so much it is litigation. I believe that is the largest reason. Great video. Thanks a lot fly safe.

[@sparkyflys]

Mr. Brown, for your comment I stopped the video on TV, switched to the phone, found the video, and looked to find it again. There is no way on God's green earth that it is a comparable cost considering inflation. There are many metrics and little agreement on a figure to convert post purchasing power over the last 50 years. Virtually all concur with a figure vastly outstripping wage growth. A truck today is a luxury vehicle, and a truck 40, 30, and some 20 years ago were not. Fifteen years ago you could buy a Ranger and a year's full coverage insurance for less than $10k, absolutely. Today is not yesterday. Today, bread costs twice what it did two years ago. I do not put much stock in economists, professional dingleberries, however you can glean a good idea of costs of living reading between the lines in bankruptcy cases. The rule of thumb for total transportation expenses, less noncritical fuel, is 10% of gross pay. Assuming the couple hundred hangar is $200, and not a more likely $450, that $2400/yr plus $1500/yr annual is $3900. Median 20-25 income is a little less than $37000, so your uninsured storage-only costs are greater than the entire auto budget of the pre-professional American who would be able to start a career. $275/hr (actual 172G here, wet, solo) at 20 hr/yr to maintain currency. "Only" 40-50 hours to your ticket, a license to set the entirety of your disposable income on fire until 250. Did I say 250? That's 500, no one wants a CPL under 500. Then, after $300k to make CPL inst multi and complex, you are qualified to make less than you could doing anything else except most alternatives have health insurance. With all of this said, I think you are otherwise right on the money. Litigation, and consequently the influence of lawyers against liability reform, is both to blame and the starting point to fix the problem.

[@MaxEPR]

I started taking flying lessons in 1966 when I got my driver's license. I had already taken the ground school for free with the Boy Scouts. Fuel was pretty much what automobile gas prices were, roughly $.32 to $.35 a gallon. Dual time was $12 an hour, wet, and solo was $7.00 an hour. The day I soloed, I was working as ground crew for a crop duster in the OK Panhandle. We always operated off roads near the fields we sprayed. This day we ferried from the airport which was unusual. While I was waiting for him to return, my instructor said we should get some more dual time in. After a few turns around the bean patch, he said, "Let me out. I can't take it anymore. Do the next three on our own." When my boss returned, he cut my shirttail off, and we got our Polaroid photos taken together. Plus, he paid for my flight time.

[@daveharrison7970]

Really good vlog. Appreciated the research and the matching the video background to the story. Started my flight training in June 1970 finishing a bit over a year later with a commercial multi engine IFR. My multi time was on a 160 Apache that would climb single engine but it did a number of things that, as I understand, most of them didn't. Thank you.

[@wotajared]

Interesting! In the mid 2000s I was a teenage that had traveled long haul for family visits and so a fascination for aviation grew. I always noticed GA was niche (Europe) but Flight Simulator X pictured this post-war era of Sunday flying that, as for the factors you explain, a millennial middle class kid during the great recession wouldn't be able to afford. At most there are ultralights and I have a middle aged acquaintance who did get into GA somehow. Nowadays living in a city without needing to drive or a car, which are proportionally much more normal and affordable. Being a pilot is now some sort of windfall retirement dream but I do prefer to just stay a passenger, and nap during boring sectors when flying commercial.

[@StripperMonkey]

From a second-generation pilot perspective. Inflation and regulation are the two things keeping young people out of aviation. In the 1990s I was able to buy a Cessna 150 for $7000. Not pretty but she was airworthy and had the STC for 87 octane fuel (auto fuel). I joined an old post-WW2 air club that owned a grass strip and some old shanty hangers. I was able to solo in 6 hours and got my private in 40 hours. From there my father (retired air guard pilot) bought, swapped, and traded several aircraft through the years until the county decided to decommission the airport for a sand pit. We sold everything and stopped flying for a few years. I have been looking to get back into flying again but have found the cost and regulations so prohibitive, that I am afraid I will never get in the air again. Cessna 150 starting at $12k and going up to $50k is crazy. Post 9-11 rules for aviation take a lot of the enjoyment out of flying. For example, we used to fly over our local stadium in an old Pietenpol Air Camper with a smoke system. That will get you put in jail these days. Just my 2 cents but that is what I see as the problem with general aviation today.

[@bradwade4418]

Absolutely love the black and white video, in 1974 my junior year in high school my buddies dad had a partial ownership in a 182, it was hangared right down the street, we'd skip school and going flying, my buddy was 16 I was 15, never had an issue. School never found out, parents never found out, it was no big deal. That story comes up on occasion at gatherings and people look at us like it's a lie. Thanks for this video, love the last few minutes of the video as well!!

[@SlickArmor]

Was it a small airport with a tower? Did you have to walk by the front counter and have it gassed or was it much more laid back where you pump your own gas and what not?

[@robertrunkle9147]

I spent my entire career working as a licensed A&P Mechanic. For over 50 years I was never unemployed, traveled all over the world, raised a family and now in retirement enjoying the fruits of my labors. I restored two Oshkosh award winners over the years and flew for years. What I saw was the more government got involved the more expensive it became. More regulation, more cost. And this didn't just happen to aviation, it happened across the entire economy. Look around, everything you see is regulated buy the government and everything is expensive!

[@alexvaljalo5078]

Great info on aviation it's cool to know what happened I started my lessons in 1976 at Van Nuys Airport Ca. I had about 30hrs then I stop for now I then picked it up again I have 100 hrs then the kids showed up again I stop it's always in the back of my mind NOW LSA came in Sept 04 show I will see about Light Sport Sport thx again keep up the good work

[@easttexan2933]

I agree with all that you said with one exception: I received my PPL in 1965 here in Tx. I had to pass a written exam and I had to fly with a designated flight examiner for a check ride. I flew out of Del Rentzel Field (that's what it was named way back then) in Nacogdoches, Tx. Wonderful little airport back then. Champs rented for $6/hr, C140's for $8/hr, C150 for $9/hr, C172 for 14/hr. CFI got $4/hr. Fuel was very cheap. Best I can remember was less than a $1/gal. Communications were very simple. Flying was freedom and so much fun. It lost is flavor with me once communication became non-stop babble. Cost, as you noted, started going up profusely. I made my last flight in 1988 in a Piper Arrow from Baytown, Tx to Hot Springs, Ark. and back. I've flown once since then.

[@maxsmodels]

Not sure when my old boss took his ride, maybe '61 or even late 50s. Don't think they had a written when my dad got his in the 40s. Don't know when the wriiten came in.

[@easttexan2933]

@@maxsmodels 65 for sure. Life was good in the 50's and 60's. Everything started downhill after that and it is still falling. When I got out of the Marines in 68, I quit going to college because of the stupid campus protests of the war.

[@BillPalmer]

Spot on. Started flying in 1973 as a 16 year old that could afford my own flying lessons. Not many can pull,that off now

[@larryg1947]

After my wife and I were married in 1970, she soon realized that I was flying-obsessed, so my 1973 birthday surprise was a complete 35-hour private pilot's course (minimum training at the time) for $995 at Houston Hobby's Lori's Flight School. I earned my PPL at the 35-hour minimum and later went on to score an instrument rating. At the time, Cessna 150's rented for $15/hr. (dry) and 80 octane avgas was very economical as others have mentioned. I've owned four planes over the years and thoroughly enjoyed them all despite once being asked by an elderly gentleman, "Boy, why are you pissing away your money on flying?" He never would have understood.

[@txdave2]

I flew my first lessons out of Hobby in 1970. I think I paid something like $20 per hour for a Cessna 150 with an instructor. After 7 hours we flew over to La Porte and I flew my first solo at the ripe old age of 17. Fast forward about 30 years and I got my tail wheel endorsement in a 1946 Aeronca Champ. In 2015 I flew my first flight in my homebuilt Sonex. After two heart attacks I sold my Sonex and am having fun flying RC airplanes. I do miss flying "full scale" airplanes.

[@larryg1947]

@@txdave2 Did you fly the C-150 out of Cruse Aviation, the Cessna dealer? Lori's Flight School, where I learned to fly, was a short distance north of Cruse on the same (west) side of Hobby field. I soloed at Spaceland (no longer there), but took my PPL check ride with G.B. Story at Laporte. I also miss flying, but as the video points out, it's become entirely cost prohibitive.

[@txdave2]

@@larryg1947 I can't recall the name of the school. I do remember my instructor was Mason Pearsol and the plane was a brand new 150... N6959G. I initially started out at a school at Hobby that was teaching in the Cherokee 140. Showed up for a scheduled lesson one day to find the school had closed down. So, I walked next door to another school and the rest is history. I was 17 then...69 now.

[@arthurcharles936]

Attaining my PPL in 1970 , I thoroughly enjoyed this video!!! Thanks and please keep it going.

[@Conn653]

I soloed August 8, 1968, took my ppl written in January 1969 and check ride in February 1969. Then graduated high school in 1970. My Solo was in a C-150 and my ppl check ride in a Piper PA-22-108 Colt. I miss those days of fun flying 🙂

[@The-GreenHornet]

My dad got his airplane license back in the early 70's. Throughout my childhood my dad owned many simple airplanes; mostly tail dragers: Piper Cubs, Clipper, T craft. Stenson. Cessna 195, Maule M5 were what he owned. Lots of memories and experiences. That life was so simple back then.

[@cojaxart8986]

Thanks Max! Great video. Loved the photos!

[@Cavalier-lp8tr]

I think you covered the topic very well. It's important to point out (so far) aviation is weathering the current economy, partially due to the experimental home built segment and money raised to counter the pilot shortage.

[@smartysmarty1714]

You nailed it on every single point, but I think the supreme point was the liability costs, which is why Cessna (and maybe some others?) stopped making GA aircraft for quite a few years. They resumed once that was sorted out, but the new prices reflected the carnage. I wish my dad was still alive, because he got his ticket in around 1960 and I'd love to ask him about his check-ride and written requirements. He bought a new 182 in '68 for (I believe 17K) and another more loaded one in '73 for about 23K if my 10 year old mind at the time is correct. One of the partners got into a porpoise with the '68 and bent up the firewall, but that's a whole other story. By the time I got licensed in around 1993, a lot had changed. I partnered with a guy and we bought a '58 Cessna 182 for 38K, and considered it a steal at the time. And it wasn't IFR, either.

[@burntoutaussie4005]

Hi there. .. I learned too fly powered aircraft, . . .( Oops,. . .sorry Airplanes ) in the early 1970s, after emigrating to Australia from the UK. I'd already been flying gliders with the RAF Air cadets, so I had an inkling of flight already. . . . I was trained on the ubiquitous Cessna 150, an aircraft which was a popular trainer in the 1970s. The cost of my training was thirteen Aussie dollars per hour for the aircraft; including the instructor. I was sent solo in six and a half hours. One of my instructors, was a Gentleman called Dave Squirrell, who was also a professional Ag pilot. . . . .He taught me many ways in which to prevent my early demise,. . .which weren't in the syllabus ( ! )

[@keithd.glasgow809]

Beautiful production - the song & slide show were superb.

[@RR-zq3mk]

All the loser families who were sue happy played a major role in increased cost.

[@MalachiWhite-tw7hl]

Some people live for that; they see a lawsuit as their ticket to a better life.

[@rutledgefuller2668]

Hello Max....From Tallahassee, Florida! I clicked on the video because of seeing the Piper Colt. Brings me back to you and Donivan.

[@rjobrien7805]

Nice video. The future of GA for the middle class is probably light sport and home built experimental aircraft.

[@maxsmodels]

Agreed.

[@kazsmaz]

All these safety rules the FAA put out have just forced people to buy older and less safe aircraft.

[@daytonasixty-eight1354]

Yes. Little two seat aircraft that are slow and can barely take you anywhere or carry any baggage. How exciting to pretty much stay within the same 50NM of home. No thanks. I'd rather have something that can actually cruise across a state without taking all day.

[@emersoncaicedo3146]

@@daytonasixty-eight1354then pay for the brand premium. Have fun paying over $60k for an old Cessna 172. $35k and up for a nice Cessna 150, how is that even remotely affordable for a young pilot?

[@zen8791]

@@daytonasixty-eight1354 the mosaic rule is changing that all new gross weight is 2500 plenty of weight for fuel and baggage

[@bobdobalina838]

Thank you for the wonderful video, I agree completely. growing up in the 70s. My father had a Luscombe 8 and he would take me up flying, great memories. And the thing is, he was able to afford it on an academic budget, he was a professor. Oh what great days they were. (Update: Perfect outro song, brought tears to my eyes remembering the good days.)

[@wkelly3053]

My first flight in a light plane was in 1972 with my older brother, a brand new pilot. We flew from rustic, and long gone, Fremont Airport near the southern mud flats of SF Bay, between the Nimitz freeway and the dump. You approached the rough runway between two power poles. At night, you would aim to cross between and above the two red lights on the poles. How’s that for a glide path indicator? In the late 1970’s when I had my license, I could still rent a 150 for under $20/ hour, wet.

[@xealen2166]

I''ve always wanted to become a hobbyist pilot. my Dad learned how to fly in the early 70s! I'm 24 and got a great programming job out of college, but even now looking at the costs I don't think I can justify it. Maybe in a few years. great video

[@Caseydid]

I began flying in 1962. I still have my receipt for my first 1 hour lesson in a Piper Colt N5367Z for $18.00 wet. Those days are gone forever.

[@jamesstephenpeyton3305]

I started instructing in the late 60’s. Many students with very few hours would buy their own plane to finish their license and build hours for their commercial ticket. That’s how I have 47 different types in my log book. In 1970 a Champ went for $14/hr and the pilot 6/hr. Collingwood, Ontario.

[@ltcajh]

My uncle, a South Dakota cowboy ( now deceased), would fly a plane low to the ground frequently. My dad said he doesn’t think he ever bothered to get a license! So he was flying in the 1970s till about ten years ago.

[@maximiliantomasoski4032]

The classic slideshow with music at the end is a fantastic touch

[@Steve-sh9lj]

I’m glad I found your channel, your videos are always to the point and very informative

[@timothyirwin8974]

Your voice sounds familiar. Do you have another YT site also about aircraft?

[@bruceportersr9880]

That's pretty fun. Sure brings back some good memories. I only got a license because I was a skydiver and all of our pilots were leaving so I decided I could jumpmaster and fly at the same time. I was stationed with the Army in Panama at the time, 1970s. Basically living in paradise. As I recall I licensed at 40 hrs, and I think it cost me under $1500 including plane rentals. I'd get off and we'd decide to fly from Colon to Panama city for dinner. Couple of newlyweds enjoying life and each other. Got back to the states, had 6 children (yay) and never got back to it. But what fun!

[@EricCraig-km4sb]

I flew a Funk! It was for sale, based out of Livermore CA. About 1981 I think. The owner was a great guy. And thank you for the video.

[@simonevans343]

Most informative Most enjoyable Thank you for your two cents worth

[@rcfalcon56MkII]

Having flown in the '70s, things were still affordable. Renting the Cherokee 140 and later the Warrior version was about $20 an hour. With instructor; $30 an hour. This was a "wet" rental as fuel was included. Then the lawyers came along with fuel costs. We had a Cessna 140 based at the airport where I worked that crashed and the liability lawyers sued saying the plane should have met current safety standards. It went downhill from there.

[@nunyabidness3075]

That’s a decent summary, there’s a few things I’d add or change. I was in the industry in the 2000’s, and when it looked like private aviation could make a comeback, there was another round of attacks and a recession. One little thing, flight schools lost the sales and distribution which had been a profitable part of the business while forcing manufacturers to hear what new pilots were saying and doing about their products. I could talk about this all day, but one necessary fix is that certification costs need to come WAY down while standards need to be raised. No one should be able to make a plane to 1970’s safety standards and still sell it (looking at you, Cessna). I’d also like to point out that we’ve sold our small aircraft knowledge to dictators while destroying our own industry. Now, there’s a war going on with drones transforming the battlefield. Are we going to let the FAA destroy our RC and Drone community as it’s done to private flying? Anyone whose read much military history should realize what a foolish, foolish thing we are doing.

[@mrjack8849]

I flew over 60 hours and spent over $15k working on a PPL only to never be able to finish. It took me almost 6 months of waiting and continuing to stay current to get an examiner scheduled since there was no FAA examiner at my flight school. I had examiners cancel on me at midnight before an 8am appointment the next day. I had prepped everything including a full flight plan and they would just cancel with no regard to weather. While waiting for a checkride. I lost my job that helped me pay for flying. I ended up moving somewhere else and was never able to do my PPL checkride and haven't flown a plane since. Probably will never be able to go finish at this point because the costs have gone even higher and other family circumstances. I was paying about $150/hr in 2015 just for the plane. That same flight school charges around $210/hr in 2023 for the same planes. An instructor was an additional $60/hr then and I don't know what it is today. The airport I was doing lessons at was cheaper than several others in my area at the time. At the current rate for 40 hours of flight time, it would be well over $10k at a minimum. My grandfather flew C-47's in WW2 and eventually an airline pilot for Braniff for over 30 years until forced retirement at age 60. I am thankful I got a chance to fly, but disappointed I was never able to finish and fly with family and friends. Most of which never even got to see me fly at all.

[@tinlizzie37]

I took ground school in the winter of 1963, and went down town Cleveland and took the written test, without any air time, and passed!On April 1st 1964 I took my first lesson and soloed on the 8th. after 8hr20min. Bought an old 35 Beech Bonanza for $5000. was 1/3 owner of a Stearman Bi-plane and 1/6th owner of a Republic Sea-Bee !

[@23qflyer]

I started to learn to fly in 1963. I worked as a line boy for a Cessna dealer. I was paid 1 hour of flying time during the school year. In the summertime I worked 7 days per week and was paid 3 hours of flying time . I would never have been able to get my license any other way. After a long absence from flying due to military service and marriage I went back to flying. I got my commercial multi engine license with instrument rating. I worked a full time job to get there. I figured I spent over 60 thousand doing that. Fortunately I have a wonder understanding wife who encouraged my flying career. I don’t think I could do it today for that amount.

[@JehanKateli]

Thanks. You just made me nostalgic for something I never experienced.

[@jimschnase]

I knew a guy who never got a license he was self trained.

[@maxsmodels]

Yowsa!

[@EchoKilo]

I just passed my private pilot checkride last week, part 61 program. After that was complete I am just shy of 70 hours in my logbook and the total cost of my training (less new goodies like a headset and iPad) was just upwards of $16,500.

[@maxsmodels]

OUCH! That actually isn't half bad these days.

[@carltonstidsen8806]

I learned to fly at an Air Force Aero Club. In 1966, the club at Sheppard AFB, TX had two 1959 Cessna 150's. Cost per hour ? $5.00 ..WET. My Instructor (a S/SGT) charged $1.50 per hour . TACH time ! The club also had a T-34 , but that crashed in Utah on an XC . I understand the Cost per hour (Hobbs Time) has gone up a bit ..........into the stratosphere....since . Of course , I was only making $300 a month.....

[@vaseevol]

My CFI was a friend first and I got instructed free. This was 1973. I joined a flying club for $25, bought a new log book, an instruction manual, a computer and hood from a student that quit, and a decent pair of sunglasses. All told, around $75. I paid $7.50 per hour (wet) for a Cessna 150 plus I got a few free hours doing things for the club such as ferrying a 172 from Lexington, KY where it had the Oleo Strut repaired and flying some parts from Knoxville, TN to Smyrna, TN on two occasions. All told, I got my ticket for around $300. The increase in insurance, Av gas and having children took me out of flying, something I regret.

[@austinhall2158]

I’m seeing straight-tail 172s in this video! I’m 23 who loves anything old-school and I’m currently doing my PPL training in a 1958 172. I feel right at home in the plane and I love it!

[@Bromon655]

Ok

[@josephpadula2283]

Frank Kingston Smith’s books like “I rather be flying”, “flights of Fancy” etc showed how cheap it was and fun! In 8th grade about 1972 I cut out a coupon from Flying magazine at school and took a 25 dollar introductory flight in a piper Colt ….

[@johnfranklin4567]

Good Video brought back memories..I Soloed July 18 1978 ina C-150 the plane was 12/hr dry instructor was 7/hr and fuel was about 1.50/gal A far cry from today A172 is 225/hr now wet now.They say there is a pilot shortage the military is not turning them out now like back then and most people cant afford the training much less build time so that means before long your capt on an airliner will dangerously less experienced God help us!

[@jnhumble]

Well-told contemplative reverie ! It certainly mirrors my own aircraft experiences...

[@dwmac2010]

Sadly, those days are over. I think due to the lawyers. I got my ticket in 1970. C150 was $15/hr wet. $3.25 additional if an instructor rode along! Total ticket cost was $585. I miss those days. I had my young heart set on a Piper Arrow, which was advertised for $17k then. It's still a dream. Thanks for the video.

[@ohwell2790]

Right, got my pilot license in 1974 . Learned at a Cessna center total cost was $750. They where not FAA approved yet so flew 45 hrs . Quit Flying because of cost just a memory now.

[@maxsmodels]

sad but common story

[@TechnikMeister2]

Looking at it from an overseas perspective and comparing the license requirements and standards of training, the US is still undertrained in GA. This creates the unusually high accident rate and this has driven up the insurance costs. The other factor influencing the accident rate is the uncontrolled aspect of GA outside the main airports. Here in Australia the hours required to gan a private pilots license is in the order of $30k. Its so much more here bacuse of the vastly higher training hours required. The other aspect is the controlled airspace. You simple are not allowed to pop down to your local aidstrip, rent a plane or take your own up for a flight without a serious flight plan being approved by CASA. Its not much less onerous than a commercial flight and you cannot just take off and go which seems very common in the USA.

[@stevefarris9433]

Learned to fly in the Cherokee 180 while stationed in Hawaii. Got my SEL after 30 hours or so. Used part of the GI bill to pay 90% of the cost. Later certified in the Cessna while stationed in San Diego Ca. By the 1990's the cost of rental was getting above my paygrade and the size of my family. Racked up 2000 hours before I had to pull the plug on my flying days. It was fun.

[@AeroCraftAviation]

Just found your channel; great videos! Really enjoyed this one, learned something.