Guys... a thought occurs to me. I am in Greece on vacation. Left the backcountry behind to take the wife and girls on a trip. Since I have been here, I have not seen.... heard..... observed.... and single small airplane in the sky --nadda.... nothing..... zip.... zero.
I am eternally thankful that in our United States... I can fire up the old 182 and go damn near anywhere I want, without asking anyone.
I will never take that privilege for granted. And woe unto the politician or beaurocrat that tries to change that situation.
Cheers,

DITTO!, DITTO!, DITTO!

flightlogic wrote:Guys... a thought occurs to me. I am in Greece on vacation. Left the backcountry behind to take the wife and girls on a trip. Since I have been here, I have not seen.... heard..... observed.... and single small airplane in the sky --nadda.... nothing..... zip.... zero.
I am eternally thankful that in our United States... I can fire up the old 182 and go damn near anywhere I want, without asking anyone.
I will never take that privilege for granted. And woe unto the politician or beaurocrat that tries to change that situation.
Cheers,

I am thankfull too but they're trying to change it. They've already changed a lot of things. Remember to vote in every election that comes up no matter how small.

We met a fantastic couple from Australia at Mineral Bottom UT a couple of weeks ago. Both pilots, they find that it is cheaper to have bought an '01 182 and a hangar in Arizona than to maintain/fly in Australia. They come over for two months at a time. USER FEES! They told us the fees started out small, but have grown grossly huge. Also no backcountry type strips over there. We were told "You guys have no idea how lucky you are!".

Flightlogic, we need a trip report when you get back! Last November I was at the bottom of Spain and Portugal. In 4 weeks I saw 2 Cessna's that looked like 172's. I decided I would rent a plane outside Portiamo, Portugal in a little city called Montes de Alvor. There was actually a flight school there and I was told they had two planes I could rent, a Cessna One Five Two or a One Seven Two. I didn't take my Pilot's license so I would need to go with an instructor who was an airline pilot. They said they could call him and he would go up with me.

Then we got to the price. The One Five Two was just under $200 an hour. The instructor was $50 an hour and the fuel was going to be around $70 an hour! I didn't even ask what a One Seven Two would cost. I figured I would be home in a couple weeks and could fly my own One Five Zero for $15/hr so I thanked him and sat around and waited for someone to fly in or out. No one did. There was a cafe there and it was packed with what looked like pilots and some hotties. Parking lot was full of new Mercedes, Porche's and the like.

I think it is a very rich man's sport in Europe. Seemed a lot like a Marina where people buy a yacht and then never take it out. Just hang around and tell each other lies. Oliver, if your out there maybe you can tell us more what it is like to Fly in Europe? Also, are you going to the Red Bull Air races?

Fisherman wrote:

flightlogic wrote:Guys... a thought occurs to me. I am in Greece on vacation. Left the backcountry behind to take the wife and girls on a trip. Since I have been here, I have not seen.... heard..... observed.... and single small airplane in the sky --nadda.... nothing..... zip.... zero.
I am eternally thankful that in our United States... I can fire up the old 182 and go damn near anywhere I want, without asking anyone.
I will never take that privilege for granted. And woe unto the politician or beaurocrat that tries to change that situation.
Cheers,

I am thankfull too but they're trying to change it. They've already changed a lot of things. Remember to vote in every election that comes up no matter how small.

Vote freedom 1st. Politicians that support policies that diminish our freedoms need to be shown the door!

Good day

flynbeekeeper wrote:We met a fantastic couple from Australia at Mineral Bottom UT a couple of weeks ago. Both pilots, they find that it is cheaper to have bought an '01 182 and a hangar in Arizona than to maintain/fly in Australia. They come over for two months at a time. USER FEES! They told us the fees started out small, but have grown grossly huge. Also no backcountry type strips over there. We were told "You guys have no idea how lucky you are!".

This is scary, because I think this is where the Feds want to take us.

I've spent a bit of time in Europe and it is a rare occassion to see a GA aircraft fly overhead. I had just arrived at Lake Como in Northern Italy and was walking to our hostel when I saw a plane taxiing out. It was some version of a Lake that came out of a hanger, across the street, down the ramp, and taxied out on the lake for takeoff. Of course we had to stop and watch it. Only once in a few times I've seen a GA plane over there.

We are definately lucky and can't take it for granted.