Originally Posted by
N19906
I remember when I went for my private instrument checkride. I had run out of money, and had just enough to pay the examiner, the aircraft rental, and gas for the cross-country drive home. I agreed to fly a cheap desktop sim I had never seen before to cut the cost of the ride.
I couldn't fly that POS to save my life. Spun it, even. Never even got out to the airplane.
That was a long flight back, and a long drive home.
It took about two years for me to save up the cash to start on my ratings again. All strictly pt. 61.
That was nearly thirty years ago, I can't believe how much more expensive it is now.
Yeah, not everybody can do our job. (Some shouldn't.) But money is the #1 reason most drop out or don't even attempt it. Be thankful you were in a position to make it work out, it was hard for all of us.
There are a lot of people on the outside who would love to fly, but the circumstances they were born into make that dream damn near impossible.
I pawned my guitar and amp the day before my private pilot checkride to get the money to pay for it. That ride was $125 in 1989. The same ride today is $450. I miss that Red Fender Strat...
On the "even more ashamed" front, I drove without car insurance for 18 months while making $10/hr as a CFI at DET and without working windshield wipers for 6 months (RainX is awesome). I also illegally lived in a storage unit for 45 days on my $7000 a year CFI income (showered at the gym). All true.