my kids love barney, Jake and the neverland pirates, doc mcstuffins and team umi zoomi.

I'm okay with that.

they really are hooked on breaking stuff and recreating tornadoes, ambulance trips to the hospital, blocks, sudoku, toy cars, this red car in the backyard, calligraphy, hair bows, things that aren't toys ( that's their favorite) and this massive $30 teddy bear at costco. they also like when they can climb all over dada.

I went too see how much it'd be to rent a Cessna 172 to take the kids flying one day. $150-$170/hr and $50/hr for cfi. hmmm... and it's a 5 hour checkout if it's a Cessna 172 with Garmin 1000. 5 hours? yes, because it has efis. oh? they told me going from steam gauges to efis would take a while.

sweet. don't sign me up.

Wow!...I have been thinking of doing the same thing, but that is crazy. 7$ avgas/gallon doesn't help. You obviously didn't tell them you flew the mighty mad dog! They would have asked you for a little instruction. Could even share the "half efis view skills" you've acquired.

On another note....I am happier with the choice of reps running. Don't forget to vote. Took me less than 1 minute after pulling up the ballot.

I'm surprised you didn't say "grab that box of cylinder heads and put in the back as far as you can...I'm about to show you how to spin the %#€% out of a Cessna."

Shop around, you should be able to find an older 172 for ~$110-120. Still expensive, yeah. Five hour checkout for any 172 is insanity, can dang near solo a new student in that time! On the other hand...depending on how long since you've flown a small plane, might take a few hours to get you to stop flaring at 50 feet! :D

Flying clubs are the way to go for economical flying these days. Better yet, get to know an older bugsmasher pilot who's not getting up as much and volunteer to exercise his airplane occasionally in exchange for safety pilot/CFI work. There are a ton of 70-80 yr old airplane owners who have lost their medical or are barely holding onto it.

I'm in one small informal flying club around a '49 Cessna 170A. It's $50/hr dry, bout $85-90/hr once you put gas in it. I also have a 1/12 share in a '46 Piper Cub, very basic 75 hp with no electrical system...only $50, wet, per tach hour on a slow-running tach. Doesn't go anywhere fast but you can't beat the fun for the money! Long story short, if you're looking to get back into flying small planes, yeah, it's more expensive than you remember, but you can do a lot better than renting a brand new $300k C172 :eek:.

I hit my maximum this year for health insurance. Next year I will spend $1900 more ($1000 coinsurance maximum, $450 premium, $450 deductuble) for the exact same coverage if I max out again. About a 20 percent increase. I'm just saying for anyone who hasn't looked yet. Good thing we are getting raises.....or cost of living increases.


I also read that the flexibile spending maximum is only $2500. I don't understand. I thought Obama made healthcare more affordable. It seems to me the exact opposite is happening.

Used to be that being an airline pilot meant being able to indulge in private flying, own your own plane, teach your kids to fly, etc...

Nowadays it's either kids or a plane, but not both. :(

It's good to know that all that Alaska feed will now feed Korean Air, instead of our Pacific ops... I guess this explains the lack of widebody orders!

Just take a look at what's happened in NYC to our transatlantic ops, and you'll get a taste of what's to come out in the Pacific. So, without further ado, here's the answer to the HND problem, as I predicted...

Delta Air Lines Inc. and Korean Air Lines Co. are in talks to expand a decade-old marketing joint venture that has been overtaken by closer alliances among their rivals.



The discussions signal that relations between the second and third largest carriers across the Pacific have warmed since Delta's failed attempt two years ago to buy a stake in Japan Airlines Co., which would have shifted Delta's emphasis to Tokyo at the expense of Seoul. The Delta-JAL talks fell apart after the Japanese carrier opted to remain in an alliance with Delta rival American Airlines.


The airline industry is increasingly moving away from loose global alliances toward deeper pacts between individual airlines that, with regulators' blessing, have allowed them to coordinate fares, flight schedules and marketing, and pool revenues and profit.
Though Delta has pursued individual alliances on trans-Atlantic routes, it doesn't have the same level of cooperation on routes to and from Asia enjoyed by some members of the rival Oneworld and Star airline marketing alliances, despite a small deal with Virgin Australia Holdings Ltd.
John Jackson, Vice President Marketing for the Americas at Korean Air, said talks are under way with Delta to expand their existing cooperation, which now includes the ability to cross-sell seats on each others' flights and some limited use of the antitrust immunity granted by competition authorities in 2002.


"[The talks] have become more active," said Mr. Jackson, who declined in recent interview to detail the scope of the discussions.

Standby for the DALPA cheerleading squad to come on here and tell us that it's actually good for the pilot group.

5 hours as a "true checkout" sounds crazy.

couple hours of just sitting in plane learning the G1000 is time well spent though. its quite nifty!