Hello from South Alabama
Posted: Sat Feb 02, 2013 6:27 pm
Hi everybody. My name is Wayne. I'm 56 years old. I always had an interest in airplanes and aviation in general, but never as yet carried out my dreams. The closest I have gotten so far, is building and flying hundreds of RC planes. When I get into something I am the kind that likes to take it to extremes and that has me worried with this LSA bug that I happened to get a year or two ago.
Here's where my head is at, at the moment. My wife and I have been looking buy a bigger house with some land, so in our searches I can't help but search for something that would be the perfect place for an airstrip. One place we found, was the old Golden Pond Airport (28AL) in Ashville, Alabama that's for sale. Sounds like that should get us started in a hurry. The house isn't exactly what we wanted, so the search goes on. To find land that is over 2,000 ft long and 300 ft wide, flat grass, with a livable house in Alabama is a chore. Well, we just recently ran onto 75 acres and a nice house only 25 miles where we live now (still in our comfort zone) that is pretty much open field but the ends are cut out giving 2600 ft length and over 500 ft at the narrowest point and yep, it's flat grass. Yep, sure looks like it was used for flying at one time or another. Looking at the area on the sectional (New Orleans) I see quite a few private airstrips within a 40 mile radious, so this might be the ticket.
Our family is scattered all over the USA with my wife's being mostly in Sebring, FL (how convenient). Also we have kids in Western New York and Kentucky. This is where the plane choice come into play. I would like to have a Kitfox just to train in and something to just play with. It looks perfect for this rural piece of property. For the family visits, I can see where a Ch601/650 might fit that bill. I'm also a Sonex fan since I weigh 145 lbs and 5'8" that might work for me (wife is a little heavier, but I might be able to squeeze her in). I wanted to go E-LSA so when the time comes, take the 16 hr course and be able to do everything myself, but they aren't as readily available so I'll worry about that when the time comes.
Right now this may sound all far fetched, but I have my map (goals) laid out so we will see how it goes. First, sell everything I own. Purchase house and land first. I located an independent instructor nearby (I haven't contacted him yet, so he doesn't know what he's in for). About 5 miles from this property in mind is a fellow that has a private strip, so between the two, I might have some local guidance. Then I'll work on the type of plane(s) and see what's on the used with low time market.
Anyway, that's the basics of my plan. I have a lot more of the details in my head, in my computer and in stacks of notebooks on my desk. Hopefully, I won't be too old by the time I pull all this off, but I'm determined to give it a shot.
Thanks for letting be blab, and I hope you can see why I joined this forum. I have read and really learned a lot over the last few days from many of the great posts here. Taking what I would like to accomplish over a long period of time, I hope I will be able to contribute some valuable information to this group.
Thanks for listening...Wayne
Here's where my head is at, at the moment. My wife and I have been looking buy a bigger house with some land, so in our searches I can't help but search for something that would be the perfect place for an airstrip. One place we found, was the old Golden Pond Airport (28AL) in Ashville, Alabama that's for sale. Sounds like that should get us started in a hurry. The house isn't exactly what we wanted, so the search goes on. To find land that is over 2,000 ft long and 300 ft wide, flat grass, with a livable house in Alabama is a chore. Well, we just recently ran onto 75 acres and a nice house only 25 miles where we live now (still in our comfort zone) that is pretty much open field but the ends are cut out giving 2600 ft length and over 500 ft at the narrowest point and yep, it's flat grass. Yep, sure looks like it was used for flying at one time or another. Looking at the area on the sectional (New Orleans) I see quite a few private airstrips within a 40 mile radious, so this might be the ticket.
Our family is scattered all over the USA with my wife's being mostly in Sebring, FL (how convenient). Also we have kids in Western New York and Kentucky. This is where the plane choice come into play. I would like to have a Kitfox just to train in and something to just play with. It looks perfect for this rural piece of property. For the family visits, I can see where a Ch601/650 might fit that bill. I'm also a Sonex fan since I weigh 145 lbs and 5'8" that might work for me (wife is a little heavier, but I might be able to squeeze her in). I wanted to go E-LSA so when the time comes, take the 16 hr course and be able to do everything myself, but they aren't as readily available so I'll worry about that when the time comes.
Right now this may sound all far fetched, but I have my map (goals) laid out so we will see how it goes. First, sell everything I own. Purchase house and land first. I located an independent instructor nearby (I haven't contacted him yet, so he doesn't know what he's in for). About 5 miles from this property in mind is a fellow that has a private strip, so between the two, I might have some local guidance. Then I'll work on the type of plane(s) and see what's on the used with low time market.
Anyway, that's the basics of my plan. I have a lot more of the details in my head, in my computer and in stacks of notebooks on my desk. Hopefully, I won't be too old by the time I pull all this off, but I'm determined to give it a shot.
Thanks for letting be blab, and I hope you can see why I joined this forum. I have read and really learned a lot over the last few days from many of the great posts here. Taking what I would like to accomplish over a long period of time, I hope I will be able to contribute some valuable information to this group.
Thanks for listening...Wayne