Bad financial decisions

[WacoFan]

If it flies or floats, there used to be saying. Some of y’all are financially brave

Scenario One: USMCmech can keep the airplanes he can afford and enjoy to enrich his life, create bonding moments with his children, pursue an enjoyable hobby and make friends with other like minded people.

Scenario Two: USMCmech can sit quietly with his children around the kitchen table discussing how much money they are saving by eschewing anything a normal person would consider fun and then searching for open time that will pay a premium.

I know what I would choose.

 

[WacoFan]

It's got an IO-360 putting out 180hp. After flying acro in a 118hp 7ECA this thing is a rocketship. The open cockpit is loud but I love it.

I'm still focused on mastering the landing in this airplane and just Monday finally landed it at my home airport with a 45 ft wide runway. I'm almost completely blind in the flare, but centerline is centerline no matter how wide the runway is.

How is the wind turbulence in the cockpit? I've been some open machines that beat you up...and others like my grandpa's YPF-7 that you could lay a sectional on your lap. What - if anything - did you fly before strapping on the Pitts? Or did you go straight from Citabria to Pitts? Just sounds fantastic to me and I love the retro'ish scheme with the fishhook stripe - reminiscent of the prototype Pitts (which didn't have a fishhook but similar). Just really cool looking machine you have!

 

[USMCmech]

How is the wind turbulence in the cockpit? I've been some open machines that beat you up...and others like my grandpa's YPF-7 that you could lay a sectional on your lap. What - if anything - did you fly before strapping on the Pitts? Or did you go straight from Citabria to Pitts? Just sounds fantastic to me and I love the retro'ish scheme with the fishhook stripe - reminiscent of the prototype Pitts (which didn't have a fishhook but similar). Just really cool looking machine you have!

It's there but it's not too bad. If I sit up too high, I can feel the slipstream trying to pull my helmet off, LOL.

I went from the Citabria to the Pitts with some transition training in the S-2. I had a fair amount of time in the backseat of the Citabria which isn't the same but is a step towards the S-1.

This plane was built by Sonny Rudderick with help from Curtis Pitts himself back in 1983, so I'd guess that it's pretty close to the original S-1C as you are likely to find.

 

[WacoFan]

It's there but it's not too bad. If I sit up too high, I can feel the slipstream trying to pull my helmet off, LOL.

I went from the Citabria to the Pitts with some transition training in the S-2. I had a fair amount of time in the backseat of the Citabria which isn't the same but is a step towards the S-1.

This plane was built by Sonny Rudderick with help from Curtis Pitts himself back in 1983, so I'd guess that it's pretty close to the original S-1C as you are likely to find.

Damn man. You're already a pro at the "Curtis Pitts helped build my plane personally" humble brag!

You know, Antonio Stradivari actually helped put my fiddle together back in 1698...

 

[USMCmech]

If it flies or floats, there used to be saying. Some of y’all are financially brave

My two airplanes are both paid for in cash and combined cost less than half a years salary. Annual upkeep on simple airplanes like these is not insignificant but well within my budget (my son's after school tutoring cost more than hangar rental). Yes, there can be some big ticket surprises but insurance helps with that. They both have held their value and I can easily sell them for the original purchase price.

There are a LOT of things that ownership opens up that renting can't give you. First off, nobody else touches much less flies my airplane but me. It's always exactly how I left it a week ago. I don't have to worry about what the last guy did or if the flight school is properly maintaining it. I can go from getting out of my truck to rolling down the runway in 10 minutes and haven't even decided where I want to fly today. These types of planes are not available to rent anywhere so owning is the only way to fly them. Money wise, it's a lot different when the hourly rate is mostly just Avgas (and neither of these are particularly thirsty). Waiting in line for takeoff for 15 minutes is different when it only means 1/4G of gas.

The joy I've gotten out of my planes is worth every penny.

 

[Kingairer]

Until your tenant doesn’t pay rent. I’ve gone through this. 3 times to court. Only insta and TikTokkers with zero rental experience thinks this is easy breezy as a landlord.



True, with debt snowball. Though if one wants to payoff a higher debt account because it has a higher interest rate, knock yourself out.



$1000 first, and then the 3-6 month after debt snowball. I would agree you can save for an emer fund first if you’d like.





Should never have gotten that car payment in the first place. No one needs to show off. People should know when they can’t afford it.

So true. I tried to play landlord for a few years. It went great until it didnt. Calling cops and having stuff thrown out and dealing with the aftermath was enough to tell me I didnt want to do this again. Works for some, didnt work for me, I just dont want to do it. Id rather just invest in some low risk funds in the market and make slow gains averaged over the years than deal with the hassles of rental properties.
If I really wanted it bad enough, Id have to no problem buying a plane. Renting vs. owning a plan is really in different categories. I also subscribe to some of the Die with zero principles.

 

[killbilly]

My two airplanes are both paid for in cash and combined cost less than half a years salary. Annual upkeep on simple airplanes like these is not insignificant but well within my budget (my son's after school tutoring cost more than hangar rental). Yes, there can be some big ticket surprises but insurance helps with that. They both have held their value and I can easily sell them for the original purchase price.

There are a LOT of things that ownership opens up that renting can't give you. First off, nobody else touches much less flies my airplane but me. It's always exactly how I left it a week ago. I don't have to worry about what the last guy did or if the flight school is properly maintaining it. I can go from getting out of my truck to rolling down the runway in 10 minutes and haven't even decided where I want to fly today. These types of planes are not available to rent anywhere so owning is the only way to fly them. Money wise, it's a lot different when the hourly rate is mostly just Avgas (and neither of these are particularly thirsty). Waiting in line for takeoff for 15 minutes is different when it only means 1/4G of gas.

The joy I've gotten out of my planes is worth every penny.

God. This is the way.

I miss my airplane so much.

 

[juxtapilot]

Just curious, for those buying boats and planes, how many of you own your own home free and clear no mortgage?

With a sub 4% interest rate why the hell would I do that? 1M in a fund @ a conservative 8% gain is roughly 6500 a month minus 4500/month mortgage is 2k net gain… That 2k/month could buy a really nice plane/car/boat.

 

[WacoFan]

With a sub 4% interest rate why the hell would I do that? 1M in a fund @ a conservative 8% gain is roughly 6500 a month minus 4500/month mortgage is 2k net gain… That 2k/month could buy a really nice plane/car/boat.

I mean... I'm not a "boat person" really but I wooden speedboats and runabouts will usually cause an erection. I could afford a Vic Carpenter built runabout if I had a spare $2k per month. (This would be for the fuel costs only - the current object of my affection features twin Chrysler 440cid motors.)

 

[Cherokee_Cruiser]

With a sub 4% interest rate why the hell would I do that? 1M in a fund @ a conservative 8% gain is roughly 6500 a month minus 4500/month mortgage is 2k net gain… That 2k/month could buy a really nice plane/car/boat.

Ah yes, the 2020-2021 housing mortgage lottery winners. Enjoy that.



You’re correct on your personal situation. Still something to say about being free and clear. Your fund is unrealized gains, doesn’t mean much until you sell it. Whereas your mortgage payment, P+I, is due every month for the next 30 yrs.

If all goes well, I’m 18 mos from being mortgage-free. Imagine having to only pay property taxes and home insurance as your cost of housing. Could literally go from a major airline CA salary to McDonald’s manager salary and not feel anything. There’s no price IMO you could put on that mental peace waking up everyday.

Just IMO.


Full disclaimer, I’m not sub 3%. I’m at 6.625%. For a 1.1m loan, the amortization schedule shows if paying nothing extra principal ever, and all 360 payments, I’d pay 1.3 mil in interest over the 30 years. Or I pay extra now, get it done in 3.5 yrs, and save 1.15m on interest. That’s $1,150,000 saved on interest.

3.5 yrs of financial snug-ness, no other investments (other than company ESPP which gets a 15% return on a max of 25k stock). After that, the remaining 26.5 yrs of what would have been a mortgage is now all investable with complete, absolute, total peace of mind with no major bills due every month. Just property tax twice a year and home insurance once yearly.

 

[WacoFan]

Everybody has to do what their personal risk tolerance will tolerate. I personally would feel uncomfortable eschewing a 4% or less mortgage if I could create more return with a reasonable risk profile. Others want complete safety. Neither is "correct" if the choice impacts your QOL (not defined as anything more than personal stress/comfort). In all seriousness I guess my one piece of advice would be "one sized fits all solutions and absolutes - ignore them all."

 

[CFIT99]

My two airplanes are both paid for in cash and combined cost less than half a years salary. Annual upkeep on simple airplanes like these is not insignificant but well within my budget (my son's after school tutoring cost more than hangar rental). Yes, there can be some big ticket surprises but insurance helps with that. They both have held their value and I can easily sell them for the original purchase price.

There are a LOT of things that ownership opens up that renting can't give you. First off, nobody else touches much less flies my airplane but me. It's always exactly how I left it a week ago. I don't have to worry about what the last guy did or if the flight school is properly maintaining it. I can go from getting out of my truck to rolling down the runway in 10 minutes and haven't even decided where I want to fly today. These types of planes are not available to rent anywhere so owning is the only way to fly them. Money wise, it's a lot different when the hourly rate is mostly just Avgas (and neither of these are particularly thirsty). Waiting in line for takeoff for 15 minutes is different when it only means 1/4G of gas.

The joy I've gotten out of my planes is worth every penny.

pilot life cycle

spend boat loads of money flying small planes....finally get job that pays me to fly....buy plane I spent so much money on trying to get paid to fly in.