Cost of flying as a hobby

**alreadypacked** · 9 March 2011, 09:44

Originally posted by xchaotic View Post

Hi.

Having read some Antoine de Saint-Exupery lately:

I'm interested in flying, something small like a motorised paraglider or a glider would suit me.
Does anyone know the costs associated with said hobby, UK or elsewhere?
It looks as the fuel would not amount to so much, equipment is a one-off cost, I guess the biggest issue would be using some sort of flat land to take-off and hopefully, land...

I would suggest joining a local club before you spend any money. I went on a couple of glider trips and decided it was not for me. I realised when I get in a plane I want to end up somewhere different, not down the road.

**TimberWolf** · 9 March 2011, 09:47

Originally posted by alreadypacked View Post

I would suggest joining a local club before you spend any money. I went on a couple of glider trips and decided it was not for me. I realised when I get in a plane I want to end up somewhere different, not down the road.

Better to be down here wishing you were up there than up there wishing you were down here.

**gingerjedi** · 9 March 2011, 10:18

Paragliding? It's the cheapest form of flying.

I did a few tandem flights off a mountain in Turkey and loved it, when I got back I planned on joining a local club but got scared.

**oversteer** · 9 March 2011, 10:27

Try your local gliding club. Ring them direct and ask for a trial lesson.

It'll be approx £1500-£2000 to go solo (although some clubs offer fixed price) and then about £500/yr after that membership - based on local flying, budget £150 per month based on a couple of flights every other weekend.

I'd try to do the "go solo" bit during a summer benched period, because if you can turn up every day you'd probably go solo over a couple of weeks, rather than stringing it out over odd weekends during summer, winter, etc

Cost of flying as a hobby