Owning your own aircraft is a dream for many.
Owning a microlight should be the cheapest means of aviating. But alas - in these parts it seems it's not so affordable. Fortunately I currently have access to a hanger on a farm - but it's recent become very crowded.
I have owned my XT912 trike now for a year. In the whole time I have owned it, there has been No hangerage come available at our local airport (YHBA). And it's seems it's a very 'who you know' community. There is however hanger land available in blocks of 600m2 - that's a very large hanger - 20x30m! After hanger construction, lease costs for such a block are $20k plus per annum, plus rates and power. So not really an option.
I have started asking people I know in the area with farm property - but everyone seems rather shy of the idea fearing the worst case scenario.
Option three could be to buy my own land. Build a house and fly from the backyard. But a suitable sized property would be at least $400k, plus rates etc. Then we'd have to sell our current house in town and build a house. I guess buying a property with a house already on it is an option, but they start at $500k for a run down renovator. (I'm not that rich).
My last option seems to be to get a trailer and store the trike at home. But by the time I rig the wing there won't be much time to fly due to thermals, sea breezes or darkness setting in. And, there are no suitable ways to access an airstrip to rig and derigg as required. (probably worse wear and tear than in the current hanger).
So I see 5 possible options that will work for the time being.
1. Stay where I am (I pay for hanger space) and move trikes around every time I want to fly. (risk mine getting damaged).
2. Make some new friends with property.
3. Win lotto and buy property.
4. Get a trailer - oh wait - I'll never fly then due to setup time and additional wear and tear.
5. In consideration of 4, sell my trike and forget about flying
Can anyone help me please?
Conclusion.
So - when you consider learning to fly and owning your own aircraft... don't worry about the cost of learning to fly, or the cost of buying, or registering, or insuring, or maintaining an aircraft. It will be the cost and inconvenience of finding a suitable hanger with maintained runway that will be your nemesis.
Aircraft >$20k. Annual fees >$1k5. Hanger >$250k.(unless you already have suitable property).
No - I didn't do my research properly before I got into this activity - but maybe this will help others before they do.
Thank you for your time.