So many choices

In today's world of recreational flying there are almost too many choices available to the new airplane owner.

You can pretty much buy or build anything you want, from powered parachutes (insane by my standards) to gliders, to personal helicopters to 4 seat speed machines to flying boats, even personal jets (yes, people have built their own jets, from scratch, it has been done) and everything in between.  I saw evidence of this at Oshkosh.

Capabilities such as different ranges, speed, load carrying capacity and  materials used all mix together to offer anything an owner could want or need.

Layer on top of this endless paint and colour schemes, avionics and powerplant choices.

The sky is the limit if you can excuse the horrible pun.  I'm not interested in just buying my way back into the air.  I want to create something and be the master of my aircraft.

Everything one decides they want in an aircraft is a compromise of choices.  The goal is to get the best balance of options which gets you closest to the mission your aircraft is designed for.

So what is the mission?  That's is what needs to be defined within the scope of what one wishes to invest (and let's be honest it most times comes down to $$$). 

The best thing is to make a list of priorities of what I want the aircraft to do, use those priorities to guide the choices that get me there.  It's a lot to think about and anyone has to be realistic in expectations.

For my example, I'm going to work this logic somewhat backwards and talk about my "mission" first, then try to mesh priorities and choices together.

As you can see from my previous posts, my overriding mission is to get flying again.  It's where my heart is.

Okay so I need a licence (check, already got that) and an airplane.    Next in my definition of the mission: What do I plan on doing with an airplane?

The airplane will be for recreational use with the possibility of eventually instructing in it.  So it logically follows it must have 2 or more seats.

I hate government red tape.  I need to find a way that has the least government involvement as possible.

I want the ability to take someone with me - I get great joy sharing flight with anyone.

I don't need to go fast or do a thousand mile leg all at once, but I would like something with decent speed and range for those occasional longer trips.

Eventually I'd like to put it on floats.  I don't need to haul 500 pounds of gear, but it sure would be nice to pack an overnight bag or fishing gear or both.

I have a night rating, would sure be nice to use it.

I need this to be economical.  Nobody can expect any hobby to cost nothing, but I don't have access to an endless pool of cash either. Fixing mechanical issues myself (within the scope of my abilities) is appealing for this reason.  So is being able to use normal automotive fuel vs 100LL aviation fuel.  The price spread between the two is worth investigating.  Government red tape usually is a big drain on economics as well.

So my mission is fairly well defined.  Now to prioritize, in order of importance.  Here is where compromise is considered:

1. Economical
2. Two seats (side by side)
3. High wing (visibility from cockpit and future installation of floats/skis for year round use)
4. Range
5. Payload

Fortunately, my priorities fall reasonably well into what the average person would call a standard light airplane.  Still the options are many, but there are a number of ultralights available in today's marketplace that meet at the intersection of personal priorities and mission.

Now to stop window shopping and start looking for just that match.