New guy in the sky. I just picked up an abandoned 1962 Debonair in an auction, and put some money and elbow grease into it hoping to make her airworthy again. Well, she flies! But I don't have a pilot license... yet. There are about 15 hours logged in the past. I'm still weighing out keeping it and training, trading for a C172 and training, or selling her to recoup my investment. But, heck, I love this plane. And a friend of mine is a CFII, typed in a Bonanza, and readily available to train me. In the meantime, I'm learning as much about the Deb possible (thanks to BT and the ABS), repainting the tail, and doing some interior upgrades. Maybe I'll go all-in and order a dual yoke and pursue my ticket.

Michael,
you're my kind of guy. I bought a supercub in 1974 and had never flown in an airplane, everyone thought I was nuts. get started flying with your cfii friend and don't look back. enjoy and be safe.

gary

Michael,

I sent you a PM. (Private Message)

Michael: Nice looking Deb!

It appears you may be in Austin - why not join the BT Bunch at lunch on the 15th? See the calendar entry above.

Nice plane and welcome to BT. Glad to see more people doing initial intro post with the pic.
I say go for it with your instructor friend. Why wait?

Tim

Hey, Spike. I am in Austin (AUS). Unfortunately, my schedule has me in HOU on the 15th. But I'll keep an eye out for future meet-ups. Thanks for the invite!

-Michael

Nice plane! If you keep it you will become hooked!

Keep it and learn to fly it! If you sell it and get a 172 you are just wasting time and money because you are going to wind up getting another one like it. You've already been bitten by the Beech bug!

Fly Fly Fly the hard part is over you own a plane Most train and hope someday they can get a plane who says there has to be an order you don't have to have a license to own one just to fly one so learn to fly daniel son fly

Hi, all. Things have evolved some since I posted this introduction early this year. I've put some more money into the Deb, and taken some time in a Cherokee 140 on the way to a PPL. However, flying MY plane is what I want to do. My CFI is very experienced and knowledgeable. Unfortunately, we both have demanding schedules that don't sync up well.

I'd like to meet another qualified CFI that can take some of my training when my CFI is out of pocket. If you or someone you know is in the Austin area (at KAUS), and qualified CFI, please PM me.

Many thanks.

Michael

IMO, stick with the BO for the PPL. There's gotta be several good experienced Beech instructors in your area. Another option might to be sign up for an accelerated PPL course that gets it done in about 2 weeks by flying around the country in your aircraft.

Good fortune to you in your training.
RM

Welcome and why not stick with it, looks good !

Great plane!
Your story sounds familiar.
My hectic schedule made me learn to fly in big blocks of time.
I would take 2 or 3 days or more of vacation and fly 6-8 hrs per day.
You learn quickly that way and don't forget what you learned.
I also recommend computer tutorials for the written and weekend cram courses to pass that test.,
It's not for everybody, but it worked for me.
Keep the Bo!

Thanks for your inputs, guys. I know this plane isn't on the high end, technologically speaking. But the performance and tempered rawness is addictive. The motivation to fly her without a CFI working next to me remains high.

-Michael