Sport Pilot Talk

A friend of mine is flying up to Oshkosh this year. He usually goes with three of his friends, this year they can't make it so he's looking for someone to go with him. We would be flying his Mooney and it still is a pretty long haul. Also, he is a CFI and mentioned he might just let me fly in the left seat for time building and some free instruction since I'm close to a check ride for light sport and do want to eventually continue on to private. Here is the catch: I'd have to pay 1/2 the expenses, so $40/hour plus half the fuel cost. Add that to the cost of tickets for three days, hotel, and food and that's going to be expensive.

So for those that have gone before, from your perspective is it worth it? I know that's a dumb question the responses will probably be YES why are you even asking?!?! But are there generally a good number of light sport kit/manufacturers represented or would I be better off (more bang for my buck) going to say Sebring or another light sport tailored event to go sit in a few demo planes I might consider building/buying?

Yes it is worth it, especially for someone who has been asking about building an airplane.

Just curious, where does the $40 per hour come from? Is it a club or rental airplane?

40 is 1/2 of his hourly expenses (80/hour total). So he would cover half and I'd cover the other half. He is a joint owner so they treat it like a club type deal, everyone splits the fixed costs per month based on their percentage and pays one responsible individual for each hour of use who keeps that for maintenance, annual, upgrades etc. Come to think about it that may be a "wet" estimate, I assumed it was not, but I'll have to check to be sure.

Flying into Oshkosh is 100% worth it, it should be on every pilot's bucket list. And it's not hard to do, the procedures are well laid out and not difficult to follow. I flew my CTSW from Georgia to the show two years ago, it was a great experience. I know your friend is flying, but some time you should consider flying yourself -- it's a huge confidence builder to successfully fly into what is "the busiest airport in the world" during the show period.

Absolutely worthwhile! Just make sure you have a place to sleep (hotel, camping.) I only wish I had the opportunity to ride along with someone to learn how to fly into Oshkosh.