So, yeah - it's a real thing, at least for some of us
I live in what many would call an aviator's heaven on earth - very functional, charted grass strip bisecting the family farm with a spacious new house on what the appraisers assure me is the most beautiful building site in the county. The 6A sits in a hangar about 100 yards from my back door. With 930 hours on her, she's holding up well, and at 60 years young, I am, too.
That said, I don't take her up for an around-the-patch as often as I used to. Weather and my schedule can mean unintentional lulls of six weeks or more between flights. I averaged about 50 hours a year until the house fire; hardly 20 hours in the past year. I don't own a boat, but was raised on the water and spent more hours trolling the Chesapeake Bay for bluefish as a kid than I care to recall. There are no other leisure pursuits that vie for my time besides being a husband, father and step-dad. I have a half-built RV-10 kit that I have scarcely touched since I bought it in that condition in December, except to inventory contents and arrange safe storage. True, I've been busy getting the new basement converted to an airplane factory, but even that has been at a deliberate half-speed so that my family does not complain about my absence, physically or emotionally.
Would I consider selling the 6A to raise funds to finish the 10 faster? No way! Even though she's a hangar queen most weeks, there is something I just can't stand about having her down for maintenance and unavailable to fly if the urge strikes. The new smell wore off a long time ago. I no longer get torqued if the paint chips after 18 years, or the wheel pants chatter a bit, or the occasional tank rivet weeps a brown mogas stain. She's long in the tooth but she's a good, reliable mount and I can fly her like wearing a second skin. It's just that our relationship has changed. She has shown me the local landscape so many times, I don't have to fly over it again to have it vivid in memory. Cross-countries only happen when child care is available and Lorri and I can clear our schedules. The plane and I know what each other is thinking without having to have long pilot-to-plane talks, so to speak. She has become like the college friend who lives hundreds of miles away and only calls on birthdays and Christmas - you pick back up effortlessly where you left off, trust them with your deepest secrets - but the relationship is decidedly low-maintenance.
That's just me, but I'm being honest. My low yearly hours aren't from having to drive a half hour to some airport, or from high costs of ownership and operation. They may result in part from not being based in a community of aviators who share my passion and would let me borrow their expertise and inspiration. Aviation connects me with VAF and other pilots, but it can still be a lonely and sometimes intimidating pursuit if you are based at home. Upsides and downsides.
Sounds like it's time to host another fly-in and garner some camaraderie.
