Hi all,

Here to ask the age-old question, but curious how it may apply to my particular situation (not that it may be that particularly unique). I got my PPL in Oct 2014, with my training roughly split between flying a couple different 150’s and 172’s. I only flew for a couple months after that, not accumulating very many hours as I was still just renting, and at $100+/hr I felt like that restricted me to just flying around for an hour or so here and there (not that flying was any less intriguing, my love for aviation has been lifelong, I just felt like my money was not being well spent in terms of Cost:Practicality ratio). I was fairly new in my career and my financial priority was zoned in on purchasing a home before spending money to buy my own plane.

Fast forward 4 years later and I am now a homeowner and married with no kids. I work a rotating shift that gives me a full 7 days off every 4 weeks plus a couple 3-day breaks in between. I am at a point financially to make a move on pursuing aviation again, but not sure what route I should go and hoping I can learn particularly from those who may be well rounded in owning a few different types of aircraft through the years. Wanting to know why you made the choice you made for first airplane, if/why/when you traded up or down to something else and things you wish you would have done differently looking back on the past.

At this point I’m between two options:

1) Buy a kit and build. Own my forever plane (low, slow, bush-plane style) right out of the gate. Or at least what my personal interests in aviation think I want as a forever plane. Being from NC, Just Aircraft out of SC is a short drive away and I like the idea of local support. Would probably end up with a Highlander if I purchased from them. Obviously the other option in this category is a Kitfox STi build which I personally like more when comparing the 2 on paper. Kitfox is across the country, but what seems to be a larger support community makes up for that somewhat. Would probably just have to find a local owner of each and see/fly them both to make a final decision. I feel pretty confident I would see the build through to the end.

2) Buy a 150, 172, or other comparable plane. $20k-$30k range. Build time, enjoy it, and reconsider a build or something else down the road. Not that building a brand new plane necessarily means that surprise costs cant arise, but some folks are quick to tell horror stories of how owning an old plane is just a constant barrage of outrageous expenses in which case I would rather just make a larger upfront investment to build something new.

Sorry for what feels like was probably a lengthy read, but I feel like giving as much detail as possible about my scenario is the way to get the best opinions from you all. Thanks for any advice!!!