Anyone have a pilots license or planning to get one?  I'm considering getting my private pilot license this year and doing a group buy for a plane.  I could use it to travel inter-island to teach classes, attend competitions, and other 2A activism work.  And take guests for tours.  My bucket list item would be to spend a couple weeks flying cross country on the mainland.

Only cost $78 rt interisland, so it will be more expensive to fly on your own.  Fuel, landing fees, parking the aircraft, maintenance,  yikes!  If looking for convenience,  ease of packing guns, etc, might be worthwhile for you, but it won't be cheaper than taking a commercial flight.

Thought about it years ago.   No money or time, now I am an olde farte.

Owning an airplane seems from the outside like owning a boat, but more expensive.   
Cannot do much of the work on it yourself either, unless you are FAA certified mechanic.
They cost $$$

Renting a plane now and then was my thought, back when.  No idea how much that costs.

dont

hnl.flyboy is flying commercial on the mainland...

I've got a friend whose son is flying cargo, needs to get 1500 hours flight time and then 500 more passengers. I can try to get info for you.

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I’m a pilot. I fly professionally so don’t really fly small planes anymore, but what do you want to know?

Only cost $78 rt interisland, so it will be more expensive to fly on your own.  Fuel, landing fees, parking the aircraft, maintenance,  yikes!  If looking for convenience,  ease of packing guns, etc, might be worthwhile for you, but it won't be cheaper than taking a commercial flight.

It's more for the experience than for the money.  I'm the type of person that does things the hard way.

I’m a pilot. I fly professionally so don’t really fly small planes anymore, but what do you want to know?

Recommendations on flight schools, leaning toward part 61.  A friend recommended George's but someone else says their planes crash.  Looking to get my private pilot's license, then do a group buy  for a 4 seater plane, then get my instruments and commercial license eventually.  I might do some small side jobs later, but not pursuing a career.

I'd also like to spend a couple weeks going cross country on the mainland.  Seeing the sites and making lots of stops.  Any experience with that?

I did all my training on the mainland, but I know some people who got their ratings through George’s, which seems like it’s one of the few options out here in Hawaii. I haven’t heard anything bad about them. If you don’t plan on doing this professionally and aren’t in a rush part 61 would probably be the way to go. If you want all your ratings quickly part 141 would be the way to go, and would probably be cheaper in the long run, but takes a lot of money up front and you need a lot of time to do it. (Basically as much time as like a full time job) but if you wanna fly all over I’m pretty sure a school like ATP has their students build time like that. My buddy just checked into it for his fiancée and I think current going rate for all the ratings through commercial and CFI is about $85 k. Granted it can take a lot more than that figure if your training stalls for any reason or you need extra training or help. As for the ATP schools they’re all over the country and from what I hear vary greatly on the level of training from school to school, but you can find which ones are good on online forums, or just pick a place you wanna live for the next year and a half to two years or so. Not sure what your work/life situation is, but assuming that’s unrealistic as you most likely have a job, and said that’s not your focus. If you’re not in a rush though and want a plane that wouldn’t be a bad way to either. If I would’ve bought a cheap152 or piper or something to build time and done all my training in that might’ve worked out to similar to what it cost me or possibly even less. As for flying cross country and seeing the sites might be a little tough to do renting a plane as most schools/rental places charge by the hour of flight time, so they’re only making money while the plane is up in the air. Might make it a little bit tough to find a place willing to rent it out long term like that as there would be a lot of time the plane is spending on the ground, so they’d be losing money or at least not making as much as they could if they were renting it out locally where they could rent it out for say two hours at a time four times a day vs say four hours over the course of two or three days, but it definitely can be done.
Sorry for the long post and there is a lot more but if you got any more questions or want details just ask. I haven’t been in training or small planes for a while though lol

My cousin and a friend of mine both got their pilot's license from the Air National Guard.  This was awhile ago and both passed away years ago.

As for flying cross country and seeing the sites might be a little tough to do renting a plane as most schools/rental places charge by the hour of flight time, so they’re only making money while the plane is up in the air. Might make it a little bit tough to find a place willing to rent it out long term like that as there would be a lot of time the plane is spending on the ground, so they’d be losing money or at least not making as much as they could if they were renting it out locally where they could rent it out for say two hours at a time four times a day vs say four hours over the course of two or three days, but it definitely can be done.

I'm hoping a friend will loan me a plane.  Or I'd chip in for one of them to buy one.

I'd do sailing instead.
cheaper, you can drink on the job,
and you don't have to get permission
to do what you want.
There are lots of rules either way, but
on a boat you can always heave to and
batten down the hatches.

part of my resume
Journeyman shipwright,
20+ years as a Boeing engineer.
So I know boats and airplanes.

My dad had a friend who was part owner of a plane. I guess it was sort of like a time share. You paid a certain fee and you could reserve it for certain days.

I am thinking about getting a license to fly an ultralight when I retire and building one in my garage however I don't think they are advised for interisland travel.