Wings on a budget: Soar without breaking bank

For those yearning to fly, the desire can feel like an unreachable fantasy, shadowed by the weight of adult responsibilities. Yet, don’t let that dream fade. This story isn’t just about aspiration; it’s a practical guide to becoming a pilot with a focus on affordability. Discover the path to owning or flying a Light Sport Aircraft (LSA) for leisure or business. The National Pilot License (NPL) in South Africa offers a cost-effective entry into aviation, far less than a traditional Private Pilot License (PPL). With modern, fuel-efficient planes and shared ownership models, flying can be within reach. Embrace the journey, for it changes not just how you see the world, but how you see yourself within it. Mat Sher goes flying in his piece first published on FirstRand Perspectives.


Become a Pilot, learn to fly.

By Mat Sher

To most interested in flying, the urge tickles like a phantom itch that you never imagined you could afford to scratch. Even entertaining the thought can bring with it feelings of guilt, as if the withering gaze of your adult reality, along with its many concerns, is judging you as a wistful child.

However, don’t succumb to the hardening cement boots of ennui just yet. This is a lived story, and with it, a direct roadmap to the sky for any adventurous spirit wishing to become a certified pilot. It also offers affordable avenues to explore becoming an owner of a Light Sport Aircraft (LSA) to use for pleasure or business—perhaps both.

So go ahead, and shamelessly embrace the thought because there are affordably savvy ways of earning your wings. Along with the physical thrill and fun of it all, you can literally change the way you see the world and your place in it. It’s downright existential.

Pink Floyd’s aptly named song, Learning To Fly, perfectly captured this sense of longing. “There’s no sensation to compare to this, suspended animation, state of bliss. Can’t keep my eyes from the circling skies, tongue-tied and twisted, just an earthbound misfit, I.”

My itch started in my early 30s. My partner and I had just bought a house. We were stable but far from financially secure. I began having recurring dreams of being a passenger in an aerobatic Pitts Special. The pilot was attempting to scare the living daylights out of me by pulling off the most dangerous and outrageous manoeuvres while I was screaming, “Is that all you got…”

After sharing with my partner how vivid it was, she surprised me with an aerobatic flip in an actual Pitts Special operated from Rand Airport. What an awesome girlfriend right? (Secretly, I think she wanted to know just how high my R.E.M-state bravado would measure in real-world G-Forces.) I didn’t come close to losing my lunch. It was visceral and satisfying — I loved it! But like everyone else, I considered flying an expensive pipe dream. Little did I know, I wouldn’t have long to wait.

During an overnight stay at the Kruger Park only a month later, the receptionist said they offered microlight flights over the park and escarpment. What can I say, she had me at ‘Flights over…’ Admittedly, I felt some anxiety because like practically everyone, I thought of a microlight as a hang-glider with an engine strapped to the back of a camping chair. I could not have been more wrong…

Imagine booking a horse ride only to arrive at the stables and see the groom saddling an actual unicorn for you. A mixture of delight and confused amazement.

Only in my case, it was a squat, neon-coloured, high-winged unicorn called a Bantam B22. A plucky little ‘land anywhere’ bush plane, innocently staring at me from the edge of the grassy airstrip. This was my first glimpse into a whole new world.

Insight #1

You do not want a Private Pilot License (PPL). It’s more expensive to qualify, and more expensive to upkeep with more frequent and expensive medicals. Plus, you can’t afford to fly the aircraft this license allows you to fly. (Old, heavy, and thirsty with costly and limiting special needs.) Start on smaller Light Sport Aircraft and upgrade when and if you need to.

South Africa has fairly recently introduced more flexible licensing options. Specifically, the National Pilot License (NPL). This is a perfect starting point for any new aviator and literally half the cost of a PPL. The NPL is your golden ticket to the skies, and it covers an incredible range of light aircraft types, from the traditional triangular winged microlight, all the way through to the modern ‘slipperier’ metal and fibreglass airframe designs. There is a surprisingly wide variety to choose from, built with 21st-century design innovations. These aircraft are so light that they can get fitted with their built-in ballistic parachute as the ultimate safety feature. Simply incredible.

Insight #2

All Aircraft that fall under the NPL use modern ultralight engines designed to operate using normal 95 Unleaded Petrol, with around the same maintenance costs as a mid-range car. Modern Innovations like these have freed recreational pilots to hanger their aircraft close to home at one of the hundreds of privately operated Flying Club airstrips peppered throughout SA. This has dramatically lowered the costs and the barrier to entry for the average middle-class South African.

There is no academic difference between an NPL and a PPL. Both are challenging and rigorous and will require you to pass the same nationally regulated exams: Principles of Flight; Aircraft Technical; Human Performance Limitations; Navigation; Meteorology; Air Law; Aircraft General; and the real bugger, Radio Telephony.

The real difference is that an NPL will cost less than half that of a PPL from a flight school operating out of large airfields like Rand Airport or Lanseria. (See reference) If you’re smart, there are further ways to make your flying habit more sustainable.

Insight #3

Aircraft are great for sharing adventures and costs. They are not like cars that are used daily. So going halves or thirds on a plane is fairly common and easily managed. This can be a great ‘you scratch my itch, I scratch yours’ situation for fledgling pilots to aim for. If you and another student or flying club buddy have similar tastes, it doesn’t hurt to start looking for a plane to partner in while still in training. If you can’t afford to own one yet, rent your school trainer for a reasonable rate.

Much of your early flying will be alone, circling your ‘cabbage patch’ building your confidence, and sharpening your skills. Your learning curve will be near vertical. So fly for yourself and your personal growth, and don’t be shocked or offended when no one wants to fly with a new pilot. Not everyone is a homesick angel.

They’ll come around eventually. Until then, content yourself knowing that the two of you can literally go anywhere, with no bad roads, police checkpoints or toll fees to slow you down. Waiting six hours at a border crossing, pshht!

Let’s land on a philosophical note. While earning your wings is an all-around challenge and a true accomplishment, it is also a rare privilege so removed from the mundane that it can leave an indelible impression. On this path, you may start out tonguetied and twisted, but you’ll return a poet, reminding you every time your wheels leave the earth that life really is all about the journey, not the destination.

P.S. The most important instrument in any aeroplane is the airspeed indicator. It’s one of the first things they’ll ask you on your initial check ride with an instructor. Just don’t tell them I told you.

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