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Pursuing the 100-Hour Year in Your Ideal Aircraft

What seems like a reasonable goal can become challenging when life gets in the way.

Start the year with a detailed plan for spending more time flying. [Credit: Jonathan Welsh]
Gemini Sparkle

Key Takeaways:

  • Inspired by fellow pilots, the author is resolved to "Fly more in 2024" (#flymorein24) after falling short of their 100-hour flight goal in 2023 due to various obstacles.
  • To achieve this, the author plans to proactively integrate flying into family activities and errands, such as transporting their son to volleyball tournaments and college visits.
  • The strategy involves converting trips typically made by car or commercial airlines into general aviation flights, maximizing opportunities when weather and schedules permit, and planning longer leisure trips to destinations with accessible GA airports.
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Several colleagues and other fellow pilots have vowed to spend more time aloft in their aircraft this year than they did in 2023, and I am determined to join them. We all have made similar New Year’s resolutions before, sometimes successfully, sometimes not. The battle cry of “Fly more in 2024”—#flymorein24—is catchy enough to remind me of my commitment and help me stick with it, as it turns out.

A year ago, having just bought Annie, our Commander 114B, I planned to log 100 hours by year’s end—more than double my previous annual record. The goal seemed reasonable given the significant uptick in flying activity that typically comes with owning an airplane instead of renting.

Jonathan Welsh

Jonathan Welsh is Lead Editor of Aviation Consumer and a private pilot who worked as a reporter, editor and columnist with the Wall Street Journal for 21 years, mostly covering the auto industry. His passion for aviation began in childhood with balsa-wood gliders his aunt would buy for him at the corner store. Follow Jonathan on Twitter @JonathanWelsh4

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