[ElyJs]

Joe
I would seriously look into airplane ownership with the amout of money on hand. They have 20 year terms on planes, so although you won't really be making any payments on the principle the monthly costs are reasonable. Buy a 172 that would allow you to fly whenever you wanted with a freelance instructor and you would be amazed at how easy it is to get through your ratings on very little money. When it is time to get the all important multi find a place that rents one cheap or do the flight academy thing. If you were smart about which airplane you purchased in the 40-60k range you may very well sell it for more then you bought it. Read Dougs article on airplane ownership. You will not have to relocate any family and be able to keep your current job. Hell you may even find flying recreationally without anyone telling you when and where to fly to be more satisfying then flying as a career.

The downsides to this route are you are limited at first to really flying your airplane. (You may not get to fly that brand new g1000 much, or get that tail-wheel endorsement). You also are going to be paying in the 600/month range whether you are flying or not. Good things are you fly when you want to. If you want to go on a trip and stay for a few days you can. You would also be able to keep working and get flying in when you want to. With my little financial analysis I figured the breakeven point to be somewhere between 20-25 hrs a month. Cheaper to rent if less and cheaper to own if more. As long as you live somewhere where the weather is good, you shouldn't have too many troubles breaking that.

-Jason