Be sure to beef up your life insurance before you get your license.  Maybe that will make your wife feel better about the idea

It’s actually already too late for the insurance at non-pilot rates.

[quote=anonymous]It's actually already too late for the insurance at non-pilot rates.[/quote]

Why?

Usually the question is phrased something along the lines of:

"Within the last 3 years has the insured been or does the insured expect to become a pilot, student pilot, or crew member of any type of aircraft?"

Even if the question is not asked, the agent/broker would have a responsibility to disclose the information if it is known. 

[quote=EDJ4now]

I have been wanting to persue this for a long time, and am getting close to where I can financially swing it and also afford to take the time to do it.

My question for any of you who are pilots:  Does this help your business at all?  The few pilot clients I have are all passionate about flying and are also loaded.  If I could connect better with them and others like them, it seems like that would be good for business.

I am not primarily doing this for business purposes, although I am hopeful it will help there.  Mostly, this is something I have wanted to do since I was a kid, and now I can actually afford to do it.  My wife is not completely on board, actually she is completely opposed.  I would like to tell her that the added contacts I get will probably pay for the license and flying time.  If any of you have found this to actually be true, it would help me keep a straight face when I say it.

Thanks.

[/quote]

In answer to your question, yes, I am a private pilot.

PM me if you'd like to talk about it.

[quote=anonymous]

Usually the question is phrased something along the lines of:

"Within the last 3 years has the insured been or does the insured expect to become a pilot, student pilot, or crew member of any type of aircraft?"

Even if the question is not asked, the agent/broker would have a responsibility to disclose the information if it is known. 

[/quote]

That's true about the disclosure responsibility. I was actually joking ...sort of.  But seriously if he is just "thinking" about a pilot's license and hasn't made any moves to apply or whatever the procedure is does that automatically make his rates more expensive.  Just thinking about it?  I'm thinking about mountain climbing or sky diving (in my nightmares ). 

Actually I have written a few life policies on people with pilot's licenses, a long time ago so I don't remember.  Isn't there some provision about the number of hours the pilot has credited and how many hours annually?  My clients were with the "flying posse" and had beaucoup hours and there was no problem in issuing the insurance.

And to his original question. It would probably be a good networking opportunity. I belong to a hot rod/collectible car club.  As he said. People with discretionary income.  But again the caveat about joining clubs and organizations.  Do it only if you really want to join and participate.  The people will smell you out if they think you are doing it to mine prospects.

"Thinking" and "expecting" are very different.  Thinking won't make a difference.

Dangerous activities are not necessarily an issue.  It simply means that more questions will be asked.  The best case scenario is someone who has done a lot of something in the past, but doesn't plan on doing it again.  The worst is someone who has never done something and plans to do a lot in the future.

Scuba Diving is a good example:

Client is an expert diver and has gone on hundreds of dives in the past.  He has lots of certifications.  Some of his dives have been fairly deep.  He doesn't expect to go again unless it's a dive of under 30 feet with his wife on their honeymoon.  The diving will be a complete non-issue.

Client #2 has never dove before.  She plans on going on a scuba vacation with many dives and some of them fairly deep.  She won't get the best rates and may not get coverage.  The policy may charge a flat extra.  Scuba might be excluded.

I did beef up the life insurance about a year ago, and at that time it looked more like a pipe dream than a reality, so if the question was asked (I'm sure it was, but I don't specifically remember) I'm sure I said no I didn't plan on becoming a pilot.

Hello, I’ve been reading this forum for years and this is my first posting.  I’ve been a pilot for 37 years as of last month!  Don’t ask how old I am–I’m just older than most of you!  I learned to fly as a teenager and spent many years flying in the military. If you want to fly then just go out and do it–but have a plan.  Expect to spend about $6,000 to $8,000 to get your private pilot’s license.  Expect to spend a lot of hours of ground and flight training away from family if you are serious.  I use a aircraft to visit with clients and yes, you can deduct it for tax purposes.  But the great thing is to take your family someplace for a special weekend or to take client’s up to take photos of their homestead.  Flying clears my head after a bad day. 

[quote=EDJ4now]

I have been wanting to persue this for a long time, and am getting close to where I can financially swing it and also afford to take the time to do it.

My question for any of you who are pilots:  Does this help your business at all?  The few pilot clients I have are all passionate about flying and are also loaded.  If I could connect better with them and others like them, it seems like that would be good for business.

I am not primarily doing this for business purposes, although I am hopeful it will help there.  Mostly, this is something I have wanted to do since I was a kid, and now I can actually afford to do it.  My wife is not completely on board, actually she is completely opposed.  I would like to tell her that the added contacts I get will probably pay for the license and flying time.  If any of you have found this to actually be true, it would help me keep a straight face when I say it.

Thanks.[/quote]

I saw this a few weeks ago and didn't have time to respond. As a former pilot I would advise you to get your pilot's license. But not for business reasons. Get for the reasons you want it. Pursue your passion, you've earned it.

As for business, most of the people you'll meet in the beginning of your flying career will be poor flight instructors. As time goes on you may meet some pilots with money. However, many of them have big chunks of dough tied up in their planes. An A36 doesn't come cheap. Nor is it cheap to run or keep. Annuals on a plane of that ilk, with some hours on it, can easily get into five figures. So, ipsnay on the businessay from most pilots. If you want to pursue pilots as a target group there are buyable lists available from AOPA and from the airline pilots assoc. Both will lead you to some interesting people with money. I known some brokers who have done very well with airline pilots.

Lastly, the safety issue. I flew for years, both planes and helicopters and I'm still here. Some tense moments but no close calls. Auto rotated onto a farm field and did an emergengy landing at a rest area on the New Jersey Turnpike (helicopter)because of bad weather(lowering ceiling at night), but overall a pretty uneventfull 15 years of flying. Today, I've given up flying those relatively big expensive machines and taken up hang gliding. Which is also very safe.

My strategy for you to get the wifey's seal of approval would be to tell her you've changed your mind about the flying lessons and decided to take up hang gliding instead. As safe as it is, you'll never convince her of it's safety. Perception is reality.A week or two of showing her hang gliding info should persuade her that flying a real airplane would be a much better idea. She can then let you pursue your dream of flight knowing that it could be a lot worse. Or maybe, you'll get hooked on hang gliding as I did. As Chuck yeager says 'it's the flyingest flying there is." If that happens show her base juming. Hang gliding seems perfectly reasonable when compared to jumping off radio antennas.

Flying Piper Cubs, as everyone calls them, is a very safe activity as long as you follow a couple of rules. First, don't do anything stupid. No "Look ma I can fly" strafing runs over the neighborhood. Next take weather out of the equation. Don't fly in marginal weather, PERIOD. Thirdly, and this will get some disagreement, forget about flying at night until you get an IFR rating and then don't do it unless you have to. This advice from someone with years of night flying experience. The accident rates go up significantly with night flying. Don't ask me why. Probably has to do with loss of visual references. Ask the crew of Eastern Flt 401. Oh wait, they're all dead. Flew a perfectly good brand spankin new airliner into the ground just after midnight one December morning. And that's the point. Even the pro's have issues when darkness falls. As a young pup, take it off the table.

Good luck. And remeber it's not the fall that kills you, it's that sudden stop at the end. Gravity is a bitch. Forget that for a moment and you won't forget it again.