Jennifer:
I just took a leap a couple of weeks ago and got myself a Cessna 150. I have been thinking about it for years (I got my license in 1981) and finally just jumped. It is not the most perfect plane (it has been hailed on but you have to look closely to tell) but I love it so far. The engine is in excellent condition and jumps to life almost immediately.
I have always loved flying but always kept getting in and out of the hobby. I'd get current for a short time and then just stop flying for years. Then I'd get a desire to get a rating and work on it, only to stop flying once I was done. I think I will now be up in the air much more often. I am helping a friend build an RV-6A kit plane and we decided to get the C150 to keep flying during the years it is going to take to complete his project.
After we got the plane, I found out it's airworthiness certificate was issued on the day my wife was born - something tells me the loves of my life are here to take care of me.
I'm not sure what it would cost to get your plane to Norway, but where I live it costs $400/year to tie down the plane on the runway and a few hundred dollars to insure it, including hull coverage. A hangar is probably closer to $300/month. I'm not sure I'd like to live too far away from my plane, though. I'd want to be flying it all the time, at least several times a month!
I have a friend in Germany that flies with a flying club and the arrangement there is that the owner of the plane makes it available to the group. Everyone pitches in to maintain it and pays for the upkeep. The owner doesn't really recover the price of the plane, but the plane is maintained and kept up with little cost to him. Perhaps an arrangement like that would work in Norway.
If you ever come down to the Hill Country of Texas, look me up. I'd be happy to show you the place from the air.
Henry
