LearnHowToFly.org User Profile 2: Dr. Melvin Cohen

• Name: Dr. Melvin Cohen
• Age: 45, married to an internist, two kids aged 6 and 10
• Address: McMansion on the outskirts of Spokane, Washington
• Occupation: Radiologist
• Income: $286,000/year [2002 nationwide average for all radiologists; keep this in mind when picking a career!] plus wife earns $150,000/year from her part-time internal medicine practice
• Flying Experience: 225 hours airplane single-engine land over the last three years; Private Certificate; rents airplanes from local flying club; 20 hours of instrument training
• Short-term Goal: Obtain a instrument rating
• Long-term Goal: Purchase and safely operate a 6-passenger turboprop (turbine-powered propeller) airplane to get the whole family up to ski resorts in British Columbia. Find a partner with whom to share the cost of the plane ($2 million).
• Immediate Questions: What are the best prep materials for the FAA written test? Should I do some simulator training or do everything in an actual airplane? How much training does one need before getting insurance on a Pilatus PC-12?
• Other Interests: riding a Harley-Davidson while wearing a "Better your sister in a whorehouse than your brother on a Honda" T-shirt, European vacations, fly fishing, cultivating 1-acre backyard Japanese garden and Koi pond
• Computer: Brand new Dell desktop running Windows XP; cable modem
• Experience with information technology: Contacting Koi experts and breeders in Japan via Web and email, renting villas in Europe via the Web