Five Questions with Mike McCoy, the line worker who owns his own airplane

Aircraft ownership is not reserved for the wealthy. In an AOPA Five Questions feature published this week, Mike McCoy, a 31-year-old private pilot from Mentor, Ohio, shows how it’s done: he owns his own airplane and pays for all of it working line service at a fixed base operator (FBO). His story is a direct rebuttal to the belief that flying is only for people with deep pockets.

Who Is Mike McCoy?

McCoy is a private pilot and an aircraft owner who funds his flying by working the line at an FBO. Line service is the crew you see on the ramp - marshaling aircraft, chocking wheels, pumping fuel, towing airplanes in and out of hangars, and cleaning windscreens in weather nobody wants to stand in.

It is physically demanding work, and for years it has carried a reputation as a low-wage entry point - a job people pass through on the way to somewhere else. McCoy is a working argument against that assumption, and against the idea that ownership requires wealth.

Why This Matters for Pilots

The single biggest barrier people cite for not learning to fly is money. Flight training runs into the tens of thousands of dollars to reach a private certificate, and ownership sounds like a fantasy. Many people talk themselves out of aviation before they ever walk into a flight school.

McCoy represents a path a lot of people overlook: working inside the industry itself. This matters if you’ve been sitting on the sidelines convinced the numbers will never work - or if you know a young person who loves airplanes and believes the only ways in are a wealthy family or a military slot. Neither is true. A working-class route into aviation exists, and it always has.

The Hidden Advantages of Working the Line

Being on the ramp comes with real, practical benefits for an aspiring pilot and owner:

You’re at the airport every day, surrounded by airplanes, mechanics, instructors, and owners.
Some FBOs and flight schools offer reduced training rates or flight benefits to their employees.
You build relationships with the people who fix airplanes - worth its weight in gold when you own one.
You learn the culture of the field from the ground up, literally.

Owners frequently need a hand, and sometimes just a right-seat companion. Those connections are hard to buy and easy to earn when you’re already on the ramp.

Can You Really Afford an Airplane on Line Wages?

Yes - but not by accident, and not without discipline. A story like McCoy’s isn’t a lottery ticket; it’s a method built on living below your means and buying the right airplane, not the dream airplane.

Affordable ownership usually means the bottom of the used market: an older two-seat trainer, a Cessna 150, or a Piper Cherokee that’s been flying since before McCoy was born. In the right condition, airplanes like these can be found for roughly the price of a used pickup truck.

The purchase price, though, was never the hard part.

The Real Cost of Ownership

What comes after the purchase is where budgets get tested:

The annual inspection
The $100-hamburger runs that add up
Hangar or tie-down rent
Insurance
The moment the mechanic calls with a number you didn’t want to hear

This is exactly where a line service background quietly pays off. When you’ve spent your days around maintenance, around owners, and around the real cost of keeping an airplane airworthy, you go in with your eyes open. You know how to shop, who to ask, and the difference between a squawk you can live with and one that grounds you.

What This Means for the Future of General Aviation

General aviation has an aging problem. The average pilot and the average aircraft owner are both getting older, and the industry spends significant energy asking how to bring young people in and keep them.

Stories like McCoy’s are part of the answer. A 31-year-old who found his own way, on his own dime, working a job many would have called a dead end - that’s good for all of us who want to see full ramps and busy pattern work 20 and 30 years from now.

If you’re already a pilot, look at your home field with fresh eyes. There’s likely a young person on your ramp, fueling your airplane, who would give anything for a ride and a little mentorship. It costs you nothing and might change a life. And if you’re on the outside looking in, McCoy is proof: it can be done, and it’s being done - this week, in Mentor, Ohio.

Key Takeaways

Mike McCoy, a 31-year-old from Mentor, Ohio, owns his own airplane and funds it working line service at an FBO, per an AOPA Five Questions feature published this week.
Working inside the industry - taking a job on the ramp - is an overlooked, working-class path into flying that offers training discounts, mentorship, and daily access to aircraft.
Affordable ownership means the bottom of the used market: older two-seat trainers like a Cessna 150 or Piper Cherokee, often priced like a used pickup truck.
The ongoing costs (annual inspections, insurance, hangar rent, maintenance) - not the purchase price - are the real financial challenge, and line experience helps you manage them.
McCoy’s success is built on discipline: living below your means, buying modestly, maintaining diligently, and earning certificates as you can afford them.