For what seems like years now I've been mulling over a dillema.

I love aviation, I know the kind of basic 'around the patch, low and slow' kind of flying I'm most attracted to, I know Sport Pilot fits that mission well with the kind of flying and type of aircraft that ticket allows. I know I can't afford a new LSA and probably very few of the very used ones. I'm very mechanically oriented, good with tools and have always wanted to build and fly my own airplane. I live in a city but have a big enough garage to build in. I even know an affordable home built that I will most likely build (Hummel H5).

So, get a Sport Pilot license (I would love to go through the EAA Sport Pilot Academy), ok, build an airplane, ok..........then what? How and where to fly? Here lies the dilemma. The design of the home built I'm interested in allows for removal of the wings, so every time I want to fly I could tow it to an airport, however, I've been told doing so gets old fast and soon becomes a hassle. A hanger, or even tie down fees at my closest airports are very prohibitively expensive and the airspace and surrounding area leaves very little in the way of around the patch flying in a small aircraft I want to do. So, back to, got a license, got a little airplane, now what?

I could find a small airport within a few hours drive and see if I could keep the aircraft there, but I would imagine that drive would become very, very long after awhile. I could join a flying club or rent every time I want to fly, around the city, but that doesn't sound attractive at all.

I've even been contemplating trying to find the combination of a rural, out in the sticks property that also has clear uncontrolled airspace to fly in. Clear a small airstrip, erect a cheap structure to keep the airplane in and drive out to the property for a week at a time while living in my camper (yes, I'm that desperate).

I'm retired, but before I invest the time and money into getting my SPL and building an airplane I would like to find an answer to the third question.

Any ideas?