I am happy for you that the thrill is still there. Since I have no connect to GA anymore, does the -19 fly "experimental" now or do you have to maintain a CoA?
In Canada where I worked and retired, GA is dying a slow death primarily due fuel costs. We buy by the liter but converting to the US Gallon, the price ranges from $7 to $8/gal.
Until 1995, my Dad (also a retired airline pilot) shared and enjoyed a PA30 that now resides in New Jersey. I couldn't afford it today anyway.
Busher, I lost my medical in 2002. All I have now is memories. Well...and a nice six axis Level D simulator to play with.
The PT-19 is a Fairchild M62A to the FAA so it's not "experimental". Normal regs apply for inspection and maintenance. Just have to do an annual. It's a 1930s hardware store airplane; we used to joke that if you had a, screwdriver, pliers, a 1/2 " and 7/16" wrench you had almost a full tool set. Easy to work on. I pulled all the panels for the annual and helped out as "go-for' and I put all the panels back on. My annuals weren't that expensive. Just not all that much to check LOL!
It's about a 9.5 gallon/hour aircraft so back then I was ~$40-50 an hour on fuel and I just doubled that for maintenance reserve. The Ranger was designed to use oil as part of the cooling of the inline inverted 6, so it used about .8 quart per hour as well. They had a really amazing air inlet in the cowl that ran through baffles and exited between each cylinder with almost the same pressure from front to rear.
My Dad's PT-26 was in Canadian colors. Two old Canadian farmers that had trained in -26s decided to restore a pair of them and relive their youth. They did good jobs on both. They lost their tickets about a year after they finished and a ex-Marine F9 pilot imported one. He lost his vision/medical a year later, so we bought the -26. My Dad flew it about 10 years. it was a good airplane. Ended up getting imported back into Canada when Dad could no longer fly in his late 80s.