Once upon a time - 6 college "kids" wanted to go to Virginia from Texas for
spring break. 3 went by commertial air carrier and 3 traveled in a Mooney
owned by a friend's father.

Longs story short - The commertial fliers flew from IAH to ORF with one
layover/plane change. First flight was delayed, they had to take another
connecting flight that was now overbooked, one guy got bumped, and the
others waited patiently with him.

The GA fliers left an hour after the commertial fliers were originally
supposed to be in the air (due to preflight and all) from another Houston
airport (HOU) and flew directly to MFV - 10 minutes from the vacation
getaway with 2 stops for fuel and R&R (sorry - no bathroom in a mooney).
The airport courtesy car took us to our final destination and refused a tip.
We arrived at "the getaway" about 6:30 pm (had left Houston around 7:45 that
morning) and were well on our way to enjoying ourselves when our buddies
arrived at 11:00 pm after troubling my parents to meet them at the airport,
not arriving on time, and not calling when they knew they would be late.

The return was a bit differrent - we stopped in New Orleans for a day
because we felt like it.

Cost - my 1/3 of the round trip was $300 - competitive with an airline
ticket if not cheaper. OOPS - WRONG - that trip is what hooked me on GA
flying and it has actually cost me thousands in training, rental, and
gadgets since. WOULD I DO IT AGAIN? HELL YES!

The question here isn't what's cheap - but WHAT IS IT WORTH TO YOU? Dave


"Dave Covert" wrote in message
...
Still, even if I saved only half an hour, I'd fly
anyway. I hate that drive.

Amen... Even if they took the same time, I would rather fly... The 6.5
hour
drive is just that, 6.5 hours of sitting and driving the car. The other
way
is only 2.66 hours of 'driving' the plane and 3.8 hours of other
activities
that are not nearly as boring as staring at the car in front of me. (plus
the car doesn't have a directional autopilot g)

Dave
N9560L at GLS
74 Grumman AA5


"Dan Luke" wrote in message
...
"TTA Cherokee Driver" wrote:
...I also don't think GA pilots
honestly account for how long a flight takes.

True. I often fly from Mobile to Dothan, AL on business. The round trip
drive from my house is 6.5 hours. The round trip flight is 2 hours, 40
min. - flying time that is. But here's the real story:

get weather, read NOTAMs & file (DUATS): 10 min.
drive to KBFM: 15 min.
get in gate, load & preflight airplane, (incl. some task like adding
oil) 20 min.
start, get ATIS & clearance, taxi & runup: 15 min. (it's a long taxi)
fly to KDHN: 1 hour, 20 min.
taxi & park, leave fuel order: 10 min.
get a ride to the terminal & pick up rent car: 15 min.
drive to customer's site: 10 min.
drive back to KDHN: 10 min.
get weather, get NOTAMs & file: 10 min.
preflight, startup, get ATIS & clearance, taxi & runup: 10 min.
fly to KBFM: 1 hour, 20 min.
taxi & park, unload & secure airplane, get out gate : 10 min.
drive home: 15 min.

Total: 5.17 hours.
So I save an hour+ by flying, and that's on a good day when everything
goes perfectly. Still, even if I saved only half an hour, I'd fly
anyway. I hate that drive.
--
Dan
C172RG at BFM
(remove pants to reply by email)








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