"Boris" wrote in message
om...
The following are questions about the reality in going from no flying
experience to being qualified to fly my family away on weekends.
Please indicate if this is the wrong newsgroup for these questions.

The weekend drive from my home in Grosse Pointe, MI to Lake Ann, MI is
230 statute miles, about 4.5 to 5 hours each way.

200 miles is about break-even for fly versus drive times when you consider
the extra time of getting to the airport, pre-flight, etc.


Detroit to Traverse City (30 minutes from Lake Ann) is 180 nautical
miles. There are municipal airports near Grosse Pointe although I have
not investigated them. There is a grass strip about 5 minutes from
Lake Ann.

I dislike driving this distance for a weekend. I am considering flying
occasionally as an alternative.

If you are flying for fun, it sounds like a great trip.


1) Is 3K-5K a realistic estimate of the cost of getting VFR rated?
2) Being the Midwest, it is frequently cloudy. Is IFR a realistic
requirement to be able to return home safely on a given weekend?
3) Is another 3K-5K realistic for an IFR rating?

Both numbers are probably realistic, assuming you learn pretty quickly.


4) What plane would be suitable to hire for this distance, a grass
strip, 2 adults, 2 young children and some luggage?
5) What rate would you expect to pay per hour?
6) If the answer to (2) is yes, what is the rental availability of IRF
aircraft and is there a premium?

Decent IFR plane will run 100 - 125/hr. But, as others have said, there will
be a weekend premiuim. The bottom line is that general aviation is almost
never justifiable by expense. We do it because we love it, the same way
people sail, ski, dive or race cars.


Is this a realistic alternative idea for weekend family trips or a
pipe dream?

How much do you want to spend? Sure it's an alternative - otherwise there
wouldn't be 600K pilots running around the country (although only a small
percent of those fly personal GA regularly). But, you have to decide the
journey is the adventure, or it will never be worth the time, money or
effort.