"Chris G." nospam@noemail wrote in message
news.net...
Part of it is that my dad has to drive for just over an hour to meet me at
the plane. I can't fly (that plane) without him (yet). Also, we have one
other person flying with us that morning who has to drive about 20-30 mins
to get to the plane. [...]

"Time to spare, go by air".

I think what I said still holds. A "no-go" decision could still occur as
late as just before takeoff.

Yes, there's wasted time doing things like driving if you don't go, but IMHO
that's just the risk you take with recreational flying. Everyone knows the
"better to be down here wishing you were up there" saying, but I think it's
possible to take that too far. You ought to at least give yourself the best
chance to go, rather than relying on an unreliable forecast to tell you
whether you'll go or not.

Some other silly ideas I have:

* There are four possible outcomes based on a Friday decision: good
forecast, which is correct; bad forecast, which is correct; good forecast,
which is incorrect; bad forecast, which is incorrect. Out of those four
possibilities, if you are determined to make your decision on Friday, then
three of those four possibilities result in you not flying Saturday. Them's
pretty lousy odds, IMHO, especially when one of the possibilities just
causes the wasted driving time that seems to be desired to avoid.

* Just because you can't make it all the way to Arlington, that doesn't
mean the trip to the airport is wasted. The weather might actually be fine
there, and there's no shame in changing your plan, but still going flying.

All that said, if I should butt out, just say so and I will. You do say
"part of it", which implies there may be other issues at work I don't know
of, shouldn't know of, or whatever. But since you seem to agree with me on
the fundamental issue, I figure I ought to help you with as much
rationalization regarding why to delay the go/no-go decision until Saturday
regardless.

Pete