Mxsmanic wrote:

Naturally ... but that is a tacit acknowledgement of the fact that GA
cannot be depended upon for transportation. Cars and buses and
commercial airlines can be seen as modes of transportation; GA is
still largely a fair-weather hobby. If GA allows you to actually
travel in a useful way, that's just a happy (and occasional)
coincidence.

If one wants to be a spoiled little robot to whom all things must be
guarenteed, GA isn't for him. It is for me and my wife.

Just took a 4 day trip where we visited family in two states and
brought home a plane load of merchandise we had purchased on the
internet. Saved 8 hours over driving. Useful? Yes. Did we have a Plan
B? Yes. But still, in the middle of winter we had a great GA trip.

I work at home but travel to remote sites a couple times per month to
work, using either GA or commercial aviation depending on
circumstances. In the last year about 2/3 of such trips have been by
GA, and were usually faster and more convenient than commercial would
have been. Usually I could land closer to my destination and could
choose my own schedule. And it was all VFR. In only two cases did I
have to cancel a trip I had planned by GA and in each case I simply and
easily shifted to Plan B. Once I drove and once I went commercial. The
worst experience was sitting in a passenger terminal for two days when
commercial flights were grounded by ice.

We have learned and experienced more interesting and memorable things
when our plans have been challanged than we ever would have if our
every move was planned and results guarenteed. This is simply the icing
on the cake of the useful thing called GA. I am not a robot. I
experience life. GA gets me what I want. You can't convince me
differently because I'm living it.
--
Gene Seibel
Gene & Sue's Aeroplanes - http://pad39a.com/gene/planes.html
Because we fly, we envy no one.