Mortimer Schnerd, RN wrote:
Vaughn Simon wrote:

Just curious, how long does it nominally take the little guys (say a
Piper or something that can make it w/o having to re-fuel) to get from
BOS to DCA, assuming weather isn't an issue?

That "weather thing" would be a big assumption. Even if pilot and plane
are instrument rated (many are not) the traveling schedule of your average
"Piper or something" is very vulnerable to bad weather. More than one
pilot-traveler has abandoned an airplane and taken the airlines home to wait
for better weather to return and fetch the family airplane. I am an
enthusiastic pilot, but realize that light airplanes do not make good travel
tools unless you have significant flexibility in your schedule and are
willing to change your plans in the interest of safety.



WTH? There are plenty of days where it's safe to fly relatively long distances
VFR. The only caveat is that it's one of those deals where the ultimate go/no
go decision is going to have to be the same day just before you take off
(assuming you do). Now I understand that the ultimate go/ no go is done then on
every flight but my point is that an IFR rated pilot is able to plan with an
excellent chance of mission completion days ahead while a VFR only pilot really
can't.

We did that trip recently (Culpeper, VA to OWD) in less then 3 hours and
on the way home we went ORD to Lancaster, PA where we put down and
rented a car (2 hour drive home) due to T-storms. The next weekend we
went back to Lancaster to get the plane. We probably still beat the
airline times even driving the last 100 miles :-).

Margy