I'm never driving to Roanoke again....

My business partner got his ticket last month an we have finally been
justifiying the business expense for our training.

Last month we did our first business trip to KROA. Great trip.
Rented the FBO's PA28-180 with VFR GPS. Got there in about 1:45 with
a massive headwind (from 8A6, near charlotte). Beautiful country from
the air. Landed refreshed, picked up a car and was able to spend
about 4-5 hours with the customer. Flew back in about 1:15 and
arrived in charlotte before sundown, about 6:45. A little tired, but
it was our first x-country with his PP ticket, and first trip to KROA
by air.

Woke up last friday to iffy weather. Gusting winds, not bad but over
our comfort threashold. So we trundle off via car to Roanoke. Hit
traffic with 15 minutes in I-77. A semi lost a load of sheet metal.
Great. Finally free, we are OK for a while until our Mapquest and GPS
didn't agree and we got turned around on !-40 business(vs. I-40
regular) and lost about 30 minutes. Arrived on Roanoke tired and
****ed after a 4 hour journey. Got to spend about 3 hours on site.
Left about 5:00 and after a food stop got home about 10:15.


Wretched. Simply wretched. We were spoiled with our first flight.
We are now thinking about scheduling non-critical customer site times
(i.e. face time) with contingency days in case of bad weather.

Anybody else commute to customer sites regularly? How do you handle
the bad days?


Jim

http://www.unconventional-wisdom.org

Wretched. Simply wretched. We were spoiled with our first flight.

You will never, EVER want to drive more than an hour again. When we are
forced to drive, it's absolute murder, either from the kids ("Are we there
yet?") or simply by looking at our watches, and realizing how much time
we've wasted.

Anybody else commute to customer sites regularly? How do you handle
the bad days?

We fly to airports all over the country in support of our aviation-themed
hotel, spreading our promotional message, material, and wares to
unsuspecting pilots and FBOs. Luckily, since just about every FBO is a
potential target, we just drop in -- and don't have to worry about hitting
anyone at a specific time.

If you are really serious about getting there at a specific time and date,
I'd be aiming at the instrument rating and a much more capable aircraft.
Spam cans like we fly (Pipers/Cessnas/Beechcraft/Mooneys) are simply not
reliable work tools, due to many factors. You need something with
known-icing capability, the ability to get above a lot of weather, and the
reliability of a turboprop in order to always plan on "getting there."

Sounds like there may be a Pilatus-style turboprop in your future?
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Jay Honeck wrote:
You will never, EVER want to drive more than an hour again. When we are
forced to drive, it's absolute murder, ...

worse than murder. Much much worse than murder.

Get an IFR ticket. Thunderstorms and icing will stop you but not
too much else. That goes for you too Jay. ;-)

Gerald

Yes..a lot...

Just today..2 hrs air vs 5 hrs driving.

Next week, one trip will be 8 hrs X 2 driving, 5 meals, overnight
hotel..

With our Warrior, 1.6 hrs each way, one meal..

Another, 5 hrs drive each way, 1.3 hr flight each way

Most of the time, due to the nature of the work, we can sched these
trips on flyable days....

And we can whup the competition in response time and cost to the
client...

My partner comands $100 / hr + for his services,- pounding down the
highway is expensive...

We also use it for sales visits, most can be scheded around
weather....

It is a spam can, but VERY useful... IFR capable only to be safe(r)
for our OTT ratings...

Did I mention we love to fly?

YMMV..

Dave


On Sun, 20 Nov 2005 23:26:34 GMT, Jimbob
wrote:

My business partner got his ticket last month an we have finally been
justifiying the business expense for our training.

Last month we did our first business trip to KROA. Great trip.
Rented the FBO's PA28-180 with VFR GPS. Got there in about 1:45 with
a massive headwind (from 8A6, near charlotte). Beautiful country from
the air. Landed refreshed, picked up a car and was able to spend
about 4-5 hours with the customer. Flew back in about 1:15 and
arrived in charlotte before sundown, about 6:45. A little tired, but
it was our first x-country with his PP ticket, and first trip to KROA
by air.

Woke up last friday to iffy weather. Gusting winds, not bad but over
our comfort threashold. So we trundle off via car to Roanoke. Hit
traffic with 15 minutes in I-77. A semi lost a load of sheet metal.
Great. Finally free, we are OK for a while until our Mapquest and GPS
didn't agree and we got turned around on !-40 business(vs. I-40
regular) and lost about 30 minutes. Arrived on Roanoke tired and
****ed after a 4 hour journey. Got to spend about 3 hours on site.
Left about 5:00 and after a food stop got home about 10:15.


Wretched. Simply wretched. We were spoiled with our first flight.
We are now thinking about scheduling non-critical customer site times
(i.e. face time) with contingency days in case of bad weather.

Anybody else commute to customer sites regularly? How do you handle
the bad days?


Jim

http://www.unconventional-wisdom.org

Wednesday we are driving 5:30 to Cleveland for the holiday and a
couple of days with my daughter... It is normally 1:30 in the
Apache... I am absolutely dreading it... We have to haul my son's truck
back on a dolly, so we will be 6:30 on the return leg... Did I mention
I am dreading this... Gawd I hate driving...

denny

Get an IFR ticket. Thunderstorms and icing will stop you but not
too much else. That goes for you too Jay. ;-)

If you eliminate T-storms and icing, you've eliminated 90% of IFR conditions
in the Midwest.

An IR will help on that last 10%, but he needs to get a more capable plane
if he really needs to get somewhere at a certain time, 100% of the time.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Jimbob wrote:

Anybody else commute to customer sites regularly?

Yes, every week.

How do you handle the bad days?

IMO and experience, an IFR rating is, uh, instrumental for commuting. The
days that are really bad I adjust my schedule to leave either earlier or
later than the weather event (t-storms or winter storms, severe icing,
etc.).


--
Peter
























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Jay Honeck wrote:

An IR will help on that last 10%, but he needs to get a more capable plane
if he really needs to get somewhere at a certain time, 100% of the time.

You mean like an Airbus or Boeing?

--
Peter
























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An IR will help on that last 10%, but he needs to get a more capable
plane
if he really needs to get somewhere at a certain time, 100% of the time.

You mean like an Airbus or Boeing?

Point taken.

Even then, on my last commercial flight I ended up stuck in Denver overnight
due to the crew being stuck in Wyoming due to weather...

There is no 100% reliable form of transportation.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Jay Honeck wrote:

There is no 100% reliable form of transportation.

What flights the weather doesn't deter, maintenance will. ;-)

--
Peter