wrote in message
...

What I meant (and though I made clear) is that I have only once had to
abandon my airplane away from home base due to weather. (I have had to do
it a couple of other times due to mechanical problems.) A much higher
number of trips were cancelled (before leaving home base) because of

That makes a lot more sense. So what you are saying is that you have
abandoned a good number of trips and that you have delayed your return on
others. People need to experience this and see how it realistically fits
with their family lifestyle before buying an airplane. Maybe they will
decide to just rent. Or maybe they will decide to save up for a known-ice
Mooney. Or buy an airplane with weather datalink already installed. Etc.
Etc.

weather. I have also had any number of delays, some for hours. But I
have
also had similar weather delays when using the airlines. Many of my trips

The dispatch rate flying commerical is way, way higher than my airplane
which is well-equipped for IFR by GA standards --- known-ice, radar,
spherics, weather datalink. There are advantages afforded by the speed,
service ceiling, climb rate, and redundancy of a transport category airplane
that I simply cannot compete with.

If you are getting dispatch rates with a piston airplane which come anywhere
close to that of an airliner then you are flying trips you shouldn't be
flying.

In fact, the dispatch rate of commercial airliners exceeds my dispatch rate
by *car* for cross-country trips.

crews in heavy turbine equipment. However, I also think that the "gap" in
weather conditions that can safely be dealt with between VFR and "basic"
IFR
is substantial, and encompasses the majority of days in most places.

A lot of this depends on the mission.

Based in the Northeast my dispatch rate on week-long family vacations with a
fudge factor built in for departure and arrival is almost 100% -- I once
cancelled a trip due to a double-hurricane coming up the east coast.

My dispatch rate for weekend trips is about 90%.

My dispatch rate for business trips when I MUST be there at 10AM is about
50% -- the risk is too high that fog will not clear or I will need to go
missed and divert etc. Get-there-itis pressure is too high.



--------------------
Richard Kaplan, CFII

www.flyimc.com