On Sun, 22 Oct 2006 01:57:00 +0200, Mxsmanic
wrote:

RK Henry writes:

If we're restricted to those choices, the Nissan would be more fun.
You can go to the beach, the mountains, the movies, the museum, other
interesting places where you can see things and meet other people. And
if you do meet someone, the Nissan has a place for her to sit.

That part doesn't apply to a plane.

Which parts? Why not?

Same thing for an airplane. An airplane can take you to all sorts of
interesting, educational, entertaining, profitable places.

Using general aviation for transportation is very different from using
for good weather and you can be happy going anywhere. When you use it
it for leisure. When you use it for leisure, you can afford to wait
for transportation, you cannot afford to wait for good weather and you
have to go to specific places.

No it isn't.

General aviation can be used very effectively for both business and
leisure transportation. Unless one lives in a place with almost
perpetually bad weather, VFR weather prevails so much of the time that
the airplane can be a very effective transportation tool. The ability
to go IFR, which is commonplace for many GA pilots and for the GA
fleet, adds a bit more to utility, making an airplane usable under an
even wider range of conditions. Better equipped aircraft can extend
that capability further, but those capabilities only extend the
percentage of flyable conditions by just a few more basis points. Many
kinds of weather conditions are transient, and waits of only a few
minutes to a few hours may be sufficient to bring weather good enough
to make the flight. Most of the time, the skies are clear enough to
fly where you want to go.

While airlines are very well equipped with the latest technology,
there are some kinds of weather that even they won't attempt. There's
really no such thing as an "All-Weather" aircraft.

It's sometimes amusing to observe those weather conditions that you
can fly in a GA airplane when ground transportation is difficult or
impossible. It's also interesting to note that there are weather
conditions that can be legally (if not wisely) flown in a GA aircraft
when the airlines are grounded (in the U.S.).

RK Henry