Common instruments on small aircraft

Recently, Bart posted:

The fact that weather is a major factor on GA travel, the fact that
once you get to your destination you STILL most likely have to rent a
car, the fact that it's still going to cost more to fly yourself to
your destination than drive or fly commercially.... makes GA
impractical.

A lot of this depends on the individual. I doubt that Jay's family would
agree with you that their aircraft is impractical as transportation. I
don't understand the notion that it is a problem that one is "still most
likely to have to rent a car"; so what? Your notion that it will cost more
to fly oneself to the destination is quite often untrue, unless one's time
is worth little, or if the alternative of flying commercially is
considered (in which case one would still rent a car... so, once again I
don't understand that as a criticism of GA usage).

Weather limitations are greatly over-rated. As others have pointed out,
the inconvenience of waiting out weather can be less than an hour, and
most of the time less than a day. That is not much to be concerned about
if you compare that to having to make connecting flights to take the same
trip commercially. On a recent return from a vacation, we were delayed by
over a day because of this, and we were the lucky ones... others were
delayed for almost a week because all the flights to their destination
were overbooked.

You guys that have the equipment, money, resources and the situation
to make your GA flying practical for transportation - that's great.
But don't fool yourselves into thinking that it's par for the course.

It may not be practical for you, and I certainly wouldn't cite
transportation as the primary reason for GA. I fly more hours in the
vicinity than I do going someplace. OTOH, there are places I wouldn't go
very often if I had to drive because drive time is 5+ hours and I can fly
there in 1.5 hours. So, I can easily make a 1/2 day trip out of something
that would be a 2-day affair.

Neil

Neil Gould writes:

A lot of this depends on the individual. I doubt that Jay's family would
agree with you that their aircraft is impractical as transportation. I
don't understand the notion that it is a problem that one is "still most
likely to have to rent a car"; so what?

Because if you take a car somewhere, you don't have to rent a plane to
finish the trip.

Weather limitations are greatly over-rated. As others have pointed out,
the inconvenience of waiting out weather can be less than an hour, and
most of the time less than a day.

When the meeting is at 10 AM, that's a show-stopper.

That is not much to be concerned about
if you compare that to having to make connecting flights to take the same
trip commercially.

The commercial flight can generally be relied upon; the GA flight
cannot. Commercial aviation has spent decades and billions of dollars
to ensure that airliners can fly in all but the worst weather.

--
Transpose mxsmanic and gmail to reach me by e-mail.

Recently, Mxsmanic posted:

Neil Gould writes:

A lot of this depends on the individual. I doubt that Jay's family
would agree with you that their aircraft is impractical as
transportation. I don't understand the notion that it is a problem
that one is "still most likely to have to rent a car"; so what?

Because if you take a car somewhere, you don't have to rent a plane to
finish the trip.

Again, I say, "so what?" It's a non-issue, because if you fly
commercially, you *still* have to rent a car to get around.

Weather limitations are greatly over-rated. As others have pointed
out, the inconvenience of waiting out weather can be less than an
hour, and most of the time less than a day.

When the meeting is at 10 AM, that's a show-stopper.

People who "must be there" at a particular time miss a lot of meetings,
regardless of their mode of transportation.

That is not much to be concerned about
if you compare that to having to make connecting flights to take the
same trip commercially.

The commercial flight can generally be relied upon; the GA flight
cannot. Commercial aviation has spent decades and billions of dollars
to ensure that airliners can fly in all but the worst weather.

That is not my experience at all. Within the last 5 months, my wife and I
have missed connecting flights due to airline issues 2 out of 2 times. I
have yet to miss my arrival times flying GA.

Neil

Neil Gould wrote:
Recently, Mxsmanic posted:

Neil Gould writes:

A lot of this depends on the individual. I doubt that Jay's family
would agree with you that their aircraft is impractical as
transportation. I don't understand the notion that it is a problem
that one is "still most likely to have to rent a car"; so what?

Because if you take a car somewhere, you don't have to rent a plane to
finish the trip.

Again, I say, "so what?" It's a non-issue, because if you fly
commercially, you *still* have to rent a car to get around.

But in cases where you *would* take a car, you wouldn't need one.


Weather limitations are greatly over-rated. As others have pointed
out, the inconvenience of waiting out weather can be less than an
hour, and most of the time less than a day.

When the meeting is at 10 AM, that's a show-stopper.

People who "must be there" at a particular time miss a lot of meetings,
regardless of their mode of transportation.

But you're much more likely to miss it if you're depending on GA.



The commercial flight can generally be relied upon; the GA flight
cannot. Commercial aviation has spent decades and billions of dollars
to ensure that airliners can fly in all but the worst weather.

That is not my experience at all. Within the last 5 months, my wife and I
have missed connecting flights due to airline issues 2 out of 2 times. I
have yet to miss my arrival times flying GA.

I haven't missed a connecting flight for about the last 20 times I've
flown commercially. On average, many more people make their connecting
flights than not.

As for GA, I've been trying to make a trip for two weeks now, but
haven't been able due to weather. If I had needed to, I could have made
the trip in a car and been back home the same day two weeks ago. I put
it off because I'm using it as an excuse to fly - which I believe is
what most GA pilots probably do.

Bart wrote:
As for GA, I've been trying to make a trip for two weeks now, but
haven't been able due to weather. If I had needed to, I could have made
the trip in a car and been back home the same day two weeks ago. I put
it off because I'm using it as an excuse to fly - which I believe is
what most GA pilots probably do.

To make my point even further, I just recieved an email from a member
of my flying club that battery in our plane is dead.

If this were a car it would be no big deal since I could go to an auto
parts store and replace the battery myself. But since we need a
licensed A&P mechanic to do the job, and there's not exactly one on
every corner, we'll have to wait in line to get the job done.

There's your 'ole reliable GA!

Flight rescheduled.... *again*.

On 29 Oct 2006 00:00:05 -0700, "Bart" wrote:

Bart wrote:
As for GA, I've been trying to make a trip for two weeks now, but
haven't been able due to weather. If I had needed to, I could have made
the trip in a car and been back home the same day two weeks ago. I put
it off because I'm using it as an excuse to fly - which I believe is
what most GA pilots probably do.

To make my point even further, I just recieved an email from a member
of my flying club that battery in our plane is dead.

If this were a car it would be no big deal since I could go to an auto
parts store and replace the battery myself. But since we need a
licensed A&P mechanic to do the job, and there's not exactly one on
every corner, we'll have to wait in line to get the job done.

The pilot or operator of a Part 91 aircraft can replace the aircraft
batteries...you don't need an A&P. Read 14CFR 43.3(g) and Appendix A (c).

Ron Wanttaja

Ron Wanttaja wrote:
The pilot or operator of a Part 91 aircraft can replace the aircraft
batteries...you don't need an A&P. Read 14CFR 43.3(g) and Appendix A (c).

Ok - but we still have to wait on the battery to be ordered which takes
at least a day.

Ron Wanttaja wrote:
The pilot or operator of a Part 91 aircraft can replace the aircraft
batteries...you don't need an A&P. Read 14CFR 43.3(g) and Appendix A (c).

We still have to wait on the battery to be ordered which takes at least
a day. And assuming the best case scenario of it getting put in
sometime tomorrow, I will then be forced two wait at least another two
days due to weather.

Bart writes:

To make my point even further, I just recieved an email from a member
of my flying club that battery in our plane is dead.

If this were a car it would be no big deal since I could go to an auto
parts store and replace the battery myself. But since we need a
licensed A&P mechanic to do the job, and there's not exactly one on
every corner, we'll have to wait in line to get the job done.

There's your 'ole reliable GA!

Flight rescheduled.... *again*.

Safety isn't free. And you need lots of safety in an environment as
unforgiving as the skies. But it is true that this is part of what
makes GA impractical for any type of regular transportation.

--
Transpose mxsmanic and gmail to reach me by e-mail.

"Bart" wrote in message
oups.com...
To make my point even further, I just recieved an email from a member
of my flying club that battery in our plane is dead.

If this were a car it would be no big deal since I could go to an auto
parts store and replace the battery myself. But since we need a
licensed A&P mechanic to do the job, and there's not exactly one on
every corner, we'll have to wait in line to get the job done.

You've got to be kidding... Batteries are as user replaceable as landing
lights...