A Slow Plane is Still Fast Transportation

[Slick Goodlin]

I always manage to forget this while daydreaming about going higher, farther, faster but for anyone else who needs to know: a slow plane can still get you there fast.

Not too long ago I flew a Cherokee from Southern Ontario to Kentucky and was back in time for a late lunch. More recently I replaced a 15+ hour road trip with a 7.5 hour ride in a J-3. Two days ago I took a tired old 65hp Champ on a run to buy headset parts and saved hours of driving.

Of course weather can be problematic but out my way we have more nice days than not and if you hold that little VFR machine as an option and not the option it can be made to work pretty well.

Now back to wishing I was going faster…

[Colonel]

I used to be able to beat the airlines, Ontario to Florida, in a Mooney 201.
It would true out at an honest 160 KTAS at 13 gph IIRC. Had some mods,
not sure if they really helped or not.

One fuel stop in Norfolk VA. Met Richard Petty on the ramp once there.
I had no idea who the tall skinny dude with the weird hat and the black
moustache and sunglasses was, at first.

Pro Tip™: the best speed improvement you will ever make to an airplane,
is more fuel. You have a no-fuel-stop radius around your home airport.
Outside of that, your block time slows considerably.

The M20J had a mod to increase the wet wing from 60 to 100 gallons,
which would have made Ontario -> Florida non-stop. I really hate, sitting
on top of the weather in the bright sunshine, to have to descend into the
murk for a fuel stop. Ugh. Like a time penalty.

Also, it lets you get your trip done earlier in the day. While that is not a
consideration here on the left coast, it sure as hell is on the east coast,
where you can pretty well set your watch by the afternoon Cb's.

East coast flying is about departing IFR as early as you can in the day,
with low vis and clouds, and getting to your destination as early in the
afternoon as you can, before the Cb's make your life really interesting.

All that moisture makes Wx. Low clouds and vis in the morning when
you have no dewpoint spread, and then Cb's in the afternoon when the
sun heats the earth like an element on the stove.

Sitting around VFR until the clouds burn off in the morning is a mug's
game.

[David MacRay]

I spoke with some people who drove to AirVenture instead of flying their planes. Most of them Cubs or home built planes.

I figured it would be more fun to fly. Several of them said it was faster to drive. I was surprised. Then they explained if they had a head wind sometimes they would watch traffic on the interstates passing them going faster.

That sounded plausible but I still thought flying along looking down seemed like more fun.

It used to be easy to beat someone flying from Calgary to Edmonton commercial with just a 105 knot single. Once they landed at YEG near Leduc, they had to collect their things and get ground transported 16 miles the rest of the way to downtown Edmonton, across one of the two bridges, neither of which is a direct route. Meanwhile you could fly a C-172 or a Piper Warrior into the Muni and grab a much quicker cab ride a mile or so.

Some people still just drive to avoid checking in and waiting for the flight.

[Colonel]

if they had a head wind sometimes they would watch traffic on the interstates passing them going faster

Reminds me. I think I've told this story before, but ...

My kid got a job, some years back, ferrying a Cub from Ontario to Alberta. Very educational.
He watched it rain in Wawa for 5 days. He was not impressed.



Finally, over the prairies. I get a text from him (I forget the exact numbers) but he
said he was at 2,000 with a 30 knot headwind and he need to re-flight plan a closer
stop for fuel. I guess I was dispatch? Anyways, unlike you left wing guys, I like my
kids, and I try to help them.

So I text the kid, drop down to 1000 AGL. He says, Good News! Headwind is down
to 20 knots.

Then I text him, drop down to 500 AGL. It is the prairies, after all. Flat as a pancake out
there, which is why all the wind, after all.

He replies, Good News! Headwind is down to 10 knots.

I text him, drop down to the surface over the Trans-Canada highway and find a
tractor-trailer to draft.



This is us doing a runway inspection.



He never had a chance - he was never going to turn out to be a Good Canadian™, I guess.



Maybe the Lefties will be pleased with our atrocious repacking skills:



Oh well. The JTF2 guys loved us, anyways.

https://www.wearethemighty.com/articles ... ll-record/

They didn't understand WTF was going on - why do two engineers from California have
a DZ - I did all the paper ... airport operator permission, NOTAM, ATC - with two airplanes
and the music cranked so loud (I used to work for Harman Becker) - but they wanted in,
and I was happy to oblige.

Fine young men. Reminded me of Navy Seals:



They were a hoot. Airshow pilots complained at the briefing about all the noise they made
all night long with the local talent. No one got any sleep. Seals didn't talk much - they didn't
think much of civilians (I was a minute early TOT) - but after a while, I remember one of them
told me, Three more months of this, then back to killing people.

Fine young men. Definitely not Good Canadians™.

[Scudrunner]

We fly out to Vancouver and Victoria on airlines at least a couple times a normal year it’s costs about 500 a head so a family of 4 is 2k

I did the math sitting on the plane with the wife. It went something like this.

4 pax round trip $2000

Drive to airport .5
Ditch car, or cab etc
get to terminal
check in go through security 1.0

Fly to destination 1.2 ish
Get bags .5

Get rental and or meet family to pick us up..

Total time 3.2


My own plane Say a Piper Malibu
Leave when I want to
.3 drive to airport ybw
Load up and preflight .4 pack guns and or wine
(same level of criminality in Canada.)

Fly to destination call it 2.5

Equal time spent.

18 GPH ish times 6 hours air time round trip equals 700 bucks. Don’t include the other costs because if you can’t afford it don’t play the game but it’s a wash.

Or save a ton and drive for 10 hours and if we go to
YYJ

[Nark]

Round trip last December Milwaukee to Lakeland, FL for a holiday fly-in and then a visit to Tampa: $660 in fuel.

In 2018 I took the wife to visit friends in Atlanta. I think that is about the edge of where time is saved vs airlining it. We took our time getting down there, spent the night in Knoxville. I think it was because we had a late afternoon departure because of her job. We left Sunday morning, just as her friends were heading to church. We got back to Chicago area around noon, had lunch with the wife's grandfather (91 years old). Took him for a quick flight, and was back at the house by late afternoon Sunday.

Sometimes GA flying doesn't save you $$$ as compared by airline or driving, but it sure as shit can save you time. Or conversely, it can save you money, vs spending a little bit more time.


I recently picked up a friend from his cabin way "up north." His son's baseball team did really well and went in to the playoffs. Instead of driving 5.5 hours each way so the kid could play with his team, he asked me to pick him up. Sure I says...pay for the fuel, and we're good.

Turned in to the most expensive flight he's ever taken. He now wants a plane of his own. He's looking at Lance's and 206's. I only take a small piece of credit in reinvigorating his GA passion. (he's a senior checkairmen at the same airline).

[Squaretail]

I figured a while ago that just on the price of fuel (assuming an SUV sized vehicle) the Cessna 172 (or equivalent) won out over the road on any trip of 3 hours driving or more, depending on how direct the road was. A 182 (or equivalent) won out over about a 4.5-5 hour drive. Flying little planes places really only wins over the airline if you're going somewhere the airline doesn't go, then the time savings really makes it worth while. The time is really the key. When I still had my plane, its main trip it made was to go see Mom and Dad, where an hour's flight made a day trip workable. Especially if I found out I didn't have to work and could just walk across the ramp and jump in the plane and go. The big thing with little planes, is how far you can make it within what can be forecast for weather. You can only really count on maybe 24 hours when you set out that a forecast is going give you a reasonable picture for planning. Trips that require several days, make sure you have lots of days.

[David MacRay]

Before I got married, I knew it was expensive but never looked at the exact cost. I just flew places because I liked flying. Went back to work and paid for it later.

Also I really enjoyed taking a week to fly somewhere way more than being stuck in the back of a germ tube for a few hours.