car versus piloting for practicality as life style choice
2006-11-14 06:55:54 · 5 answers · asked by drew95ca 2 in Cars & Transportation ➔ Aircraft
I use a Cherokee 140 and a Sundowner 180 to commute to Vancouver BC sometimes and it takes 40 minutes instead of 1 hour and 30 minutes (more if there is a traffic jam) from where I live. I only need a few minutes for preflight so it is definitley worth it. But I only pay for gas, the company I work for owns, insures, and maintains them.
I also use them to fly to the Okanagan which turns 3 1/2 hours of mountainous winding roads into an hour and change of flying. My kids love it.
What does suck is lack of transportation when you are there and being stuck due to weather.
If it is just you and one other person travelling a Rutan Vari-Eze or Long-Eze have nearly double the speed of a Cessna and can get up to 40MPG.
2006-11-14 17:40:31 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I have both and yet I don't fully understand your question. If you mean that flying can take less time, than the longer the trip the more sense it makes to fly. If you add commute time to the airport, preflight and fueling time and the wait for clearance to take off you can add quite a bit of time to a short air trip. I find that flying is less stressful once you are airborne and more stressful doing all of the things required to get off the ground. In my car, I go down to my garage and turn the key and go. In my plane I have to drive to the airport, park my car preflight the aircraft, fuel the aircraft, get into the holding pattern to get a runway and then go. On the other end you have a little less time required once you land, but you need to arrange ground transportation, and secure the aircraft. So as far as strict efficiency, I think the car wins until you are into 500 miles or more.
2006-11-14 07:05:36 · answer #2 · answered by yes_its_me 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I am a private pilot and also fly a Cessna. Mine is a 172. For trips of a long nature it is more efficient to drive I think. Between fuel costs and preflight times, renting a car when you get there and not to mention the 172 is pretty slow, the benefits to driving are greater I think. You might save 30 min to an hour on most flights compared to driving but then fuel costs and rental add astronomicla fees to your trip. The 172 is a great site seeing plane or great for short trips just to get you in the air and add hours to your log book.
2006-11-14 09:49:19 · answer #3 · answered by sirelyas 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I don't understand your question.
2006-11-14 10:37:04 · answer #4 · answered by nerris121 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
no it does not
2006-11-14 08:17:24 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋