Ted
The pilot formerly known as Twin Engine Ted
- Joined
- Oct 9, 2007
- Messages
- 29,906
- Display Name
Display name:
iFlyNothing
I mentioned my crazy motorcycle trip about a month ago now, and I think I have the times planned out pretty well for it. I also have the motorcycle. It's set up for the trip, I've been riding it around so I'm comfortable on it, etc.
The date is getting nearer, and after talking to some friends and thinking about some of the realities of the situation, I am now wondering if perhaps I should do a plane trip instead of a motorcycle trip. I was thinking I would do the plane trip next year. Here are the points I have come up with:
1) I can only realisitically take 2 weeks off work for this trip. This amounts to about 7000 miles of riding. The way it's spaced out, this gives me pretty much a couple of looooong (700 mile) days, but mostly through areas where it should be reasonably quick.
2) This ends up not giving me a ton of time to spend at any one location (probably dinner-breakfast), and I am stopping in a bunch of places and meeting a bunch of friends or else seeing friends who I haven't seen in a long time. Doesn't exactly give me a ton of visiting time. If I fly, then getting places will take less time, which means more time spent with whoever I'm with. Plus, that means I can take them flying without having to rent a plane.
3) I'm currently a 105 hour pilot, expecting to be at around 130-140 hours by the start of the trip. Also, I would have gotten my instrument rating by that point (that would be a requirement for me), but it would be a pretty fresh ticket.
4) My destinations would almost certainly take me to some pretty high elevations, and I have zero mountain flying experience (see route below)
5) If I flew, I would probably be able to add some more destinations in and thus see some more due to the time saved traveling, which would be good.
If I did a flying trip, I would do it after Osh, and then probably ride the motorcycle to Osh, or else hitch a ride with someone else who's flying there, making a long weekend out of it. So, I would still end up getting to go.
The main reason I decided initially to do the flying trip next year was because of my inexperience at this point in time. Not so much a lack of confidence issue, but just reasoning that perhaps it would make more sense to wait. However, I'm also at a point in my flying career where, for my goals, I need to build hours. This would be a great way to build a bunch of hours. When I talked to my instructor about doing a summer flying trip, he saw no problem with me doing it even if I was VFR only, just understanding that I'd probably run into some delays if I didn't have an IR.
The plane I'd be flying would be the club's Piper Archer II, which is has been a good, reliable plane, and I can fly all day long without complaint. It has a storm scope, twin VORs with one glide slope, but only a VFR GPS.
If I did the flying trip, I would have friends on certain parts, which would at least give someone else to help out in some way for the flight. One of the friends is a student pilot, but knows enough that he could certainly be helpful.
I see myself has having three options:
1) Go ahead and do the motorcycle trip this year, do the flying trip another year
2) Finish the instrument rating, take the Archer, do the flying trip
3) Do a different vacation entirely this year
Thoughts?
The date is getting nearer, and after talking to some friends and thinking about some of the realities of the situation, I am now wondering if perhaps I should do a plane trip instead of a motorcycle trip. I was thinking I would do the plane trip next year. Here are the points I have come up with:
1) I can only realisitically take 2 weeks off work for this trip. This amounts to about 7000 miles of riding. The way it's spaced out, this gives me pretty much a couple of looooong (700 mile) days, but mostly through areas where it should be reasonably quick.
2) This ends up not giving me a ton of time to spend at any one location (probably dinner-breakfast), and I am stopping in a bunch of places and meeting a bunch of friends or else seeing friends who I haven't seen in a long time. Doesn't exactly give me a ton of visiting time. If I fly, then getting places will take less time, which means more time spent with whoever I'm with. Plus, that means I can take them flying without having to rent a plane.
3) I'm currently a 105 hour pilot, expecting to be at around 130-140 hours by the start of the trip. Also, I would have gotten my instrument rating by that point (that would be a requirement for me), but it would be a pretty fresh ticket.
4) My destinations would almost certainly take me to some pretty high elevations, and I have zero mountain flying experience (see route below)
5) If I flew, I would probably be able to add some more destinations in and thus see some more due to the time saved traveling, which would be good.
If I did a flying trip, I would do it after Osh, and then probably ride the motorcycle to Osh, or else hitch a ride with someone else who's flying there, making a long weekend out of it. So, I would still end up getting to go.
The main reason I decided initially to do the flying trip next year was because of my inexperience at this point in time. Not so much a lack of confidence issue, but just reasoning that perhaps it would make more sense to wait. However, I'm also at a point in my flying career where, for my goals, I need to build hours. This would be a great way to build a bunch of hours. When I talked to my instructor about doing a summer flying trip, he saw no problem with me doing it even if I was VFR only, just understanding that I'd probably run into some delays if I didn't have an IR.
The plane I'd be flying would be the club's Piper Archer II, which is has been a good, reliable plane, and I can fly all day long without complaint. It has a storm scope, twin VORs with one glide slope, but only a VFR GPS.
If I did the flying trip, I would have friends on certain parts, which would at least give someone else to help out in some way for the flight. One of the friends is a student pilot, but knows enough that he could certainly be helpful.
I see myself has having three options:
1) Go ahead and do the motorcycle trip this year, do the flying trip another year
2) Finish the instrument rating, take the Archer, do the flying trip
3) Do a different vacation entirely this year
Thoughts?
Last edited: