How far to your plane?

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ChrisRikli

Pre-Flight
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Oct 4, 2010
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Lincoln. And Dallas.
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Chris
I recently passed on joining a DA40 partnership because the airport was 1:15 away; I figured by the time I dragged the plane out of the hangar, loaded up, preflighted, it would be around 2 hours from doorstep to takeoff and about the same from landing to the couch.

Conversely I can be in the air in 45 minutes or less flying out of KLNK. It's in an ancient Cherokee rather than a sleek new Diamond, but my time matters to me.

Got me to wondering, though...how far do you guys drive to your aircraft, rented or otherwise?
 
Roughly twenty minutes for me, which is already my version of being on the long side.
 
ChrisRikli said:
I recently passed on joining a DA40 partnership because the airport was 1:15 away; I figured by the time I dragged the plane out of the hangar, loaded up, preflighted, it would be around 2 hours from doorstep to takeoff and about the same from landing to the couch.

Conversely I can be in the air in 45 minutes or less flying out of KLNK. It's in an ancient Cherokee rather than a sleek new Diamond, but my time matters to me.

Got me to wondering, though...how far do you guys drive to your aircraft, rented or otherwise?
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I have my cherokee 140 at KBED, which is 6 miles from where I live and about, oh, 1/4 mile from the building I work in. OTOH - it's a large shared hangar and my airplane is usually buried behind 3 or 4 airplanes, including at least one Eclipse. So it's not quite real quick to get it out and in the air.

I learned to fly at KLWM, which was about a 35-40 minute drive. If KBED wasn't available, the 35-40 minute drive to KLWM would be fine for me.
 
I guess I'm lucky, it's a 12-minute drive to the hangar for me.
 
About 20 minutes. I wouldn't want to be much further.

For a few months I was living outside of Boston and keeping my plane at Manchester for various reasons, primarily cost and instrument approaches. It was about an hour drive each way. The routine got old very quick, and made it difficult to just "swing by the airport" to check up on things. It was tolerable since it was a known temporary condition, but definitely would not have worked as a permanent one.
 
20-30 minutes to the nearest towplane.
 
ChrisRikli said:
I recently passed on joining a DA40 partnership because the airport was 1:15 away; I figured by the time I dragged the plane out of the hangar, loaded up, preflighted, it would be around 2 hours from doorstep to takeoff and about the same from landing to the couch.

Conversely I can be in the air in 45 minutes or less flying out of KLNK. It's in an ancient Cherokee rather than a sleek new Diamond, but my time matters to me.

Got me to wondering, though...how far do you guys drive to your aircraft, rented or otherwise?
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About 5 minutes - to the same "ancient" Cherokee :)
 
10-15 minutes depending on the lights. :)

7 road miles, about 3 miles straight line distance.

Interesting note though, I think i probably flew more when it was farther away. With it so close (but not, exactly like its in my garage), it's easier to put off a trip to the airport. (I can always go later this afternoon/tomorrow, etc).

String a few of those together and you find its weeks since you've been to the plane.
 
~10-15 minutes depending on if the gravel road is wet enough to prevent throwing rocks by driving fast. :)

As already mentioned, I have flown less with the plane in my 'back pocket' than when it was 2.5 hr (driving) away. :(
 
Anywhere from 30 minutes to 1.5 hours, depending on time of day. It's about the same whether I'm coming from home or work. The only airport that would be closer for me would be KDET, but the lack of any facilities there makes it a no-brainer (the 2-way ILS would have been very nice to have at home base though).

I wish McKinley Field still existed. It would have been a 10 minute drive from home. Sigh.
 
About 40 minutes to KGAI, plus time to preflight and file.
 
mmmm for me its about 5 minutes /2 miles to the airport and 40-45 minutes/26 miles one way to the plane.

How so? I live about 2 miles from KLOM Wings field but I fly Gary's plane which is based at KUKT about 26 miles north of me.

One day I'll have something at wings. When? Who knows:D
 
jesse said:
About 5 minutes - to the same "ancient" Cherokee :)
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Heh...I don't mean that in a bad way. The plane is extremely well maintained with great avionics and a solid GPS.

Unfortunately my wife doesn't like the "old airplane" smell and the skittishness of the aircraft in winds...it's just so light that it lets you know about the winds. I couldn't care less personally, but I need her buy-in so I can keep spending piles of money flying. :)
 
From home to my plane is 15-20 minutes, 13.5 miles

From work to my plane is 10 minutes, 6 miles
 
The Engine is about 1 minute to my garage/shop. the airframe is a 10 minute ride to the airport hangar.
 
5 miles over the river and through the woods - takes about 15 minutes to ONZ.

Next closest (not counting DTW) would be about 30 minutes (TTF). DET isn't much further.

If I wanted to stay outside the 30nm Mode C Veil, it would be an hour down to Toledo Suburban. But then when my wife asks where I am going, I could say duh...
 
About 20 minutes from the house to the hangars, just over 30 minutes from the office to the hangars.
 
About 10 minutes to the Pitts at Lee/Annapolis and about 30 minutes to the Columbia 400 at BWI.
 
About 15 minutes, 7SM for a rental fleet. I have another airport about 10 minutes away, too. I've considered and opted not to go into partnerships at airports that were 45 minutes to 1:15.
 
ChrisRikli said:
Heh...I don't mean that in a bad way. The plane is extremely well maintained with great avionics and a solid GPS.

Unfortunately my wife doesn't like the "old airplane" smell and the skittishness of the aircraft in winds...it's just so light that it lets you know about the winds. I couldn't care less personally, but I need her buy-in so I can keep spending piles of money flying. :)
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I know :)

Have you flown a Diamond? They're way way worse in turbulence or winds than a Cherokee is.

All you can really do is climb and hope to get out of it to make the wife happy. The instrument rating really helps with this in the summer as getting above those cumulus layers usually means cooler smooth air.

Perhaps we need to start a Lincoln partnership? *looks around for money*
 
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jesse said:
Perhaps we need to start a Lincoln partnership? *looks around for money*
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You should buy a Duke. They look cool and are cheap. ;)
 
Ted DuPuis said:
You should buy a Duke. They look cool and are cheap. ;)
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The tails fall off and you can't run them lean of peak because the air intake is routed through the gear well.
 
Minimum of 40 minutes to HEF. More, much more, if traffic is bad at rush hour. It's about the best choice - W32 or VKX would be at least that much time, CGS is in the same ballpark time-wise (but worse at rush hour), and GAI is 45-ish minutes by car, up to 75 minutes during rush hour. Leesburg's in the 45- minute range.
 
At home, the plane I rent is an hour away...at school, it's a 15 minute drive to the airport. Usually not renting on my own accord at school though, working on the instrument rating.
 
jesse said:
The tails fall off and you can't run them lean of peak because the air intake is routed through the gear well.
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yea but they have the same performance as a Lear!
 
jesse said:
The tails fall off and you can't run them lean of peak because the air intake is routed through the gear well.
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Common misconception. It was actually routed through the winglets.

tonycondon said:
yea but they have the same performance as a Lear!
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You're thinking of a LearBaron.
 
35 minutes. Club has four airplanes, each in it's own T-hangar. I can leave my house and be in the air in an hour.
 
jesse said:
Have you flown a Diamond? They're way way worse in turbulence or winds than a Cherokee is.
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I know that, you know that, but for some reason she doesn't get as urpy in a Diamond. I think it has something to do with the better visibility.

jesse said:
Perhaps we need to start a Lincoln partnership? *looks around for money*
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I'm actually surprised there's not a club here. I'd kill for the opportunities that pilots in cities have.
 
The plane was 55 miles, 1.5 to 2+ hours away all though my primary training.

Now it's 2.5 miles away driving according to Google maps. It's a little over a mile to the end of one runway.
 
12.5 miles to my hangar. Travel time varies from 15 minutes; more in the summer because 6 miles up from the house I pick up U.S. Route #1 for 4.5 miles. And U.S. Route #1/summer means traffic with a capital T. (And thank all you from away for "Keeping Maine (in the) Green.")

HR
 
3.1 road miles, front door to hangar door. Longest part of the trip is three traffic lights and the airport security gate. :)
 
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