RV vs. Airline - a Travel Example

[Ironflight]

Last weekend, I had to travel to Minnesota for some appearances. Since I absolutely, positively had to be there, and the sponsoring organization was picking up the tab, I let them book me on the big Red-tailed bird (NWA) for the trip up and back. Nice trip, got there on time...and of course, the weather was nice VFR both ways....

Let's review the timing. I left my office at 1430 on Friday afternoon for a nice one-hour drive to Houston Intercontinental Airport. Parking lot, parking shuttle, luggage check (remembering to tuck my pocket knife, eye drops and chap-stick in my checked luggage so I didn't get stopped at security by the Gestapo!), and then an hour wait for the flight. A nice smooth flight in a comfy seat, and then a LONG walk north through the Minneapolis terminal (I think the southern end of the "G" terminal at KMSP must be in Iowa!) to wait for/pick up my bag, followed by a LONG walk south to the rental car counter to pick up wheels and drive to my parent's home. Arrival time 2100!

If, instead, I had driven from the office to my hangar, leaving at the same time, I would have been airborne by 1500 (with all of the contraband still in my pockets!). Assuming a quick fuel stop and short turnaround somewhere in Missouri, based on previous trips on the route in the Valkyrie, I'd have touched down at a local GA airport about 2030. A quick phone call to a sister living 5 minutes away would have gotten me a ride for an arrival at my parents home at....2100!!

Once again, proving that travel by RV on trips up to about a thousand miles can meet or beat the airlines on the same route.

I just thought I'd bring it up for those folks wondering (or still sitting on the fence) about how useful these machines can be....of course, if there had been icing in the clouds (if there had been any clouds) I'd have been REAL happy to be sitting in that seat on the Airbus....I'm not crazy!

The Valkyrie will make the Christmas trip...after a (hopefully) trip to Florida and back in the next few days...

Paul

[pilot7]

Paul,
Last summer I took my wife in our 182 to GA from OK. About 860 statute miles. We had to go around weather on leg out and back. I am VFR. My wife was kinda upset at the delays. I think I got there in about 7 hours or so and back in about the same time.
Later, she wanted to go and decided to fly airlines.
When she left, the airline was delayed because of weather at another airport. She could not leave because she would not meet her connection. She had to spend the night and leave the next day. The next day, another delay put her in Tulsa ok or Dallas tx and me having to drive to pick her up.
By the time she got home personal travel had a new meaning to her.
Doug

[f1rocket]

I just picked up my airplane from a painter in central Alabama. I'm in central Indiana. First off, I couldn't even get a commercial flight that would get me there in less than 4 hours and even then, I had to drive from Birmingham the final 50 miles. Price was about $450.

Instead, I drove down in a one-way car rental that cost me $150 but took me 11 hours through rush-hour traffic in Louisville and Nashville.

Flight back home in the newly painted airplane was a brisk 2 hours at a fuel cost of approximately $84.

Yep, there is no other way to go. (as long as the weather is good!)

[RV7Guy]

This somewhat skewed because I live at an airpark and always leave from GATE 1. P19 Chandler AZ

1) Called relative in Las Vegas and said I was pushing the airplane out and would be airborne within 15 minutes. One hour 50 later I'm walking into the terminal at North Las Vegas.

Same flight on Airlines. Drive from house to Phx Sky Harbor and park at remote lot. 45 minutes. Arrive at least one hour early. Fifty minute flight, get rental car, drive to relatives 45- an hour (near N LV.) So a minimum of 4 hours if everything goes right.

2) Flying from P19 to San Bernardino airport. Projected 1:40 flight. Call friend who lives in Long Beach and is my ride and tell him I'm lighting the fire. He says he is leaving his house at that minute. 1:35 flight, park, tie down, remove gear, look around, visit Wizator center, walk to more convenient pick up area and wait 30 more minutes.

Minimum 4-5 hour situation flying into Ontario airport. (Driving would be faster)

Okay, one more.

3) Departed for Osh. 9 hours in route, 2 stops for fuel, head winds. Just under 8 hours of actual stick time.

Doing that commercial would be just about a push.

[Scott Will]

Good stories fellas. Would someone PLEASE tell my wife to read this thread?

Her parents live in Nashville which is just a tad over 200 nm from KLZU. She insists we fly but it takes longer than it has to... Why? Because we fly commercially! So it's about a 4.25 hrs trip no matter if you take the Big D(elta) or drive.

Trying to convince her that the RV, now that it's flying, is the onlllly way to go. Perfect for these kind of trips.

Can't wait to take it to see my parents - a 5 min ride to the local airport vs. 1+ hr to any of the 3 closest major airports with scheduled service. That alone saves an hour.

[airguy]

Simple. Drop her off at the airline terminal, fly over in your plane, and pick her up again at the destination. She'll get the message. You might get a divorce (I probably would! ) but she'll get the message!

[grover]

the foregoing examples are good for the empiricism involved. but a more difficult measure is that of personal satisfaction. at this point (in america, anyway) there is no compelling reason to set foot on an airliner. the aforementioned gestapo are reason enough to walk/hitch-hike/crawl/rv-ate, etc. after one's chapstick and drinking water are confiscated, we are treated to abysmal service by employees, many of whom are uncertain about the future of their airline. after that, we are shoe-horned into impossibly tight quarters next to an individual with marginal hygeine (at least that's who they stick me next to). and there we sit. . .wondering if our name will appear on the top secret no-fly list that is complied down in the basement of area 51, between our departure and return trip.

what unit of measure do you use for the satisfaction, flexibility, comfort and downright fun (you can't have the NWA dude up front do the odd aileron roll on the way now, can you?) that comes from flying yourself, in your own plane?

[DeltaRomeo]

We live just north of Dallas, TX. A couple of years back I needed to be back at work after the holiday (a Friday), but my wife wanted to stay down in Waco for a few days to spend time with the Moms, so she drove with the kids a couple of days before the 25th and I flew the RV-6 down to Waco on the 24th. 36 minute flight watching SOLID brake lights down the entire length of I-35. I purposely didn't fly direct, but instead flew directly over the Interstate. Susie picked me up at KACT, about ten minutes from Mom's.

It was an it-was-worth-every-penny moment and I remember it well. The road between Dallas and Waco isn't exactly fast the day before Christmas <g>.

I hope to do something similar again this year.

I love my airplane.

b,
d

PS: Funny that I typed 'Thanksgiving' in the subject and then talked about Christmas. I'm getting old...

[John Courte]

I'm seriously looking forward to using RV Airlines for my regional aviation needs. From SMO to OAK or SJC, the choice is pretty clear. From LAX to TPA or DTW would definitely be one for the airlines. Right now, the advantages are the satisfaction of doing it (big one, and first among many), and the profound lack of the Typical American Air Travel Experience. It depends how much stuff you have to do on the ground compared to the amount of time you're in the air. From the Los Angeles Basin to the bay area, flight time is about 50 minutes. Cab to the airport, check in, security (which is quick, but still annoying), clearance, pushback, taxi takes about 50-75 minutes. No car rental, but taking the train to San Francisco or having the wife's parents pick us up and take us back to their house is another 20 min to 1/2 hr depending on traffic. That run takes a little less than 2.5 hours in a Cardinal RG, but the drive to SMO takes a minute and a half if the lights are right. Preflight to takeoff is about 15 minutes. But you don't have to stand in a line smelling the feet of strangers and holding your trousers up before you can get aboard. If there was such a thing as a 550mph RV, the airlines would have no advantage at all.

[Nuisance]

I had flown my RV8 to Sun n Fun from SW Colorado. I met up with a friend there from my town. He is a retired airline pilot who had chosen to use his pass to get there and back.

He left Sun n Fun (Lakeland Fl) at 6:30am for his flight. I left Sun n Fun at 8am.

I arrived home (Pagosa Springs, CO 2V1) at 4pm. He got home at 10pm after a flight to ABQ, then a 4 hour drive home. It REALLY pays from small town to small town.

P.S. Lakeland to Pagosa...1400 nm.