java

java

Well Known Member
I've always been skeptical of any real life utility in owning a plane. Sure, you cover ground, but when you take into account prep and securing time, as well as arranging and transitioning to ground transport, I havent seen a lot of occasions where flying was a benefit.

I saw one today.

My nephews are hockey players. The older boy was drafted by the Prince Albert Raiders (2nd round) in the Western Hockey League (WHL, or "The Dub" for short). I realize that 99% of the readers of VAF won't get this, but it's kind of a big deal here. For you Texas guys, maybe you will have heard of Mike Modano from his years with the Dallas Stars (highest scoring American born player ever in the NHL). He played his Junior 'A' hockey in Prince Albert.

Anyhow, this week is Raider tryout / scrimmage. Kids get drafted at 15, and hope to make the team at 16. If they make the team they have to leave home, live with a sponsor family, and travel and try to make the big leagues while they are going through all the normal high school challenges at the same time.

Back to flying. I'm a 9 hour 40 minute drive from Prince Albert. I'm also only a 2 hour 5 minute flight from PA! Today I flew up there, visited with family, watched a scrimmage, had some lunch, connected with my nephew, and flew home. That would have NEVER been possible without my RV6.

I still think of this as a hobby, but it's awfully nice, once in awhile, to see the utility, and how it can benefit a family.
 
Yep

Jase, we have a second home in South Carolina and we have the Savannah river as a barrier to cross. The nearest bridge makes us detour away from our destination and the small 125 mile drive becomes a minimum of 3 hours, whereas my -10 does the trip in 35 minutes...utility? You bet.

Best,
 
Driving to my Mom's house is 12 +/- hours. Flying in an RV-6A is 3.2. Unfortunately, Mom passed just before I finished the plane, but I still visit her grave and my brother, who lives just a bit farther.
 
Utility questioned?

1) Mt Rushmore - day trip
2) Antelope Canyon - day trip
3) Devil's Tower - day trip
4) Flying over the Grand Canyon - priceless
5) Cayman Island trip/flying over Cuba - priceless
6) Flying through a valley with aspens turning - priceless
7) Flying over Bahamas island low - priceless
8) Visiting friends sans TSA groping - anytime I want
9) Flying to Catalina Island - not many can say that
10) Piney Pinecreek, Key West, Quillayute and Eastport airports - see who figures this one

This is just a sample. You can assert that it has utility ONLY if it allows you to do a family function, but that is too limiting in my opinion.
 
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congrats

Jase,
Congrats on your nephews success! I hope he makes it all the way to the NHL.

Dennis
 
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Good luck to your nephews, Jase! Maybe they'll end up in Vancouver and can help us win the Cup for a change. :)
 
Hobby?

Really? Model airplanes are a hobby. Airplanes are a mode of fast transportation not limited to the range subconsciously adopted by people limited to driving. I have never thought of flying as a hobby.

Bob Axsom
 
Being Retired I don't think of racing as a hobby

Racing and travel are what give me focus for my life continuing after the focus I had in aerospace while I worked for a living. I don't want to turn off my brain and my need to strive for something significant. Even now with the life side track I am thinking of how I am going to shorten the wing on our RV-6A to pull us up to another level in speed. Some may think of their similar efforts as a hobby but it is the central work related thing in my life. I need to try to achieve excellence in the product even if I fail.

Bob Axsom
 
Its very nice

To have the ability to visit my dad who is 5.5 hrs away by car having to drive through Seattle, or a 1 hour flight, and gas wise, its cheaper.

Randy
8A
 
I (have to) disagree

Bob Axsom said:
Really? Model airplanes are a hobby. Airplanes are a mode of fast transportation not limited to the range subconsciously adopted by people limited to driving. I have never thought of flying as a hobby.

Bob Axsom
Click to expand...

Well... my wife and the relationship therapist keep telling me that the RV-7 is a hobby... :rolleyes:
and I have learned (the hard way) that what they say is always true ;)
 
Ron Lee said:
10) Piney Pinecreek, Key West, Quillayute and Eastport airports - see who figures this one
Click to expand...

My family and I just returned from a short vacation to Eastport, Maine, and have now, like you, visited the most northern southern, eastern, and western airports in the lower 48. However, my RV is still under construction, so I've done all this travelling in my trusty Cessna 172, and some of it with my young twins in the back seat. Believe me, flying the airplane is the easy part. The stories we have though.......
 
Snowflake said:
Good luck to your nephews, Jase! Maybe they'll end up in Vancouver and can help us win the Cup for a change. :)
Click to expand...

Sigh... Being a Flames fan, this would be a bittersweet situation. Luckily, I'm not sure even my nephews could help the Canucks ;).
 
Bob Axsom said:
Really? Model airplanes are a hobby. Airplanes are a mode of fast transportation not limited to the range subconsciously adopted by people limited to driving. I have never thought of flying as a hobby.

Bob Axsom
Click to expand...

You live a wonderful life that many of us working stiffs can only dream of Bob. The reality for me is different. That said, I bet I love that feeling when air gets under my tires just as much as you!
 
Ah well ...

java said:
You live a wonderful life that many of us working stiffs can only dream of Bob. The reality for me is different. That said, I bet I love that feeling when air gets under my tires just as much as you!
Click to expand...

Dreams are good. Sometimes life throws in some nasty bumps even when we are not working anymore but we keep pressing on. I'm glad you get that wonderful flying feeling and I'll bet you do indeed love it as much as I do. Plan long adventurous trips to interesting places and expand your memories. At some point those memories will be all you have left and I can assure you that the sacrifices made to gain any one of them is worth more than all the dreams and wishes combined once you reach that point. It's not a hobby, it is a way of life.

Bob Axsom
 
They do have utility.

I'm self employed so the traditional line between "for myself" and "for my employer" doesn't exist. Since first flight last October I've used the RV-8 to reach out further from home buying specialty inventory, a critical advantage in a tight market. On a sale day it gets treated pretty much like my pickup truck, but I save 1 to 3 hours each way.

I also use it to handshake distant customers when delivering trucks across the Southeast. It usually starts as an internet advertising response. I offer to deliver, then fly out to pick up my driver and see the customer face-to-face. It puts a whole new angle on what is usually an impersonal transaction. My goal is a repeat client.

Not that you can't have utility fun of a different sort. Yesterday I flew my buddy Ron to south Mississippi to pick up an overhauled Rotax at SMLA. Fits in the baggage compartment just fine; no space or W&B issue. How may utility airplanes will pop off a grass runway and run over 200 mph going home?
 
Dan,
Where can I find a posted picture of your paint job? Still my favorite. :)

Dennis
Ps
I now carry a potato in fly flight bag... ;-)
 
I can't decide if flying is a hobby or an addiction:)

Either way, a buddy and I just went and looked at a plane yesterday. 9 hour drive, or 2.6-3 hr flight. Perfect!!!
 
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