AOPA Truth Squad

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skylunelives
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Posted via OziPilots Online [ http://www.OziPilotsOnline.com.au ]
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by skylunelives Jan 10,
2006 at 09:33 AM


Will be monitoring.... There are many newsgroups/readers out there!!

Legal Disclaimer: nothing in this post, prevsious posts, or subsequent
posts (hereinafter referred to as "Posts")should be interpreted to
annoy, threaten, or otherwise harass any Person, party, or group of
Persons. Any resemblance to real persons is purely unintentional
and/or coincidental. Should any reader interpret any Post otherwise,
please call 1-800-EAT-ME.


--
skylunelives

I called the number and got an operator for GA Serving Amerika.

I was a bit surprised, but used the opportunity to politely ask if the
final crash statistics for 04 vs. 05 have been compiled yet. They haven't
been. Earlier in the year, I did a quick comparison and found that '05 was
beating '04 handily (I posted that data from NTSB, filtering on GA
accidents).

Then there seemed to be a lull in crashes around October/early November,
maybe due to bad weather that grounded most of the old tin cans. But then
things really picked up late in the year, and I'm thinking that the
carnage in '05 probably edged out '04 crash counts. I guess I'll have to
wait for the Nall report, as I don't feel like adding up all the numbers.

Next I asked about how they arrived at the comparison of how long it would
take to fly from the Boston area to the DC area on a GA plane vs.
commercial. They referred me to a handy chart:

http://www.gaservingamerica.org/Advantages_diagram.htm

I asked, would that 7.8 hours (vs. 16 hours for air carrier)be in a C-152
("Fear Me!") or a high performance plane? She didn't know, but would get
back to me. I then asked what would happen to the 7.8 hours if the
unthinkable happened e.g. low clouds developed, or nightfall occurred.
She wasn't sure, but would get back to me.

Finally, I mentioned that many people I know of take the shuttle to DC for
business meetings, and return home the same day, in much less than 16
hours, travel time included. I was going to ask a question, but she was
clearly getting frustrated, and I was concerned I might be breaking the
new federal annoyance laws, so I stopped talking for a minute.

Then I asked how much it costs to fly GA vs. commercial, and she hung up.
I was annoyed. There should be a law....

Skylune wrote:

I asked, would that 7.8 hours (vs. 16 hours for air carrier)be in a C-152
("Fear Me!") or a high performance plane? She didn't know, but would get
back to me. I then asked what would happen to the 7.8 hours if the
unthinkable happened e.g. low clouds developed, or nightfall occurred.

The web site says the aircraft is a Bonanza. Running my flight planning
software, the trip would take 36 minutes longer in a Cessna 172 and 50 minutes
longer in my old Maule. Nightfall is not "unthinkable"; I'm a relatively low
time VFR pilot, and I've logged many hours cross-country at night quite safely.
Depending on how low is "low", clouds may not be a problem. I can stay under any
cloud cover down to about 1200' quite safely. Furthermore, that sort of thing
rarely develops without warning, so it isn't going to happen if the pilot checks
weather and makes moderately intelligent decisions. If the pilot is instrument
rated, it's pretty much a non-issue anyway.

If, however, weather deteriorated to the point that a landing a Frederick cannot
be made, the pilot simply diverts to another airport (perhaps Carrol County at
Westminster) and rents a car. That adds about 90 minutes to the trip.

I was annoyed. There should be a law....

There should be a law to force people to listen to your drivel?

George Patterson
Coffee is only a way of stealing time that should by rights belong to
your slightly older self.

George Patterson wrote:

Nightfall is not "unthinkable"

To you. To some people, each nightfall is a complete and utter surprise.

- Andrew

"Skylune" wrote

I asked, would that 7.8 hours (vs. 16 hours for air carrier)be in a C-152
("Fear Me!") or a high performance plane?

7.8 hrs seems quite high unless you're talking about a C150.

I then asked what would happen to the 7.8 hours if the
unthinkable happened e.g. low clouds developed, or nightfall occurred.

Depends on the capabilities of the pilot and the aircraft.

Finally, I mentioned that many people I know of take the shuttle to DC for
business meetings, and return home the same day, in much less than 16
hours, travel time included.

Depends on where you're going. Quite often I fly into small GA airports
near my customers - who are also usually more than happy to pick me up -
when the nearest large commercial airport would have been 2 or more hours'
drive away from my destination.

Then I asked how much it costs to fly GA vs. commercial

Depends on what you're flying, where you're going, and how much your time
and convenience are worth to you.

I would much rather travel by light airplane than by commercial airlines and
it really isn't totally related to being a pilot. There is much less
hassle, you are on your own schedule, you can almost always land within a
30-minute drive or less of your destination, and you can save lots of time
and mental fatigue.

It is also much easier to bring things along on the trip when you fly
yourself than it is to take them on the airlines.

Have I cancelled trips due to weather? - Yes. The airlines cancel lots of
flights too, for various reasons. But, I have also been able to land,
refuel, and depart on my happy way when the airlines were forced to circle
while waiting for the reported weather to improve.

Yes, depends on the capabilities of the pilot, as well as the capabilities
of the average business traveller, who does NOT spend hours walking
around, 90 minutes in security, hours waiting for rental cars, etc.

This absurd chart is really comparing a highly skilled, instrument
certified private pilot, flying in a high performance Doctor Killer
Bonanza, who lives across the street from his hangar and has a meeting
next to another GA airport to a businessman dunce who spends hours
wandering ineptly around parking lots, terminals, and then takes forever
to get to his Rent a Car.

And the private pilot obviously walks really, really fast. The increased
walking speed I believe, because by the time the little plane lands, the
pilot really, really, really needs to take a leak.

.......and, from your very own Greenspun:

"The Most Dangerous Words a Pilot Can Say
"I will be there on June 5 at 6:00 pm." Pilots of light aircraft who utter
sentences of that form are very high risk pilots, regardless of skill
level. If you promise to get to specific places at specific times you will
eventually run afoul of weather and other circumstances that are beyond you
and your aircraft's capabilities."

That is not propaganda. GA serving Amerika serves up BS.

"Skylune" writes:

[...] I called the number and got an operator for GA Serving
Amerika. I was a bit surprised [...]

Don't be. As you and others ably argued, AOPA is, amongst its other
roles, a promotional organization that is going to dwell mainly on the
pro-GA (and pro-AOPA) angle of any story. Other than the few "true
believers" who cannot bear any sort of criticism upon AOPA, the rest
of us can treat them with the appropriate mixture of gratitude and
skepticism.


- FChE

George P wrote:



There should be a law to force people to listen to your drivel?

George Patterson

Forced? Huh? You are being forced to use the Usenet? And to read my
"drivel?"

Damn!!, I had no idea how bad it is for the pilots. Is that some sort of
requirement in the BFR? Or are you being held captive like the guy in
"Clockwork Orange?"

by (Frank Ch. Eigler) Jan 10, 2006 at 05:30 PM


"Skylune" writes:

[...] I called the number and got an operator for GA Serving
Amerika. I was a bit surprised [...]

Don't be. As you and others ably argued, AOPA is, amongst its other
roles, a promotional organization that is going to dwell mainly on the
pro-GA (and pro-AOPA) angle of any story. Other than the few "true
believers" who cannot bear any sort of criticism upon AOPA, the rest
of us can treat them with the appropriate mixture of gratitude and
skepticism.


- FChE

FChE: Thank you. A voice of sanity in the wilderness....

The AOPA stuff is so amateurish and unbelievable that I doubt it will
attract anyone to flying who is not already predisposed to undertaking
what, for the vast majority, is a hobby to be enjoyed when the weather is
good.

I just find it absolutely hysterical when Boyer's people seek to "educate"
the "civilians."