Flight Questions

Vaughn Simon wrote:
Just curious, how long does it nominally take the little guys (say a
Piper or something that can make it w/o having to re-fuel) to get from
BOS to DCA, assuming weather isn't an issue?

That "weather thing" would be a big assumption. Even if pilot and plane
are instrument rated (many are not) the traveling schedule of your average
"Piper or something" is very vulnerable to bad weather. More than one
pilot-traveler has abandoned an airplane and taken the airlines home to wait
for better weather to return and fetch the family airplane. I am an
enthusiastic pilot, but realize that light airplanes do not make good travel
tools unless you have significant flexibility in your schedule and are
willing to change your plans in the interest of safety.


WTH? There are plenty of days where it's safe to fly relatively long distances
VFR. The only caveat is that it's one of those deals where the ultimate go/no
go decision is going to have to be the same day just before you take off
(assuming you do). Now I understand that the ultimate go/ no go is done then on
every flight but my point is that an IFR rated pilot is able to plan with an
excellent chance of mission completion days ahead while a VFR only pilot really
can't.

Now to answer the other gentlemen's question: it depends on the aircraft. A
C-210 could make the trip in just a couple of hours (I'm estimating... I made a
nonstop from Rock Hill, SC to Beverly, MA once in a 210 on one tank of gas some
years ago so the Washington to Boston leg must have been 2 hours or so.

In a C-172 or Warrior, I would guess closer to three or three and a half hours.
Certainly something doable on a pretty day on the Eastern seaboard.



--
Mortimer Schnerd, RN
mschnerdatcarolina.rr.com

On Sep 3, 1:02 pm, "Mortimer Schnerd, RN" mschnerdatcarolina.rr.com
wrote:
Vaughn Simon wrote:
Just curious, how long does it nominally take the little guys (say a
Piper or something that can make it w/o having to re-fuel) to get from
BOS to DCA, assuming weather isn't an issue?

That "weather thing" would be a big assumption. Even if pilot and plane
are instrument rated (many are not) the traveling schedule of your average
"Piper or something" is very vulnerable to bad weather.

Understood that weather up in these parts is often a factor. I was
looking for a best case time.

[good datapoints snipped for brevity]

Now to answer the other gentlemen's question: it depends on the aircraft. A
C-210 could make the trip in just a couple of hours (I'm estimating... I made a
nonstop from Rock Hill, SC to Beverly, MA once in a 210 on one tank of gas some
years ago so the Washington to Boston leg must have been 2 hours or so.

In a C-172 or Warrior, I would guess closer to three or three and a half hours.
Certainly something doable on a pretty day on the Eastern seaboard.

--
Mortimer Schnerd, RN
mschnerdatcarolina.rr.com

Thanks Judah, Vaughn, and Mortimer for the info.

The reason I asked was that there was some talk a few years back about
the whether it would be feasible for work to go with their own shuttle
option (lease? rent?). On a typical day, I imagine there's at least
half a dozen or more that take the USAir shuttle to DCA and United to
IAD, so I'm revisiting the concept.

Just given the numbers of trips, there's usually at least a couple
horror stories about delays for a variety of reasons, not always
weather related. That and the cost of .gov fare are not at all
competitive given we usually have no choice but to fly on the contract
carriers.

The Tech Center has a shuttle to/from IAD-ACY which I've taken a few
times when work takes me there. Not sure what type of plane it is, but
I wanna say it's around a 40 seater and they run two daily trips each
way. It's loaded up in the cockpit for bad weather ("Weatherscope", as
I recall), and I was thinking something along those lines (or smaller)
would be good for helping with marginal weather days.

Regards,
Jon

Mortimer Schnerd, RN wrote:
Vaughn Simon wrote:

Just curious, how long does it nominally take the little guys (say a
Piper or something that can make it w/o having to re-fuel) to get from
BOS to DCA, assuming weather isn't an issue?

That "weather thing" would be a big assumption. Even if pilot and plane
are instrument rated (many are not) the traveling schedule of your average
"Piper or something" is very vulnerable to bad weather. More than one
pilot-traveler has abandoned an airplane and taken the airlines home to wait
for better weather to return and fetch the family airplane. I am an
enthusiastic pilot, but realize that light airplanes do not make good travel
tools unless you have significant flexibility in your schedule and are
willing to change your plans in the interest of safety.



WTH? There are plenty of days where it's safe to fly relatively long distances
VFR. The only caveat is that it's one of those deals where the ultimate go/no
go decision is going to have to be the same day just before you take off
(assuming you do). Now I understand that the ultimate go/ no go is done then on
every flight but my point is that an IFR rated pilot is able to plan with an
excellent chance of mission completion days ahead while a VFR only pilot really
can't.

We did that trip recently (Culpeper, VA to OWD) in less then 3 hours and
on the way home we went ORD to Lancaster, PA where we put down and
rented a car (2 hour drive home) due to T-storms. The next weekend we
went back to Lancaster to get the plane. We probably still beat the
airline times even driving the last 100 miles :-).

Margy