I have been nosing around for cheap flights for two of us to New Orleans. It is a wash-out to just pay for the gas in the scout or to go Southwest. Since we are all but unemployed and have time, I am leaning toward "Graham Air".

Anyway, I came across this video again, Cheap Flights. It makes me lean even more toward flying ourselves.

patrol guy wrote:I have been nosing around for cheap flights for two of us to New Orleans. It is a wash-out to just pay for the gas in the scout or to go Southwest. Since we are all but unemployeed and have time, I am leaning toward "Graham Air".

Anyway, I came across this video again, Cheap Flights. It makes me lean even more toward flying ourselves.

Lets see:

You can be herded through a long line like cattle, poked and prodded, have pornographic xrays taken of your girl friend that will surely end up on the internet and then set for a couple of hours next to a fat, sweaty guy who has this nagging cough, only to arrive and find they have lost your luggage or....

You can travel straight to the airport arriving whatever time you chose, throwing in your side arm, pocket knife and liquor along with the normal travel bags, take off and never get more than 50 feet off the deck for the entire flight, all for the same dollars

and the dilemma is what???

If I can fly my own bird, I do. Since homeland security has arrived, flying commercial airlines has gone from mildly distasteful to downright excruciating and I am avoiding that process all I possibly can. Not to mention the fact that I am purposely boycotting the whole airline process because I feel we are paying a ton of tax money and are not one bit safer for the experience. I have had several family trips that involved the family and too much stuff to get in my 180. In the past I would have flown to save time, but now I am driving. I am finding that even if it does take more time, it is a lot more enjoyable and becomes good family time. Not to mention the fact that I get to thumb my nose at Janet and that ridiculous homeland security crowd.

My two cents!

I struggle with that question all the time, but usually end up comparing driving my 40+ MPG Toyota Yaris, (the pregnant rollerskate) flying commercial, or flying my own bird. Make that driving my Yaris or flying my own bird, I'd rather take a bullet then fly commercial again.

The Yaris can handle night time instrument conditions, and in general any weather, unlike the S-7. The plane is much better at off airport sites then the Yaris. They both burn less then 4 GPH of mo-gas. What usually happens is if I drive, it MAY be perfect flying weather. If I fly, the weather MAY suck. If I fly commercial, I KNOW it's going to suck, no way can that kind of flying be any fun any more, thank you Osama

Some times a cheap flight is hard to beat though.

I got a cheap flight a couple years ago to oshkosh -- $215 nonstop roundtrip from SFO to MKE, (then rent a car and drive 90 miles to OSH). Cost me $1500 in avgas the next time. I'll put up with a little BS from the TSA for that kind of money.

The tune to that is vaguely familiar and reminds me of an old Johnny Horton song the Bismark. Could have been borrowed from the Irish though after a few bottles of this...
http://www.feckinwhiskey.com/

If I gotta be there I drive or go airline. I'm VFR

I dunno...when i gotta go, it is usually ontario,ca...east l.a. have done it both ways commercial a bunch and in the 182T...90 gal 100ll plus the room and rental car to drive 7 miles from ontario ca...all toll it is 500 in av plus the other...and i dont stay in motels with bars on the damn windows, so i stay in vegas and go down early am for a meeting that goes 7am to 1pm. buy a bunch of repo/scratched stuff and get the hell out. the last 182 trip was by far the simplest and easiest, but the flying in ca. is nasty at best. pretty bad when u r on a 2 mile final and have to say "nope" on the visual. throw in tons of traffic and you have the perfect storm! so being a little wiser, i now park the 182 in KLAS and let southwest shuttle me down and back to KLAS for a couple of hun...kind of a wimp i guess, but i plan on a lot more flying in the frank and mccall, and would be totally pissed off if some meathead ran into me down there...! the money is close, but always enjoy the trip home in the 182, even in the dark...

patrol guy wrote:I have been nosing around for cheap flights for two of us to New Orleans. It is a wash-out to just pay for the gas in the scout or to go Southwest. Since we are all but unemployed and have time, I am leaning toward "Graham Air".

Anyway, I came across this video again, Cheap Flights. It makes me lean even more toward flying ourselves.

That's fecking funny right there!

John

I flew by Scoutair from home down to FL last weekend, I'm down here now messing around doing some fishing with my dad for a week or so. I used close to 500 bucks of go juice to get here. I'm leaving the scout in a hangar and coming back in march to get it. Allegiant Airline flies nonstop Bangor Maine to Tampa twice a week. I got my return flight home for 80 bucks, and the ride back down in march fo 144. Don't know how they manage it money wise. You can't justify the expense vs commercial other than a good road trip. I was 13 hrs to Venice fl, the jet will be 3 to get home
There must not be any bushwheels in fl, I am like the freakshow every where I go. Still trying to find a beach that doesn't have houses all over it

Jim