Why Little Airplane?

The past year has been a spectacular one for flying. Around 145 hrs logged and probably a few more before the end of the year. My wife and I have managed to cross the country west to east and twice north to south, round trips in all cases. We also managed a trip to Mexico, a couple of Canadian overflights, a few trips to Mammoth, and a trip to Bryce Canyon. Good fun. We flew past the NYC skyline, we crossed the Grand Canyon and the Great Lakes more than once. The list goes on and on.

2012's flying adventures: still more more to see

We've seen friends and relatives that we probably would not have seen otherwise. We've been able to come and go at our whim and see places of the world that some never will see.

We also had a few flights that might have been uncomfortable. There was strong turbulence over western Pennsylvania that gave anything I had seen in the West a run for its money. There was a crosswind when landing in Mexico that made me glad that I verified that my insurance was valid there. A few times we didn't make it where we wanted to but for the most part we were never much worse for the wear than we would have been if we'd flown commercially.

Cost-wise, all told, the flights we could have made commercially were competitive with what the airlines were offering. The plane gets around 25 miles per gallon going 185 miles per hour. This speed and economy is tough for the airlines to beat unless it's a very highly traveled route.

The comparison isn't fair though, many of these trips just can't be done commercially. There are no commercial flights to Laguna San Ignacio to pet the whales, nor to Bryce Canyon, UT for hiking among the hoodoos, nor to Sun River, OR for skiing Mt Bachelor in June, nor to Hood River, OR for kitesurfing or an endless list of other places don't have commercial service.

Capital investment-wise, the 6 year old plane is worth just about what I paid to build it so no real loss there. The other costs are just the costs of having an airplane, the same ones that so many pilots pay anyway just to have an airplane that they don't travel in.

Americans are very fortunate that they live in a country that permits any citizen this freedom of movement. For whatever sad reasons, I am among the small minority of pilots that ever fly themselves for anything other that short local flights. Why have a Little Airplane? Why not!