A few days ago, Bill Dobson (Dobsonwe) posted another shameless attempt to rationalize our hobby, passion or pastime! Just think, if he didn’t have the plane, he never would have had to make the trip and would have saved at least 13 hours! Who said, “The things we do for love?”
But what if we need to make the trip? Which is better then? I smell a challenge.
This Christmas Day my family will perform, what I believe will be, the Ultimate GA/Commercial Airline Challenge. My entire family will be flying to Ft. Myers, Florida from Louisville, KY. My daughter will fly commercial - she lives in FL and it was cheaper just to get her a round trip. the rest of us will fly in our SR22.
Here’s the deal:
On Christmas morning, after we open the presents, we will all leave the house together, but in two cars. My wife and daughter, with only her luggage, will drive to the ‘big’ airport in one car, and I will drive to the ‘little’ airport in the other with all but my daughter’s luggage. (My son will go in whichever car he wants.). Melissa, my daughter, will be dropped off and my wife will join me at the Cirrus, where we will depart as soon as possible.
The Ccirrus does have one advantage: we are competing against Delta. If any airline could make the trip misserable, it is Delta.
The results will be judged by:
- Who arrives first at the house in Ft. Myers.
- Any problems with luggage, security, food, changing planes, etc.
- The comfort of the flight, including turbulence, other passengers, bathrooms.
- The overall experience.
All factors will be equally weighted.
Now, to be fair, I need to tell you that my son would rather not fly in the Cirrus (go figure) and my wife is definitely a fair weather flyer. Given that we will be traveling in the winter and there is already bad WX forecast for around then, it seems as thought the cards are stacked against the Cirrus. The Cirrus also has a handicap in that we will have to wait for my wife to return from dropping off Melissa.
Anyone want to bet which mode wins?