A friend of ours is very wealthy and thus my wife and I had the opportunity to fly on a private jet via "Netjets" several times. What an experience, no TSA, no B.S., just give the crew your bags, walk on out from the jetport and board on the tarmac with no hassle. You definately don't feel like cattle in this circumstance! Mark
I swear I would rather fly any GA airplane than commercial within reason. Of course you cannot do that all of the time, but for 1000 mile US trips, it just feels better. I hate the TSA experience, and all the waiting. Every time I go through TSA, it just reminds me of what they have done to our country.
I didn't want to mention it as I am a motorcycle rider and don't appreciate the posts that have video's of crashes etc. and didn't mention it when you posted your nice plane, but it seems to me that too often private planes bite back. Just off the top of my head there is a list of famous folks, not to mention all the non-famous. A family members business partner died piloting his own jet. I have taken a first flight for the pilot's license, really just for the experience, and they are flimsy as hell. Bad weather, maintenance etc. regardless of stats. I will stick with the big ones and at this stage would only fly to a very few places on a few wide bodies or if I ever won a contest to backseat a military jet. I hope you have nothing but clear skies.
rent....dont buy...I have plenty to choose from...BBJ anyone.....777 if you need room....747 if you want stairs. Nice turbo prop...great airplane I hear.
A lot of the airlines have dropped full first class, domestic and international carriers, because a noticeable percentage of the seats were going to upgrades and comps. If people won't use real money to sit in those seats then the airlines do something more productive with that space. The fully private first class suites started with the state owned airlines in the Middle East. The US has tried some luxury airlines but they failed. Regent Air which in its second incarnation was MGM Grand. 727-100s with around 30 legal seats. Jeff
Compared to the price of a first class airline ticket???? Only if you're a group of 20 or 30. Probably shouldn't do a corporate thing, either... should never put all you significant people on one plane... Insurance usually forbids it anyway. HAD a friend, his engineering company took the office on a skiing trip. Plane crash.
Agreed....we are not allowed to fly all the chiefs on one plane...ever. That rule has been around for years. We do long term Leases for airlines and occasionally rich dudes who need a big airplane.
Ya know, more people died this year in automobile accidents than have ever died on airplanes in the history of aviation. When its your time it's your time. Might "get killed walkin' yer doggie".
That doesn't really mean anything statistically... All autos travel millions and millions of miles further than all aircraft in a year. This is more meaningful: Deaths per 100,000 miles on a yearly basis, US airlines are safer than personal cars. But, General Avaiation is less safe than cars. (cars are safer)
NOT all GA pilots are equal, like having a licence to drive cars, some shouldn't be pilots or owners... good judgement does not come when one gets a ticket to ride or buys a plane... there are GA pilots or owners I will not fly with...
I agree.....just because you have money and can afford a plane does not make you a pilot. I can fly an airplane and have landed a 737 in a simulator......maybe I am a pilot too!
Well since now it is a discussion, here's how I look at it; Motorcycle vs. Car --- My crotch rocket style bike is much more fun than just about any car, even the handful of cars that are as quick can not match the feel of being out in the open on a bike or match the sensation of leaning on turns or flipping from one side to another in chicane like turns. The downside is mostly mitigated by being smart/skilled, not pushing past the edge and being aware, expecting and reacting to the clueless nitwits who pull into your path. General Aviation vs. First Class wide body commercial --- Where is the advantage to GA? If piloting yourself, it's all work in an extremely cramped seat in an inferior machine and perhaps terror if the weather takes a dive. Performance is much less, you are putt-puttin along at a slower speed and range. Instead of showing up at the airport relaxed and pampered (see the 1st post Lufthansa vid ) and getting on a well maintained and safe pinnacle of tech driven by experienced pro's with back-ups and ground support you have to plan a route yourself and hope some dude screwed everything on right. ............. And seriously compare the 747-8 upper deck or any wide body deck to the CIGAR-TUBE experience that even the best GA offers. Not to mention expense!! The argument can't be made, the only valid comparison/analogy would be First Class commercial vs. P51 mustang/ Spitfire ownership. For me, private planes/jets hold the same interest as boats, none. For those who choose to fly themselves, I hope you have safe journeys.
GA is about not having to take a bus when a car will do... it's about accessibility and convenience on one's own schedule, not working around an available destination to get to where one really needs to be.
That is only really the case if you live like travolta or trump, otherwise that is also a losing argument.
I'll pass that on to FLYING magazine... that's where my statistic came from. Yours? There are a LOT of poor GA pilots out there. They skew the numbers... a lot of very good GA pilots, too.
then there are GA owners that put their agenda and schedules ahead of common sense when it comes to weather and unadvisable flight conditions... over riding their pilots better judgement... one just needs to look at the record of flights succombing to disaster due to local weather being below minimums... I have seen many owners put their schedules ahead of good judgement... some have not returned ,while others have come back in need of clean clothes only then do they gain some respect for better judgement, I have seen pilots get fired on the spot for refusing to fly and other pilots quit because of owner bad demands
If you are not a pilot, you are not in a position to make this judgement. You dont know my ratings or training requirements. If only commercial airplanes are safe, then why do they crash?
If you're not a pilot, you're not in a position to make this call. I haven't flown commercial since 2007. I fly myself everywhere (yes, even Europe and South America). The lifestyle is so wonderful, I pretty much no longer have a home. I just keep going. The journey is the destination!!
Nothing in my comment required a pilot's license, either published knowledge or what can be clearly known by being in both environments, which I have. But the reason I clicked here now was to post an interesting vid of a 777-200LR. I did not know this had a 2nd deck (for staff) a large one in back with very nice spacious sleeping quarters and a small one in front for the pilots. The important part of the vid, notice this Qatar 777 has a coach class of XXX-XXX-XXX ............ whereas most coach today is XXX-XXXX-XXX .......... compared to the 1971 DC-10 vid of XX-XXXX-XX That is the difference between flying now and then same space but 10 vs. 8 people across and also more rows today meaning less leg room. And Qatar's 777 1st class is one of the nicer ones. [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QP1Zi7KsX4k]Qatar Airways 777-200LR at the 2011 Dubai Airshow - The Grand Tour PART 2 - YouTube[/ame]
