Cost/Benefit analysis

Without a doubt. If you ever get a chance, go to the Navy museum in Pensacola. You don't have to be an airplane designer to realize those planes were flying bricks. They stayed aloft through sheer brute horsepower. My dad said the Zeros were so much better, even their rivets enabled them to fly faster. My dad was going through OCS in Jax when Pearl hit, and they all got fast tracked. He had a choice of Navy or Marines, and went Navy because he hated the blood stripe on the Marine uniform. He said this probably saved his life because we lost so many Marines trying to land tail draggers in jungle air strips.

And, yes, it is almost unbelievable to imagine what those guys did. I sometimes think about them in the ready rooms before Midway. Your mission is to fly 400 miles that-a-way and attack the entire Japanese navy. Because you only have 600 miles of range, we'll have helos waiting to pick you up out of the drink.

 

Unlikely in WWII

 

I know they had something because, while I might not have the numbers for the range spot on, the estimate was the TBD-1, Avengers and Hellcats didn't have enough fuel to get there and back. Maybe the PBYs were supposed to pick them up.

 

The only helicopter that I saw was one of those early fabric covered types (I can't remember the model number) and that was at the end of the war at Langley Field. The Navy had some, too, but I don't believe they were used on the carriers very much. The PBY's DID save a lot of downed fliers, however...and life boats. Several of my high school mates were lost in navy planes, two in SB2C's

 

My advice is to give yourself plenty of time on flight day to do it via car. Dont paint yourself into a corner where you 'have to get there'. Because when you do....the weather will not be compliant.

Further, all instructors want to build time and make some extra $$. Take a safety pilot, have him chill at the airport while you do your thing then come home. Do this until you build the time and experience. Do all the work, but have him in your back pocket if needed.

If you fly 200 hours or more a year, it makes sense to buy something but make sure it fits your typical mission and is full IFR. Might want to buy into a partnership to keep the costs down. Until then, rent a bunch of different types of planes to see what you like.

 

They were probably picked up in these. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vought_OS2U_Kingfisher
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I used to refer to my 182 RG as my "time machine" because it allowed me to do things that I couldn't otherwise do just based on the time available. So long as you are close to your home airport it can really be a great thing.

The folks recommending going straight to your IFR ticket are spot on.

For the OP, this could allow him to do a lot more in a day and it can make sense. The key here is to not push it. If he has a place to be at a specific time, and if the weather isn't favorable, the leave early and drive, don't fly. Since he's in the midwest, bad winter weather can be a killer, literally.

Brock Yates once made the comment "if you have time and aren't pushing a schedule, fly, if you have a place to be at a certain time, then drive".. While Brock was talking about airlines, his comments are true for GA too. The best way to approach it is use the airplane on nice days and if the weather closes in, you need to drive.

Also note that airplanes aren't as reliable as cars. There will be times when you get to your airplane and for any one of a thousands of reasons it won't start, or there will be something that won't work and you'll have to scrub your trip. While Jason and his turboprop will I'm sure argue that he's never had to cancel a trip the reality is that while they are much better now than they were 30 years ago, light airplanes just aren't as reliable as your car, so there could be trips that get scrubbed at the last minute for some reason and that's just the way it is.

 

Wow, forget the guys hanging onto the wings, imagine taking off in that heavy chop. My dad said it was like hitting concrete.

 

For the open ocean, that's about as calm as it gets!

 

That's a well-known pic.

The plane landed to get the men out of the water. I then 'taxied' with the men on the wings to a US sub nearby that picked up the fliers.


Helicopters were not used for rescue until the Korean conflict. (Watch "Bridges of Toko-Ri" - Mitchum).

How did this stuff end up in this thread instead of the Tora Tora Tora thread????

 

I am a big league advocate for aerobatic training for safety reasons. Aerobatic training allows one to get comfortable with total airplane control regardless of attitude. Recently there was a fatality story here about a new low time pilot getting overwhelmed by conditions while attempting to land... had the pilot had greater competency / comfort dealing with demanding situations, tragedy possibly could have been avoided...

 

I am in a similar professional situation where I travel every week, often shorter commercial flights on the east coast. I started my ppl process three years ago, and I'm now final checkride away from finish. Failed my Prog 26 (checkride dress rehearsal) yesterday so I have more work to do.

+1 on making flying a vocation. I can really see regularity/frequency is key to proficiency.
+1 on picking a plane that is vanilla not something special. Add Diamond to your list though: order of magnitude best safety record. The new diesel twin is a sublime looking craft for your use-case although violates the fleet size point made above.
+1 on acrobatics: when i first started lessons I was somewhat bummed by the constant drumbeat of safetysafetysafety: of course I understand the emphasis but the whole thing seemed sort of clinical. Then I did some aerobatics and the whole experience opened up, hammerheads, inverted, loops, spins: now you are soaring and cavorting like a bird! Wonderful stuff not to mention the safety and airmanship benefits.

My final comment: I am pretty convinced now that I will NEVER deem myself proficient enough for reliable business travel, despite a similar commitment to rolling right into instrument rating. I am 56, though, at the tail end of my career, and wish dearly I started when you are; possibly 35 years ago I'd feel differently!

One suggestion for you:
I have landed on an interim solution that I've implemented even as a student pilot: I basically charter a plane from one of the air-taxi services, with the stipulation that the pilot be a current CFI who can in essence give me a cross country lesson. Yes it adds $100/hour to your costs but flying with a 5000 hour CFI who is flying this exact Cirrus 4-5 hours every day in all weather changes the weather/darkness equation in my mind to acceptable risk levels. My plan is to continue this after I have my license. Other businessman/pilots I know do the same: you can't be sitting in a board meeting paying attention to business while watching the weather, filing your flight plan, insuring the plane is ready... I've watched people try. Much better to leave your meeting, drive to airport, have the plane fueled on the ramp, hop into the left seat with veteran professional and be on your way.
At the end of the day there is nothing about flying yourself that is cheap, so this boils down to the leverage you get on your own time and the economic value you place on that. It rarely pencils out purely objectively but from a lifestyle and subjective standpoint the whole proposition seems marvelous to me

 

A lot of good advice here.

I trained for my PPL in a Diamond DA40, a really, really forgiving platform, I do recommend it for a technically advanced trainer with glass. Now working on my IR and then multi (DA42 NG). I'm actually looking at buying a used DA42 NG or -VI to build multi/retract time after completing the above training.

I fly for both pleasure and business, however on the topic of business specifically, be ready to cancel (and survive) without an IR at the drop of a hat in the winter time (the summer time weather patterns are more predictable in terms of frontal movement, and to avoid temporary daytime weather just get going early before build-ups).

I'm getting the IR to get more utility out of the license and be able to keep "sort of" a "schedule" when flying. Someone once told me private personal flying is an expensive way to get somewhere at an unpredictable time, and there is some truth to that...

I'd say even with IR, your equipment and experience will still mean it (should) still occasionally happen to defer, cancel, or divert en-route even if you have an important meeting. I buy fully refundable airline tickets ahead of time if I "have to be there", and of course even the airlines do cancel or delay flights with professional part 121 crews and serious hardware. One thing I do is constantly read NTSB accident reports. It sounds morbid but it is actually a very good way to learn and develop good risk management practices.

I am rather new to the PIC role but come from a family of pilots who have indoctrinated me in the following philosophy or at least a rough approximation:

Surviving flying (assuming good currency in both flying skills and familiar aircraft/systems, well maintained aircraft)

10% stick/rudder
40% situational awareness + critical thinking
50% risk assessment/management/mitigation

The idea being, don't intentionally put yourself in a situation (outside of training/recurrent work) where you really need to be 100% on your mental game (risk assessment failed, not prepared, getting behind the plane/situation), and if you do find yourself in a situation where you had better not be making mental mistakes, don't put yourself in a situation where you need to be 100% on your stick/rudder game, and if you do find yourself in a situation where you need to be 100% on your stick and rudder game, you better damn well be current on your basic skills. If the whole thing seems familiar, it is because it is essentially the core components of an accident chain.

Learning to fly is a lot of work, and it requires a lot of money spent to keep going further up the ratings/aircraft food chain. I mean it can make exotic Italian cars (even old V12 ones...) seem like a very, very inexpensive hobby by comparison.

My general rule is to not look at exactly how much aviation costs me, but I know from some earlier investigations that basically it makes no sense from a financial perspective unless either your time is extremely valuable, or you are carrying 3+ passengers in a small efficient piston aircraft over short to medium distances (say 200-600nm), and you own the plane and fly it a lot to boot.

Definitely go up for a demo flight, and if you find yourself in SoCal I'd be happy to take you up in a Diamond

 

http://www.fa-mag.com/news/private-jet-industry-giddy-over-dawn-of-trump-era-30676.html?section=75&utm_source=PW+Subscribers&utm_campaign=513e6194a2-PWN_PW_News_010417&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1899ce8517-513e6194a2-232448965

 

I've found Baron reliability to far exceed Maserati reliability and have seldom been let down by Cessnas, Pipers or Beechcraft Pistons.