swt94025

Greg, I was thinking of leaving the plane in the hangar during those times... I don't think I have the risk tolerance for icing conditions even with the extra hardware. I am asking around in Eugene to get a better idea of exactly how long that interval is. The answer to that question might shut down the whole idea!

This is close to the idea I am considering, though in fact the "mentoring" relationship I am considering as a permanent arrangement-- a "Commute Club". It would not break my heart if I never reached the point where I was the obvious choice to be the pilot. From your estimate of costs, I calculate that you are estimating a cost-of-operation between $250 and $335 per hour of flying. This is a little more than I was expecting-- I was estimating $200 before. Do you (or anyone else) have a spreadsheet for this plane?

I do not have my license yet, and I have been duly advised that I cannot learn in this plane. In fact, I am interested in finding 2-3 other Eugene residents with a similar goal and doing a timeshare with the plane based around a common commute goal. With just one occupant, the plane is a little more expensive than the least expensive commercial carrier, but with 3 or 4 it is dramatically less expensive (though I don't yet have a detailed cost-of-ownership model--with three people in the plane it is pretty clearly less). Perhaps someone here can comment, but I understand that such a "commuter club" needs to have all of its members be licensed pilots and that everyone should be commuting for their own purposes. This might be horrifying to the people on this message board, but I am actually more interested in the commute goals than actually flying the plane, so it would be totally acceptable to me to have my pilots license on a slower, safer plane, and then let someone else pilot the Rocket until my experience level is suitable to the task. Is it sufficient that the people in such a club have their PPL, or does every member need to be qualified to fly the plane in question? If you have any thoughts as to the feasibility of such an idea it would be appreciated. I can think of many of the downsides with such a plan (weather causing scrubbed flights, a potential period in winter where it is impossible due to ice, etc), but I'm sure that many people in this group have explored much more seriously and might have thoughts. So, the version of the plan I am considering is to purchase a fast plane, and sell shares to 3 other pilots who also want to commute between Eugene and the Bay Area, and then start acting as pilot when my experience level is appropriate.

I am a complete noobie considering private aviation as an alternative to commercial flights from Eugene, OR to the San Francisco Bay Area. I am considering the Mooney 305 Rocket because of its speed, seating capacity and matched range. I am interested in hearing from other Mooney Rocket 305 owners out there if this makes sense. In particular, I am interested in a deeper understanding of the cost-of-operation for this model as well as qualitative impressions. The trip I would do is around 403 nm, I welcome any comments on this idea, including how much flying experience I would need before it would be reasonable to start flying a plane like this. Many Thanks, Steve