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Traveling by Mooney

MooneyMitch

By MooneyMitch
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MooneyMitch Grand Master

MooneyMitch

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Packing my suitcase now for the early morning flight to Colorado Springs and the MAPA Convention!  In doing the packing, I just realized that NO ONE will be going through my suitcase, except me!  There will be no tag saying that some former WalMart employee [sorry being ugly here!], turned TSA employee, is lurking and stuffing around my PERSONAL things.


And, when I do take my shoes off, it will be well into the flight, not before I board the aircraft.  Ben Franklin and the like, would absolutely roll over if they knew the crap we are putting up with and now taking for granted!!!!!!Laughing

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GeorgePerry Veteran

GeorgePerry

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If the economy ever turns around the biggest advantage these nascent start-up air taxi services have is the fact that airline travel has become so utterly unpleasant that anyone making enough $$ to afford an alternative will likely chose to do so.  If Diamond, Cirrus and Piper can ever get their VLJ's off the ground (pun intended) I think we'll see a viable fourth option for travel in the form of air limos or air taxi...(car, airlines, charter being the first 3).  It won’t be the blinding revolution that everyone predicted back in the late 90’s but none-the-less the business model has merit and some day soon VLJ production, consumer demand and the entrepreneurial sprit will fill the void.

On a personal note: As an aircraft owner, I almost don't want the GA secret to get out.  I really enjoy landing minutes from my destination, walking from the plane through a nice quite FBO, dealing with pleasant folks behind the counter, and walking out the front door to my waiting rental car.  No crowds, efficient use of time and no constitutionally invasive security to deal with.  On the rare occasion that my job forces me to fly commercially, I am overwhelmed with a deep sense of regret at the decline of humanity.  Not only because of 9/11 and the “new” realities we all face but with the commercial air travel system,  as a whole.  Dealing with the TSA and the GED flunkies they employ is akin to handing over your civil rights to a moron and hoping they don't violate them too bad.  To me, if I have a choice, it’s not even an option – I fly myself.

My wife and I recently sat down to balance the family books, and she was a-bit surprised at what keeping, maintaining and operating our plane costs.  After discussing it for a few minutes, we looked at all the trips we’d taken, all the places we’d been, all the great adventures we’d had and the time with friends and family that we’d enjoyed.  Then I said, if you put a price on those experiences and counter that with not only the costs of commercial tickets, but also the “hassle” factor of being treated like felonious cattle – Now ask yourself, is what we spend “Worth it?”  Without hesitation she responded with a resounding “YES!  Now that you put it that way, owning a plane is really quite reasonable.”

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jax88 Proficient

jax88

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Well said George.  By no means can I economically justify using my Mooney to travel.  However, when I put a value on my time and my freedom, not just the freedom from the hassles of commercial air travel, but also the freedom to come and go WHEN I want, I realize how nice having my own Mooney is.

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FlyDave Veteran

FlyDave

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I have travelled  a lot on commercial airlines - both before and after 9/11.


The TSA (often referred to as "Thousands Standing Around") was completely useless when the agency first started. They were literally Thousands Standing Around. In the last 3 years (at least on the west coast) I have seen a much more engaged, attentive and dedicated group of people that <<at least appear to>> care more about what they are doing.


The fact is that there are ASSHOLES out there that would explode a bomb on an airliner again given any opportunity. It's one of the ugly facts of the world we live in. I don't like having to deal with this but WE HAVE TO DEAL WITH IT.


We also live in a nation of laws and we all want to be treated equally....oh, except for that guy that looks like a terrorist, and someone that looks like a gangbanger, and someone that looks like this or that. A friend of mine is Pakistani, came to this county when he as 19 and is almost a 20 year veteran of LAPD. He was in charge of an entire LAX terminal DURING 9/11. Two weeks later he went to fly to the mid-west but was detained and interrogated by the FBI. Do I think this was unjust? Hmmm.


We all hate this kind of intrusion into our lives until some ASSHOLE explodes another bomb on an airliner and kills a bunch of people. Then the public blames the TSA for not doing more. They (TSA) can never be successful.


 

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DaV8or Grand Master

DaV8or

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Quote: FlyDave

The fact is that there are ASSHOLES out there that would explode a bomb on an airliner again given any opportunity. It's one of the ugly facts of the world we live in. I don't like having to deal with this but WE HAVE TO DEAL WITH IT.

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MooneyMitch Grand Master

MooneyMitch

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We are here in Co Springs at the MAPA Convention.  Our flight was severe VFR the entire route.  What an amazing airplane!


I did remove my shoes somewhere over Arizona and I did look through my own baggage [ha, just kidding].


It is so exciting arriving here and seeing familiar faces and meeting folks that love the same things we do.............Mooney airplanes and flying them.


Happy Mooney flying everyone.

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Gone Grand Master

Gone

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Just adding to an older thread.


It is now 7:00 am and in preparation for a morning's work prior to picking up my best friend to fly for about an hour (OK maybe 35 minutes with today's winds) I had a look at the weather for a flight from Toronto to Ottawa to get there near 3 or 4 pm, and have dinner with colleagues before tomorrow's delivery of training.


Instrument rated so, in-the-soup is OK.  No CBs along the route so OK.  But this is the first time since April where I will have to modify travel plans because of icing.  We will probably not fly today and drive the 4 hours instead. If the winds weren't so bad between the surface and 4000' AGL, I might have stayed below the deck, out of the moisture and below the freezing level.  But moderate mechanical turbulence is predicted the whole way (surface to 4000' AGL) so the choices are to get iced up, or get beat up.


Some of my decision aids attached.


Sheesh....

post-356-13468138908288_thumb.jpg

post-356-13468138909693_thumb.jpg

post-356-1346813891066_thumb.jpg

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Jeff_S Grand Master

Jeff_S

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It has been a weird week for sure, but my wife has so far been a good luck charm passenger for me, weather wise. It seems like all the trips we take, the weather clears up just at the right time for our flights. (And yes, I just knocked hard on wood after saying that.)


Last week we flew to KC from Atlanta, leaving on Wednesday morning as scheduled just after a storm front moved past and we had CAVU all the way (although 30 knots wind on nose!). The weather for our return on Sunday was looking dicey, but overnight Saturday into Sunday the fronts started moving north instead of east and we had a smooth trip (albeit some in the clouds) all the way home.


That same weather later in the day became the series of fronts which eventually coalesced up into the Great Lakes and wreaked havoc everywhere! (In fact, killed an acquaintance and his wife trying to come home Tuesday from MS to Atlanta in their turbo-Bonanza).


It has definitely been a bad week for personal air travel.

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rbridges Grand Master

rbridges

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Quote: Jeff_S

It has been a weird week for sure, but my wife has so far been a good luck charm passenger for me, weather wise. It seems like all the trips we take, the weather clears up just at the right time for our flights. (And yes, I just knocked hard on wood after saying that.)

Last week we flew to KC from Atlanta, leaving on Wednesday morning as scheduled just after a storm front moved past and we had CAVU all the way (although 30 knots wind on nose!). The weather for our return on Sunday was looking dicey, but overnight Saturday into Sunday the fronts started moving north instead of east and we had a smooth trip (albeit some in the clouds) all the way home.

That same weather later in the day became the series of fronts which eventually coalesced up into the Great Lakes and wreaked havoc everywhere! (In fact, killed an acquaintance and his wife trying to come home Tuesday from MS to Atlanta in their turbo-Bonanza).

It has definitely been a bad week for personal air travel.

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FlyDave Veteran

FlyDave

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That old saying "Better to be on the ground wishing you were in the air than in the air wishing you were on the ground" comes to mind. Good Aeronautical Decision Making!


We annualed my plane 3 weeks ago but I've been grounded since then because the county decided to re-surface the runway and taxiway at my home airport. We had some rain days but, well, it's the county and poor planning and foolish bickering between the county and vendor doing the work has postponed the job. I've been planning for 1 1/2 months to fly to Phoenix this weekend but that STILL may not happen. I feel like a jonesing junky!!

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Hank Grand Master

Hank

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I survived the airline jumble into O'Hare, late, on Tuesday, and home again on time on Thursday.


Friday afternoon the wife and I went to Charlotte, with an Airmet for moderate turbulence below 10,000 msl. We had a great tailwind, with groundspeed sustained at 175+ the whole way, initially 180-183 knots. Even descending at 160-165 mph indicated, the ride was very, very smooth.


oops, battery is dying. Time to go get the cords out.

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jax88 Proficient

jax88

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Carusoam:  the wife and I took our Mooney into KNEW this past summer and had a very good experience.  Easy to spot because of the location on the lake.  We used AeroPremier and were couldn't have been happier with our choice.  We rented a car and had no trouble getting around New Orleans.  We're actually considering another trip to NOLA, and will probably fly right back to KNEW and AeroPremier, if it aint broke, don't fix it.

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