Other things that make long (i.e. multi-day) trips less frequent than I’d like are:
For Switzerland in general and myself in particular:
Generally: Weather, lack of time to sit out weather and cost in this succession.
Switzerland is situated in a very bad spot when it comes to weather and most people would choose maritime destinations for longer trips. The Alps for the most part are an obstacle which very few PPL’s in Switzerland ever attack in earnest, followed by the airspace nightmare right south of it. Weatherwise, longer trips out of Switzerland can mainly be planned to destinations north of the alps, such as Germany, Scandinavia, Austria and so on. People flying to France have massively decreased over the last years due to the administrative hurdles as well as the legal insecurity about the language proficiency question, which still has not been resolved to the satisfaction of most clubs and instructors in Switzerland, PPL’s in many schools and clubs are therefore cautioned not to fly there.
Looking at the logbook of my plane and its pilots, the longer trips I see over the last 3 years are 70% to Germany/Austria and 25% to Italy and Croatia. There were 2 or 3 flights to France, all to large ATC airports.
Looking at the cancellations, the dispatch rate of VFR flights not involving alpine crossings is about 70%, the one of the flights involving alpine crossing is absymal, about 1 in 20 planned flights can be done.
Talking to instructors and pilots I know confirms these figures. The accord is, that out of Switzerland, longer flights which have to start and end at specific dates need at the very least a FIKI twin or Turbo charged airplane capable of FL250 or higher. Realistically, with family and so on, that means a pressurized cabin class twin.
For myself: Lack of IR (no time to do it) and weather plus a work schedule set in stone.
But even with an IR, the Alps prevent 90% of the trips I’d like to take to the South. The aircraft I own is not suitable to cross the alps in IMC either so even with an IR, the dispatch rate would not considerably go higher for such flights. I would expect my dispatch rate to go to Germany and Austria would go up slightly, particularly in the winter months, when my homebase is almost 90% IMC for months at a time.
That is why I personally have given up on trips planned less than a day or two ahead, which precludes any longer trips, as forcibly, the return would be later than that. Weekend maybe, 3 to 4 days maximum is all I can risk without adverse consequences at the workplace.
As my preferential route is from Zürich to Salzburg and back, I still get plenty of those day trips done much faster and efficiently than I would otherwise, that has been the main reason to hang on to the airplane.
Generally also cost is a MAJOR factor for most pilots I know, particuarly if punitive charges by clubs are involved which demand a certain number of hours per day as well as have huge cancellation fees as well as consequences if one decides to leave the airplane behind in case of weather.
My own conclusion of now 6 years of ownership of a mid level performance single has been that GA in the alpine area is unusable for anything planned more than 2-3 days ahead. That is what I presume is the most compelling reason for most pilots I know having given up such trips if not organized by a club and simply are content to fly burger runs and eventually give up. Those who do not move on to more capable planes.
Did I have the money and time, I’d start thinking about upgrading to a FIKI twin such as a Seneca II. But that won’t happen so I will bide my time on the lovely little SEP I own until the time comes to hang it up.
I speak purely from a business travel perspective:
Owning and flying the SR22TN has allowed me to attend more than one client in the same week despite the fact that CAT is available. It’s their schedule that doesn’t fit mine. So by using GA and travel on my schedule instead of theirs benefits my business.
Recently my clients have discovered that I can be with them on short notice. They like the fact that I fly myself and it has even earned me a few extra points on various levels of the relationship.
Hotel and car reservations are never a problem. None of that is fixed and I can cancel anything at the last minute or simply not show up. It’s just a question of using the right service providers and join up with the right loyalty program to get flexibility. It makes sense for frequent travelers anyway.
Now in Paros on vacation. I would be unlikely to use the plane for a business trip, unless I had a weekend to get to the destination & a place to store the plane until I had the time to fetch it. As far as pleasure trips are concerned, they can be demanding with weather, w&b, fuel calculations, crosswinds (terrible landing at Naxos 2 days ago), etc. you have to be committed to the hobby for it to work. Also, let’s not forget the difference in fuel prices between Europe and the US.
Fuel, landing charges, maintenance, convenience.
I don’t know … I never even THINK about stuff like “dispatch rate” or about “how to get somewhere”. I only fly GA, because i like the flying and dealing with the airplane … and i am totally aware that i could get to any of these places faster, safer and much much (much) cheaper.
I could probably take my family to any other place first class if i didn’t have airplane. I would not have to get up at six, deal with handling agents via eMail and tons of other crazy people (;-)) … I just do it, because i like to fly.
All other “reasons” are the attempt to rationalize spending that much money and nerves. Yesterday i did an Approach to Megara in such turbulence that many “normal” people would ask why i do that to myself. And while i tried to get the airplane onto that piece of concrete i asked myself that too ;-). But i was proud later that i still made a pretty good landing :-) That’s what it’s all about.
@Stephan_Schwab Where exactly do you fly? An SR22 isn’t that fast compared with CAT. Also, how do you charge the customers, or don’t you? For instance, Trondheim – Oslo and back cost €200 on SAS/NAS, 250-300 for “business” in rush hours, much less when travelling off hours and with some planning, 100-150 or so. At least one flight every hour, 2-3 in rush hours. Renting an aircraft (C-172) I would pay at least 300 each way, at least 600 in total, and the trip takes 2.5 hours each way (and that is in the air). There is no way the customer would pay more than 250-300, certainly not 600. This means I would have to use my business to sponsor the flight, which would be impossible if I didn’t own the business myself. Another alternative, if I don’t own the business myself, is to file a “general” travelling form. This means the cheapest form of travelling, train, regardless of the time it takes (it takes 7 hours each way). That is also € 100-200, there are tables for how that is calculated. Anyway, I would only get back 1/3 at most of what the cost is, if flying myself, so I would need to have a strong self interest in doing it. That self interest has nothing to do with “business”, it’s pure recreation. Flying further, to the European continent for instance, and this would be even worse, mostly due to time constraints. Time wise it wouldn’t make sense unless I had a biz-jet. Business-wise, that would make no sense unless I were a CEO/owner of a huge successful business so I could take advantage of the flexibility, and then I would not fly myself.
Flying to other places in Norway (other than the largest cities), it would suddenly make much more sense. This is due to much less frequent CAT flights and higher prices, so both time and cost constraints will be in favor of private GA. Even so, cost wise I would have to sponsor it with private money, but maybe the added flexibility would weigh up for some or all of it?
It is possible, and some people do it, but I can’t imagine it is done without a rather huge self interest in flying. Business vise it makes no sense except in a few peculiar niche cases. The reason is of course the price of GA vs CAT, which in the last 20-30 years has gone in the wrong direction for GA. Also the efficiency and availability of CAT has increased tremendously.
Going back to the original question, the longer trips by small aircraft have a major drawback for many which has not been mentioned so far. It’s simply that many partners do not find this sort of travel even slightly enjoyable. Often what is a hobby and often a passion for one person, is an ordeal for another. So basically if I want to go on a few days away in an SEP it comes down to going on my own or with another pilot, leaving my wife at home with all the chores. I wouldn’t have stayed married for the 33 years we have made so far if I had done that sort of trip too often.
Peter’s often mentioned preference for really long legs and the accompanying toilet difficulties is not in my opinion such a big deal, simply because most people don’t do it. I wouldn’t.
LeSving wrote:
@Stephan_Schwab Where exactly do you fly? An SR22 isn’t that fast compared with CAT. Also, how do you charge the customers, or don’t you?
We might want to take this outside this thread. So I’m trying to answer in short. I mostly fly from Sabadell near Barcelona to places in Germany.
Currently I need to go to a place near Stuttgart on Monday/Tuesday and another near Friedrichshafen Wednesday to Friday. Friday I will be back home in Barcelona.
Today (Sunday) I left home at 18:15 LT, was in the air by 19:00 LT and arrived at Stuttgart EDDS 22:05 LT. 30 Minutes later I was at my hotel. CAT flies faster but they fly at different times. With CAT I need to be at the airport with enough time to spare for security and their processes. It’s not my schedule.
On Tuesday I will take off at Stuttgart EDDS at 19:00 LT after two days of working. 30 Minutes later I touch down at Friedrichshafen EDNY and have dinner at the Italian restaurant of the aeroclub and spent the night at the ibis hotel next door. The next morning I pick up my rental car, drive to my client and work until Friday. At about 16:00 LT I will drive back to the airport and be in the air by 17:00 LT. I will arrive at Sabadell a bit before sunset and then join my family for dinner, which happens to be a bit later than elsewhere and thus the schedule works out beautifully.
I cannot see that CAT provides me the same convenience. It’s cheaper but makes one waste a lot of time running to wait to run again. Add the security hassle, canceled flights and the schedule that never fits… Plus in the case above I would fly Barcelona-Stuttgart and then do the rest by car. I would loose a full day and it is exhausting. Factor in that I need to eat at certain times and don’t want to eat “whatever” and you will easily see that there is more to travel than cost. Especially, if you travel for work every week.
Stephan – I bet you beat any commercial flight up to 1000nm by a good margin when you count door to door. I always found here in the US, up to 1000nm is the cutoff. After that they’ll beat me in time, generally speaking. Obviously financially, you rarely come out on top. But time is money, and so is convenience.
