Originally Posted by
Darrell KSR
I'm still planning on starting lessons this summer, but purchasing a plane may wait a little longer. In addition, as I drove into the middle of the country two weeks ago to Prattville, Alabama; this past week into Cherokee County, with the capital a city of about 3400, and traveling this weekend to another small town, I started wondering about my transportation if I took my plane to the FBO airports. I know that on some of the occasions, I will be able to have someone meet me at the airports and pick me up, but on others that will not be available. I have not started doing my research yet on how inconvenient this may be to arrive at these tiny airports without transportation on the ground. Does anybody have any thoughts on this? I know that if the outlying and surrounding areas are large enough I should be able to find a taxi or Huber or something to meet me there, and that might just be the only solution.
In my fantasy world, when I made a 100 mile trip to Centre, Alabama this week, I would drive 15 min. to the airport, hop in my plane, and fly 45 min. to my destination. Basically, it would make a two-hour trip into one hour, saving one hour each way. In reality, probably a little as a half hour, but saving some time and making the trip enjoyable, assuming I enjoy flying. But if you look up Centre, Alabama, you won't find any taxi companies in the 3400 population town. I'm not sure what the nearest taxi might be, and I'm certain there will be no Uber type of availability. For this particular trip, I was not meeting anyone, so I could not count on someone meeting me there without making a prior arrangement. I guess I would just be out of luck, because the little airport strip they have there, I am certain would not have any rental car availability, either. Maybe I'm wrong, and they do have rental car availability. I was sort of thinking that trips 100 miles or more would start to be advantageous to fly, but if ground transportation will be an issue, it will not be worth it in those instances.
EDIT-by the way, both 200 mile round-trip excursions I made in the last two weeks (100 miles each way) were not included in the original post I made about trips that I anticipate possibly being able to fly. It actually made me think that I could even use it more if I include my semi-frequent 100 mile one-way trips during the year. I usually do several of those.
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