Hi Kev, I recently posted on another thread that anything within 2 1/2 hours drive was quicker to drive to than fly to for me, and then you have to take into consideration how close the airport is to where you want to be. I passed my test in July and a quick look at the logbook shows I've done about 20 hours with pax since then, they have all been 'scenic tours' rather than landing away somewhere. You can't plan too much ahead either, I usually tell them I'll ring them the night before and then the morning of as to whether the flight is on, due to weather. I also have friends on permanent standby, if I'm free to fly unexpectedly there's about half dozen people I can ring and there will always be at least one that will come for a trip.
It's not bad vis or low cloud that's stopped the flights I haven't been able to do, it's always been xwind out of limits. Having said that if you know there's going to be solid clag at 1,000 then there's not much point doing a pleasure flight.
There are no end of pilots who will try to justify the cost of what we do on the grounds of efficiency when for 99.9% of us it's totally inefficient as means of transport. The only time it's efficient is if you take people to an air show or a museum like Duxford or Cosford where you climb out of the a/c and you are there. It's a mighty stylish way to arrive as well.
Edit: there are the odd one or two places that are good to fly into, Cambridge (if you can stomach the £25 fee) has an excellent park and ride just outside the airport which gets you into the city centre in ten minutes for minimal cost return.
We fly because it's a challenge, the views are extraordinary, you meet some fascinating and like minded people and you are a member of a pretty exclusive club; not because of the finance involved, I reckon most people could afford to get a license if they really wanted to, but it's exclusive because you've actually got of your backside, put the work in and walked the walk. That's good enough reason for me.
Last edited by thing; 28th Nov 2011 at 15:03.