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Commander Vs Airliner

Lawrence Rippon

Lawrence Rippon

New member
LEICESTER UK
Aircraft Year
1977
Aircraft Type
112B
Reg Number
G-BEPY
Serial Number
524
I often find myself justifying the cost of having a Commander to others, Bank Manager, Accountant, Wife, etc. This weekend the planets aligned and the mathematics fell into place, I finally not only beat the local low-cost carrier door to door but smashed the public transport prices at the same time. Here's how it worked out:

Commander 112B
Prestwick (Scotland) to Blackbushe (South West of London).
301 KTM
Average Airspeed 122Kts
Average Groundspeed 135Kts (Good winds)
Chocks to Chocks 2 hours 16 min 32 sec.
Time from Auntie's house to Prestwick 40min
Time from Blackbushe to home 14 min.

Total trip time around 3hours 30 mins.
Fuel Cost - 79 Litres @ £1.56 = £123.56
2 POB = £86.02 each
 
Re: Commander Vs Airliner

Sorry

Hit Submit by mistake, the entry above continues:

Corection in the arithmetic - 2 POB = £61.77 each, Plus £15 landing fee and £20 parking.

Airliner:
Last time we did the trip at very short notice we paid:
£129 each for tickets form Glasgow to Luton
The trip to Glasgow takes 20 mins and home from Luton takes 1.5 hours.
You need to arrive minimum 30 Mins before the Flight time, we arrived 1 hour before.
20 Minutes getting through check-in and security and then sitting in a crowed departure area, then standing in line for boarding groups to be called.
Door to door time 4 hours 15 Mins.

Even without the airport car park charge at Luton, this makes going by Commander a much better bet and I'm sure the airlines won't let you play Dambusters in the Lake District either.
 
Re: Commander Vs Airliner

It's nice to verify the numbers once in a while Lawrence. Even with all the taxes and fees, it's still practical - and a lot more fun.
 
Re: Commander Vs Airliner

Lawrence,

Barnes Wallis would have been proud of you.....not so sure about the locals though.:D
 
Re: Commander Vs Airliner

There are some great shots from within the cockpit there as well.

150 feet all the way from England to Germany at night whilst being shot at is almost impossible to imagine, it was an incredible feat of flying skill.

I am spending the day with the Red Arrows at RAF Scampton on the 29th May which is next door to Conningsby (Dambuster Home airfield) really looking forward to it.
 
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Re: Commander Vs Airliner

Lawrence,

Very interesting figures and of course a nice long runaway at Prestwick.

Last time i spoke to you, you were thinking of landing at Glasgow Airport, did you ever make that trip or did you switch to Prestwick instead.

Last time i contacted Glasgow, they quoted landing fee and charges totalling approx £160.00, certainly not encouraging for GA.

Regards
 
Re: Commander Vs Airliner

Biodun

Prestwick looked a better bet coming from the south, the 30 mile difference from Glasgow was weighed up against the cost and airspace hassle of getting in there. I used Prestwick Flight Centre for handling and was only charged the £15 landing fee plus £20 overnight parking. I thought that was very good for a larger airport with all the facilities. I approached in IMC over Cumbria with Scottish Control handoff at the Solway Firth at FL80. They stayed with me until I let down under the cloud base at 4600' and passed me to Scottish Information and then onto Prestwick radar. I only heard 2 other GA aircraft and a couple of Ryanair on frequency. It's a bit of a contrast from the usual Saturday afternoon low-level scrum in the South East of England.
 
Re: Commander Vs Airliner

This is what I have to say to this subject. Thanks to TSA they have destroyed the freedom and pleasure of airline flying. Reason I got the new Commander. I am sick and tired of those @ZZH@les trying to make me take my clothes off. So, I rather drive the XKR and fly the Commander than deal with those useless, uneducated, lowlife, disgusting morons.

Thank God I am married to a supporting husband who says ... let's go!

Susie
 
Re: Commander Vs Airliner

I could not agree with you more Susie,

We are now all considered criminals and have to prove to the government many times a year that we are not.

I had to go through Bio Metrics crap a few weeks ago to get my green card renewed, went two hundred miles in the Commander to get my fingerprints taken. Had to pay for a FBI background check to get my Commercial drivers licence renewed.

Did you read the story about a man that had to pay $96.00 for his daughter to get a criminal background check. Not sure why he needed it but they insisted that it be done.
She was three months old.

Life is a barrel of fun.
 
Re: Commander Vs Airliner

ksandrew said:
IDid you read the story about a man that had to pay $96.00 for his daughter to get a criminal background check. Not sure why he needed it but they insisted that it be done.
She was three months old.

Life is a barrel of fun.
Click to expand...

Proceedure.
I see it all the time at work. Just do it. Makes no sense to anybody.
 
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The stupidity of the Federal Govt. Can not be more Clearly seen than at the Nation's Airports......
 
Re: Commander Vs Airliner

atjudge said:
The stupidity of the Federal Govt. Can not be more Clearly seen than at the Nation's Airports......
Click to expand...

Cmon guys

Don't the TSA people you see at the airports make you feel really really safe

Rick
 
Re: Commander Vs Airliner

atjudge said:
The stupidity of the Federal Govt. Can not be more Clearly seen than at the Nation's Airports......
Click to expand...

The phone room for ISP is JUST the other side of security.
Every time the poor phone guy (but then again it's Verizon so the system feeds itself) needs to set his toner, find the other end, cross connect a wire, Shoes off, inventory tools, leave the water bottle, reverse procedure (reverse inventory tools again) on the way out, 3 or 4 times with the same hour with the same TSA people in the same hour...you'd think......NOT. Just do it. "We dont make policy, just enforce it". Did I forget to mention Verizon needs an escort? Guess who. Kill time any one?

I also just passed my DC-SFRA course. They call it a "Certificate of Achievement" (??) (SSDD)
!!!:eek:!!!. All in a day's work. Kill me. (wonder why one gets an attitude?)
 
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Re: Commander Vs Airliner

Rick Langel said:
Cmon guys

Don't the TSA people you see at the airports make you feel really really safe

Rick
Click to expand...

They don't make me feel safe at all... But when I see those same people working at the local Walmart I feel safe there :p
 
Re: Commander Vs Airliner

Dave said:
They don't make me feel safe at all... But when I see those same people working at the local Walmart I feel safe there :p
Click to expand...

Walmart pays better too. :p
 
Re: Commander Vs Airliner

Lawrence & Susie and the others let's also remember another benefit we gain - the value of time saved monetary or otherwise even for Ken (since he's so savings conscious, I'm sure he pays himself frugally).

So even if we take a mere $15/hr for time value ( I calc this number from the TSA taxes levied for security), it adds up!

So General Aviation certainly is a harbinger of the future when more people can extend our taken for granted 2D automobile mobility to 21st Century 3D mobility of flight with more automated work help systems. OK enough soap boxing of my favorite future world.
 
Re: Commander Vs Airliner

I had the lovely experience and a good fight with the NYC TSA because the idiot would not let me wear surgery room shoe covers on my feet. I refuse to walk on the disease infested floor with socks or naked feet. He threatened me to make me loose my international flight. I asked for his employee number and refused to give it to me or get a supervisor, so I did my job. I put in an investigation on him with the help of my lawyer (my husband) and wrote TSA and they did reply, but of course did nothing to the aZZh@le.

During the time I was without a Commander which was for about eight months or so, I had to fly commercial to many many destinations. After fighting each time with them, I decided I would NOT go commercial again and worked very hard to get a new Commander.

I attribute the decline of airline traveling directly to TSA. At least I can say that for myself.

Oh, and while on a roll ... it fries me to hear the TSA people talk ... THEY DON'T SPEAK ENGLISH!
 
Re: Commander Vs Airliner

Susie,

I sat down tonigh and ate a meal with a lady that works for the TSA. She had just returned from a week long training course.

When asked if anyone with a lick of common sense worked there, she just said NO but they put groceries on her table.

To get back to the subject of General Aviation over the airlines. Where I go the airlines do not go. That is #1.

The great advantage for me is that the customer meets me at the airport and we go directly to the job, he is stuck with me until he delivers me back to the airport. So it takes one quater of the time it takes if I drive to his location.

A great example last year, had to meet with the St.Joe Paper Co at there location at Port St.Joe Florida. A51. (3400' turf).

They took a Citation from Jacksonville Florida and landed at Apalachacola then drove, and I flew the Commander to Port St.Joe.

We were both delayed by weather but I was at the destination first and waited an hour for them to drive the final miles.

They were very fascinated by the fact that I would be back in Albany,Ga. before they got back to Jacksonville at about one tenth of the cost.

They all stood on the turf runway and watched me depart.

Another Commander day.
 
Re: Commander Vs Airliner

Fabulous! That's what it's all about. Go Ken!
 
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