Racing the airlines

AOPA video content producer Michelle Walker (a new private pilot) and I recently needed to travel 550 nautical miles from AOPA headquarters in Frederick, Maryland, to Poplar Grove Airport (C77) west of Chicago for an AOPA Pilot feature story and had a choice to make: Should we fly commercially or GA?

Flying the airlines would entail a one-hour drive to Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD), arriving two hours before departure time, a two-hour flight to Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD), 30 minutes to get a rental car, and finally an hour drive to Poplar Grove. Six hours and 30 minutes “door to door” if the flight was on time.

The flight plan for my Cessna 170 piston single-engine airplane cruising at 102 knots true airspeed from Frederick to Poplar Grove was five hours and 50 minutes. Add in a fuel stop and call it six hours and 30 minutes door to door. The forecast weather was perfect, so we made an easy decision: If the travel times were the same, why not fly GA?

Michelle and I shared the flying duties and enjoyed watching the ever-flattening landscape slide by as we reveled in our freedom to fly over this beautiful country of ours. We arrived at Poplar Grove exactly six hours and 30 minutes after departing Frederick. A win for GA. We completed our mission, and I planned to stay with friend and AOPA Airport Support Network volunteer Bryan Sill and enjoy Chicago’s unseasonably warm 80-degree spring weather over the weekend while Michelle flew home commercially, as she had commitments back home.

Soon the weekend weather began trending worse than originally forecast. I had expected a windy day on Saturday, but peak winds were now forecast to be 50 knots or beyond. I was touched by the support of friends—old and new—offering temporary hangar space to keep my airplane out of the potentially damaging winds. It was a heartwarming display of the GA community rallying to help each other in a time of need.

The cold front that followed the windstorm delivered another unforecast surprise: an inch of snow on Sunday—my scheduled departure day—accompanied by IFR visibility and ceilings, and a low freezing level that would preclude flying my IFR-equipped Cessna in the clouds because of possible icing. My flight home would be delayed at least 24 hours.

While I hunkered down in front of the fireplace at Sill’s home one more day and endured the now sub-zero Chicago temperatures, I reevaluated my decision making for flying GA instead of using the airlines.

First, getting to Poplar Grove on time was more important than returning home on time. I had no urgent meetings on my calendar on Monday and could work remotely if needed.

Second, I have an understanding manager. On Sunday, I texted AOPA President Darren Pleasance letting him know I would likely be getting back to Frederick later than expected. He quickly quelled any notion of get-there-itis by saying, “Winds are pretty bad in Frederick, so I’d suggest you stay there until tomorrow and then work your way back when the weather improves. It’s howling quite strongly right now. It’s supposed to get worse as the day goes on.”

And third, every time I fly GA I bring an extra day of clothes along. I learned this lesson on my first long cross-country flight from Florida to Chicago in a Cessna 172. I was forced to land short in Dothan, Alabama, for two days because of freezing rain and icing conditions. I learned that remaining flexible is key to flying safe. Weather or mechanical delays are always a possibility.

Before I departed on Monday, Schaumburg Regional Airport Manager Eric Trydal wished me a safe flight and said, “You were able to experience Chicago summer and Chicago winter all in one weekend.” That’s the unpredictable nature of spring and didn’t weigh heavily enough into my GA-versus-airline decision.

Should I have taken a commercial flight after all? No way. While there’s no doubt airlines are the right choice if we need to travel longer distances and reliably reach our destination on time in all weather conditions, GA wins because it enables us to fly closer to our final destination while engaging with the aviation community we love—and it’s fun—and those are compelling reasons for me to fly GA whenever possible.

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