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First let me say hello being a new member of this forum.

I'm pondering whether or not to purchase a 150. Here's the situation ... My girlfriend is considering taking a job that's about an hour from where we currently live. I have a job that I enjoy very much at a local junior college (that also pays very well) that I don't feel like giving up. If we did move for her job, it would be about an hour or a bit more drive for me to get to work each day (2 hours round-trip - in some pretty nasty traffic).

Another option I thought of would be to purchase a 150, get a place nearby the local uncontrolled field, and fly into the town in which I work. From there it would be about a 15 minute bus ride (wait included) to work. All in all, I estimate that it will still take me a little over an hour each way (taking pre-flight and everything into account), but I'd sure enjoy the trip a lot more.

So am I crazy to be thinking about this? Obviously bad weather will force me to drive, and I'll need to find a 150 with STC auto fuel capabilities, but it would also give this new pilot a chance to build some hours necessary to eventually get a CFI. I'd appreciate you guys' insight. P.S. - living halfway between her job and mine would pretty much put us in a place we wouldn't want to live, so I'm not sure how good of an option that is.

Many thanks!
-Kenneth

Ken,

Welcome to the club. Men wil do a great many things previously thought impossible just to stay in touch with a woman. Even to the point of self destruction.

That being said, it's great to see you're entertaining the idea of owning one of the best planes of all time. However, airplane ownership is just like parenthood. Once they're here (kids and planes alike), you gotta take care of them.

An airplane comes with it's own set of requirements. Aside from the payments (unless you own it outright), you'll have hangar or tiedown payments, insurance payments, maintenance expenses and maybe even state taxes on the plane. You haven't even begun to fly. If it's just in your blood for no explainable reason, then you're in with the right group of people. BTW, the National Fly-In is in Clinton Iowa in July. You have 11 months to plan for it.

With my 152, I found that if I didn't fly at least 10 hours a month, it would be cheaper to rent. You can search the mama database for threads on cost of ownership to get a great picture of what you can expect.

As for your questions, most 150's (or at least a considerable amount) have been STC'd to run auto fuel. You shouldn't have any problems finding one that's already been approved. Should you buy a 150? For the 30-45 minute jaunts you're planning, yes. Anything else would be overkill. Jeff Hersom flew from Tampa to Clinton, IA in one day. most of us don't have that stamina (or that comfortable seats) to go that long, but the planes are great little cross country fliers. They just don't get anywhere fast as opposed to the 150kt+ planes out there. But then again, your wallet is the deciding factor.

I think you'll love your little bird if you get one. There are literally hundreds of years of experience right here on this forum ready to pounce on any problem or question you have. No other plane has it's own type-specific club with this much cooperation and assistance among its members.

Cessna 150--good choice.

Usually its a bad plan to attempt to justify the ownership of an airplane, unless you are a businessman and write off at least some of the expenses on taxes.

"Time to spare, go by air"

That said, I do recall some nasty afternoon TRW that comes off of Tampa bay and the Gulf. You get to work, and cannot get home for an hour or two, praying that your airplane isn't destroyed while tied down at the airport where you work.

I also recall some pretty bad morning fog in Flordia, how's that to wake up to....... oops....... gotta drive...... late for work.

Of course the FBO will not appreciate you very much if you don't buy fuel when you fly in each morning and depart each afternoon, using their ramp and tiedowns.

Its a great idea, just plan on driving at least half the time, and getting stuck ocassionally too. Also plan on being late for work ocassionally, when you have mechanical difficulties and have to drive, you are already late at that point. If you don't hangar the aircraft in a closed, locked private hangar, plan on an extensive preflight each morning, taking up valuable time. If you think you are going to race up in your car, untie and jump in the 150 and roar away, you are not a very safe aviatior.

Again, repeat after me....... "time to spare, go by air" and "money to spare, go by air"

All I can say is think this thru realistically and don't imagine you are a buisnessman with a corporate jet waiting to fly you away. What you are suggesting doing can be made to work, its the American pilots dream, but largely its a fairy tale.

If you live on the runway, in a fly-in community you have a better chance of making it work.

Charles

What you want to do will work on MOST DAYS. There will be time when you fly to work then get socked in; can't fly home due to weather, can't drive home because you don't have a car. The shop-partner that work with my mechanic commutes to work (about 50nm each way) in his 150. But he has some advantages over you:
1. He and his plane are IFR rated.
2. If he gets socked in due to really bad weather, he can catch a ride home with my mechanic, and gets a ride next day to work then fly the plane home.
3. His sets his own work hours. If he has last minute problem with his plane or weather, he will drive to work and just get there later than usual.

If you can find ways to deal with the occasional snags, you can make your plan work.

Thanks for you guys' insight - definitely some excellent points to consider. If I had a year round job I wouldn't even consider it with the storms in Tampa (it's storming right now, actually). Fortunately, being an educator, I have my summers off. Another factor playing into the decision is that I would eventually like to build my hours, at least to become a CFI, perhaps further from there (I'm only 24, still considering taking the big pay cut and trying to fly professionally). It might not be a bad way to justify some of the hours I need for my commercial.

Many thanks again for you guys' advice - I look forward to participating on this message board. I trained in the 150/152 and agree that she is a great plane to fly.

Ken,
Do it!!

I live 57 miles from my office. Driving, it's just under two hours in the morning and a little over 2 hours in the afternoon. That's average. I have seen the drive home take over 5 hours. That's why I fly to work.

I have a tiedown here in Winder and one at DeKalb-Peachtree (PDK) in Atlanta ($20 a month here and $70 at PDK). I'm just switching to autofuel, but it only takes me about 1.0 a day to fly back and forth.

You will need an airport car. I tried the public transportation bit too and it takes far too much time. Besides, there will be those days when the weather shuts you down and you have to drive home. If you're instrument rated and equipped - there aren't too many days when you can't fly.

I estimate it costs about 3 times what a car would cost - but my door to door commute is one hour - that's all. I don't face the stress of fighting my way up and down I85. My gas mileage at 10 miles an hour is terrible (Jeep Grand Cherokee) - but at 2500 feet and 125 MPH in a 172D, it's about 20 MPG.

The best part is the stress relief. After a day of work, getting .5 or .6 flying home puts a smile on my face.
Ed

See, I did say it can be made to work, but be explore all the angles first. Alot of people try it, few are lucky enough for it to work for them.

Gee, my commute from 1GA2 to ATL is 48 miles driving and I do it in about 50 minutes average. One stop sign and four traffic lights going to work (three are usually green, sometimes all four) and three traffic lights going home, one is nearly always green. Guess I'm lucky.

Charles

But, Charles,
It'd be tougher for you to get into the sequence pattern flying into Hartsfield everyday in a 150. Wouldn't that be fun getting mashed in between two 757's every morning!! Brings out a whole new meaning to the term, "Caution, wake turbulence, 50 arriving 757's ahead of you." You have a straight shot down the interstate and are working on the outer edge of ATL, rather than deep into the perimeter, barring any unforseen construction, rubberneckers and wrecks.

PDK has got to be easier to negotiate as long as the other traffic doesn't kill you or you hit the towers on the south end first. Doesn't ATL Center's handoff sound something like, "Frequency change approved, Good Luck" when entering PDK's airspace?

It all comes down to the geographic location of your destination airport, approaches available, equipment onboard and time constraints imposed. I would think one must always get up in the morning prepared to drive to work, every day. Then, if the weather's fine for flight, take the plane, otherwise you'll be late on a regular basis if you plan on flying first.

I know of a local MD who used to use an RV-3 for transportation to about 5 Emergency Rooms, in outlying smaller towns, he moonlighted at in Louisiana during his residency. He was VFR rated and knew every highway and antenna for a 100 mile radius. I imagine it all depends on the type of flying you're going to do and what flight adjustments you're willing to utilize in order to get to work safely and on time.

.03 worth.....

Bengie Phillips