Private luxury aircraft, international travel

ajacobson · Apr 19, 2017

I end up on one a few times a year. It is really a fun experience.
Thunderstorms over Chicago last time I was aboard and they put us down in Indianapolis. Getting diverted because it was not rated for that bad of a storm means you end up doing the Indianapolis to Chicago leg in the last available rental car.

bookish · Apr 19, 2017

marketsurfer said:
Not yet, but soon. Its more of a hassle savings than time--Since to get the real cheap private seats you need to fly on their schedule.
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Do you still have to do the grope fest and stupid human tricks with the TSA?

ajacobson · Apr 19, 2017

bookish said:
Do you still have to do the grope fest and stupid human tricks with the TSA?
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Less so

dealmaker · Apr 19, 2017

Sig said:
I was a professional helo pilot and have been flying fixed wing since I was 17 so I hopefully have a little to offer on this topic. First, I'll tell you that I no longer fly. The reason I no longer fly is because I can't be sure that I'll be able to go fly for at least an hour a week, do several actual or practice instrument approaches a month, practice holding, cross-wind landings, stalls, and a half dozen other skills that are highly perishable if not exercised frequently. If a professional pilot with several thousand hours won't fly unless he's able to remain current in all the potential flight regimes he may encounter, it should give you pause to think you can get the minimum hours to learn to fly and then go out and kick the tires, light the fires, and go fly without putting in serious and continuous time staying current. To me that's the biggest practical hurdle to someone in your situation, and it's the cause of most general aviation mishaps. But if you're sure you can meet that requirement....
1. You need to obtain a private pilots license with an instrument and complex aircraft rating, as well as probably a type rating (required for aircraft over 12,500 lbs among other things). This will require you to have a minimum of a couple hundred hours of flight instruction to achieve basic competency, plus an equal amount of ground instruction and briefing/debriefing, plus a good deal of studying. On the plus side, you can take a couple month vacation and do this all at once at a flight school, otherwise it's going to be a couple of years trying to do it nights and weekends, working around your schedule and the weather. If you carry passengers for hire you'll need a commercial license, which requires a minimum of 250 hours of flight time and a chunk of extra instruction and testing.
Keep in mind that there's some aptitude required to fly, both coordination and spatial orientation for figuring out where you are based on a single needle pointing to a heading, risk management, weather forecasting.... You can't turn everyone into a pilot no matter how much they want to be one.
2. You need to pass at least a third class medical exam, second class for commercial. Normally not a big deal but there are some conditions that are no big deal for anyone but a pilot, so you'd want to figure that out before you spend the big bucks and time.
3. You don't need a copilot for personal flying. The fact that all commercial operations use a copilot, even though their pilots have thousands of hours of experience and are super current while you're a brand new pilot with no experience may give you pause, or maybe not.
4. A two person airplane is a small airplane. A 16 person airplane is a commuter plane. Private pilots generally don't fly 16 person planes. Also, airplanes are extremely weight sensitive, so an "8 person" airplane can generally only carry 8 people, not them and their scuba gear for a week long trip.
5. There's really no more work involved in learning to fly or remaining current on a 10 passenger turboprop vice a 10 passenger turbofan.

My biggest recommendation is to find the nearest airport to you and go do an introductory lesson. You can probably get one for less than $200. Chat with the instructor, look around, enjoy the experience. You're putting the cart way before the horse talking about turboprop vs turbofan at this point. Maybe you end up with a private license and renting a 4 passenger Piper; nothing wrong with that at all!
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PS Tom McClellan of "The McClellan Report and The Daily Edition" was also a helicopter pilot for the military. I believe his family developed the McClellan Oscillator.

vanzandt · Apr 19, 2017

dealmaker said:
was also a helicopter pilot for the military.
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So was Kris Kristofferson.
Start this one at 1:15... KK wrote it, Janice put it on the map.... but Jerry Lee gave it life.
One of the most covered songs of all time.

newwurldmn · Apr 19, 2017

Sig said:
Probably tough to justify on pure economics, but when you're doing your math remember you get to go to the Signature FBO off to the side of the airport, park 5' from the front door, and walk straight through to your plane and be in the air 15 minutes later. Depending how early you usually get to the airport, how often your flight gets delayed, and how well you can work in an airport lounge that can be worth an extra hour of hassle, plus you get to leave and arrive at exactly the time you want, not whatever is scheduled. Plus remember the flight costs the same if you have the plane full or it's just you. The sweet spot for these types of flights is a 500 mile flight between two cities that don't have a direct commercial flight when you've got 3 or 4 people who need to go. In some cases when you figure the value of all your time it can actually be cheaper, especially if you can avoid an extra overnight because you write the schedule.
I used to deliver helicopters around the country and our facility also had Falcon 20s which we could use for transport if it was cheaper than flying commercial (using our internal hourly rates which were much less than you pay to charter). Often it was much cheaper for them to come pick our crew of 4 up in the Falcon after a delivery than lose us all for a day plus pay airfare, per diem, and lodging, and often the Falcon crew could knock out some minimums as well. As a side benefit, even though they weren't exec fitted it was a whole lot nicer and more convenient for us!
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I looked into it for specific real world application related to my day job and came to the same conclusion you did.

Stela_williams · Jun 30, 2017

hello all,

These are the best suggested Private Luxury Air craft to travel to other countries as well.

Airbus A319
Boeing Business Jet
Airbus A318
Bell 206
Eurocopter 130
Eurocopter 155
Bell 407
Sikorsky 76
A109S Grande
Raytheon Beech Air King

And Here are some Images of luxury Aircrafts..

mlawson71 · Jul 1, 2017

Frankly, I prefer travelling by land regardless of the luxury level. Sometimes it's inevitable, but both travelling by sea and air makes me very uncomfortable.

bookish · Jul 6, 2017

mlawson71 said:
Frankly, I prefer travelling by land regardless of the luxury level. Sometimes it's inevitable, but both travelling by sea and air makes me very uncomfortable.
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I think its wiser. Ports and airports are choke points. There is no accountability for the conduct of security at airports and naval crew are clueless about maritime law. Plus no matter the size of your wallet you can afford more vehicles leading and lagging you, better security, etc.

mlawson71 · Jul 6, 2017

bookish said:
I think its wiser. Ports and airports are choke points. There is no accountability for the conduct of security at airports and naval crew are clueless about maritime law. Plus no matter the size of your wallet you can afford more vehicles leading and lagging you, better security, etc.
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I'm actually more scared of crashes/sinking than having to deal with beaurocracy and people. I'm pretty much resigned about the latter.