HOW FAR WILL YOU DRIVE?
 

Im sure its been discussed before but how far are most of us willing to drive to pickup a airplane? I left my home at midnight last friday night and drove 867 miles round trip to pickup an airframe! Even the guy I bought it from thought it was crazy!! Please share some of your trips! By the way I picket up a Hostetler 150 :D

RE: HOW FAR WILL YOU DRIVE?
 

Not far myself, like a fine wine I don't travel well. Then I factor in my milage and the price of gas. At $4.00 a gallon and 23 MPG any savings on a deal can go away fast.
I built a very nice CG Extra for a friend, all his gear and engine but I built and covered the plane as a gift for him, I bought the kit at a swap meet for $10.00. He drove from Oregon to Vegas to pick it up. Well, do the maiden and trim flights and pick it up. Way farther then I would have ever driven for one but he was a truck driver so time in a car was nothing to him at all.

RE: HOW FAR WILL YOU DRIVE?
 

We do weard thing's.:eek: I
drove 430 mi. to fly a plane 1 time and pass it to the next guy:D I figure that 100 miles one way is as far as will go to pic one up.
Larry K
10Cents a mile plus food and lodgeing

RE: HOW FAR WILL YOU DRIVE?
 

Wouild have to really be something I really really really really wanted.. but I guess then I would just build it :)

RE: HOW FAR WILL YOU DRIVE?
 

Unless it was something I simply couldn't find anywhere else and had to have one or either a phenomenal deal I don't venture very far at all. I figure every 100 miles in my Tribute is $15 or so, and my time is worth something as well. It doesn't take long before you could buy a new one or build it yourself cheaper. Of course, I would take any opportunity I could come up with to get out of the Mississippi delta!

RE: HOW FAR WILL YOU DRIVE?
 

A week or so ago I drove 2 hours to pick up some airplanes and engines, roughly a 120 mile trip over mountain roads. That's about as far as I'm prepared to go.

RE: HOW FAR WILL YOU DRIVE?
 

It's about £7-a-gallon, here. I suppose that's about $10 or so.

It'd have to be a very special aeroplane for me to drive more than about 10 miles.

Anyway, I don't have much empathy with a plane unless I've built it myself.

RE: HOW FAR WILL YOU DRIVE?
 

I would think the extra cost of gas in driving a long distance and a person's time would easily eat up any savings considered. You figure someone dumping 50+ in a fuel tank and several hours of time does not weigh out as well as in the old days when you could buy 8 gallons of gas for 2 bucks. You could drive accross the country at minimal cost.

I rarely even drive any distance these days for planes - maybe 50 miles if a very special deal that I know I could not find anywhere else. It really is not cost effective when you add it all up. Driving several hundred miles to save a 100 dollars is not sensible in my book. To each his own though as that is what makes the world go 'round. It is like the person that drives 30 miles to save 10 cents on a loaf of bread. They forget the cost to go get the bread :D

I think my time is more valuable doing other things and if freight is reasonable then that would be my move unless there is no other option available to me.

RE: HOW FAR WILL YOU DRIVE?
 

You can ship a big plane cross country on Greyhound for about 80 bucks you sure can't drive it for that.........I will drive up to 500 miles to an IMAC event and take my rv. and if someone has a plane I want get them to meet me there but I would'nt drive that far just for plane.

RE: HOW FAR WILL YOU DRIVE?
 

I've driven 10 hours 1-way to meet someone to fly for a weekend, and about 5 hours 1-way to sell a plane. I think it all depends on where you're at and what you like; I was in school and single so had plenty of time on my hands. And I like to drive and travel.

I would drive that far for a nice 2 meter patter plane that I really wanted.

This is a hobby with many facets, and I think we all know that saving money isn't one of them.

RE: HOW FAR WILL YOU DRIVE?
 

I drive 80 miles round trip each time I go flying which is 3-4 times a week. That works out to $14 each time I go flying at $4 a gallon of gas, 23 miles per gallon. It also costs me one and a half hours of time driving. I do love this hobby!:D

Bruce

RE: HOW FAR WILL YOU DRIVE?
 

180 miles round trip to the only decent LHS in the area. It's Hodges Hobbies so at least when I go there I know they will have what I want and I can fly at one of the best fields in the Southeast. I drove that once just  to get a gallon of fuel and a few props but usually I end up spending way more money then I wanted to.

The only LHS closer is 120 miles round trip and a lot of times they don't have what you want and sometimes they aren't even there during their set business hours which is why I just go the extra miles to Hodges.

RE: HOW FAR WILL YOU DRIVE?
 

Driving to fly is another topic. It's been covered several times and I was amazed at some of the distances covered. This topic is how far will you drive to pick up a plane though and the first time I have seen it asked.

RE: HOW FAR WILL YOU DRIVE?
 

The only reason I drove 240 miles round trip is that the guy was giving me a plane I wanted for free. By the time I left his place it had turned into eight airplanes (some completed, some partial builds, one untouched kit), four engines and several rolls of covering. Definitely made the trip worth taking.

Of course given where I live and the drive required to get anywhere from here a four hour round trip is pretty much the norm.

RE: HOW FAR WILL YOU DRIVE?
 

If the deal were special then a few hours would not be bad. It seems you certainly got a great deal and made it worth your drive time.

RE: HOW FAR WILL YOU DRIVE?
 

I totally get the question:)thanks for the comments and the op for asking it.