Considering pursuing a private pilot license to travel, I have some questions
Posted by AlmostFree10101010@reddit | flying | View on Reddit | 17 comments
I'm starting to learn to fly, I enjoy it and my long term goal is to fly myself places.
Are there any websites that can give me estimated time and distance to fly between places? Seems like a basic ask but every website I find assumes you're using a jet aircraft.
How far is it reasonable to fly? Across the US? Across North America? Hawaii and South America? Europe and Asia?
Any advice from other people who fly for travel?
redditburner_5000@reddit
Ask Claude or Copilot. It'll get you a close-enough approximation.
I asked:
Answer was:
That's about right for very general planning. Assume a few extra gallons to be on the safe side.
Reasonable distance, for me, is how far a single tank of gas will get me. Usually 500-700mi depending on the plane (assuming a topped off tank). Most "four seat" planes will not carry four people and a lot of fuel.
KITTYONFYRE@reddit
I see no advantage to using AI for this over traditional coding, why are you doing this?
WhiteoutDota@reddit
How much fuel do you think an O360 burns lol
redditburner_5000@reddit
All out, 9gph or so depending on you leaning. Also, the S model assumed in the response is a 180hp, not a 150hp or 160hp.
Note the departure was DEN so you can expect a longer taxi and more waiting, hence more fuel.
Lol.
Mehere_64@reddit
skyvector.com. Put in where you start, where you want to go and speed of your plane. Reasonable to fly across US in GA airplane? It can be done but I wouldn't say it is reasonable as the cost is quite a bit to do so compared to flying commercial. And that doesn't take into account your time to travel that far.
Odd_Entertainment471@reddit
I fly myself around the country for business. Generally speaking, I can beat an airliner from door to door on trips of about 700 miles or less. I fly a 182 and an Arrow, the Arrow is faster, and burns about 10 gals per hour. Weather is always an issue so sometimes I’m on a commercial flight because even though I am instrument rated, those aircraft aren’t going to get me above anything and I’d rather not have the hell beat out of me for hours. The Arrow goes about 150 MPH across the ground in zero wind. The 182 is pretty close to that, maybe 135/140. Hope this helps.
EliteEthos@reddit
Lol. What exactly do you think you’ll be flying?!
RaiseTheDed@reddit
You're not flying to Hawaii unless you have a jet. Or want to spend 12 hours in a cessna with bladder tanks.... If you have the money to buy and operate one, sure. But it's not practical for most people.
ltcterry@reddit
12 hours? It’s 2400 miles…
:)
Fuel is so tight when my dad would fly Phantoms from San Diego to HI they topped off fuel at the end of the taxiway, told ATC to keep civilian traffic clear because they had no fuel to spare, and departed on a runway pointed to HI.
RaiseTheDed@reddit
I just threw a number out, I have no idea how long it'd take. But yeah, 12 might be a bit on the short side
ltcterry@reddit
Websites?
You’ll learn to do this in training. You must be able to do this to pass your practical test. And stay alive.
Look up the driving distance. Divide that number by 80. If that number is not bigger than 3, round up to 3. Multiply by $200. That’s spit ball what it will cost you per day to take an airplane on a trip.
Are you willing to cancel or depart/return +/- a day for weather?
“Time to spare? Go by air.”
You are a long way away from reliable “travel.”
But, learning to fly and becoming progressively more capable is a very rewarding process.
Budget $18-20k to have saved up before you start. 80% drop out, and money is a big reason.
makgross@reddit
Yes, there are websites. Fltplan.com comes to mind.
Won’t work too well without a basic understanding of the flight planning process, though.
cody_hates_reddit@reddit
As others have said, this is stuff you would learn in ground school. But you seem to be under the impression that getting a PPL is a travel hack of sorts. If you're expecting that flying a piston prop plane across an ocean would be easier, cheaper, or safer than buying an airline ticket, then I'm sorry, but you really don't understand what you're getting into.
rFlyingTower@reddit
This is a copy of the original post body for posterity:
I'm starting to learn to fly, I enjoy it and my long term goal is to fly myself places.
Are there any websites that can give me estimated time and distance to fly between places? Seems like a basic ask but every website I find assumes you're using a jet aircraft.
How far is it reasonable to fly? Across the US? Across North America? Hawaii and South America? Europe and Asia?
Any advice from other people who fly for travel?
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sadgeclap@reddit
Skyvector is fine for sanity checking numbers like the other commenter said, but you’ll want a paid service like ForeFlight for the most accurate numbers if you’re planning to cut it close at all. As for the other question, the US and Canada are both reasonable to fly around, but you’ll have to consider aircraft performance when you’re near mountains. A turbocharged aircraft will be nice to have if you want to fly over the Rockies, but it’s possible to deal without. Your insurance will probably not allow going to Mexico or points South, but the Bahamas might be ok. Europe has GA flying, but it tends to be more limited and comes with high fees for using ATC. Of course, your plane can’t actually fly across the Atlantic (this goes for going to Hawaii too) without special ferry tanks most likely. Ferry services are available if needed but it’s not cheap. Most Asian countries have no GA infrastructure or it’s outright illegal.
rcbif@reddit
That is basic stuff you should cover in ground school.
You can use sites like skyvector to do some quick flight planning though.
The short bit though - general aviation is not very practical for travel vs. commercial aviation unless you are loaded with money and can afford some very nice fast airplanes.
People who fly to travel usually prefer the actual flying part over the travel itself, lol
BrickSpecific1776@reddit
Skyvector sounds more or less what you're looking for. I used to use it to figure out basic times at a glance. Can plug in some basic numbers and figure out time and burn for yourself. As for how far is reasonable. That's entirely up to you and your personal/safety limitations. I fly for work but now a days I wouldn't do any more than a few hours in a single engine piston before taking a break, then carrying on and making sure I didn't burn myself out if get fatigued. I'd plan to be ultra conservative in what I feel comfortable doing.