Help Needed - OK (or nearby) Pilots

DrewG

DrewG

Pre-takeoff checklist
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Nov 26, 2013
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313
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Stillwater, OK
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DrewG
This is a VERY long shot (and quite beggarly), but I'm looking for any help/tips my fellow OK (or nearby) pilots might be able offer.

My fiancee's nephew passed away last week and a memorial service for him will be held in Denver next Monday; family has requested we arrive on Saturday and stay through Tuesday morning. I'd like to avoid the drive if at all possible and commercial flight is pretty much out of question.

My usual renting options look to have dried up on the short notice - save for the one place that rents on my home field; but I'm not so sure I trust them (at least, enough to fly my loved ones in). I'll be checking out their planes/logs today or tomorrow, but not confident at this juncture.

In case that falls through, I'm testing the waters to see if anyone might know of a private owner or rental outfit that has a well-maintained airplane available and just might be willing to let me borrow it/rent it out for a few days and perhaps work with me on some logistics.

I'm ASEL rated, just about 100 hours time and carry non-owned insurance of 100K/1MM and 70K hull. I'll be taking another 2 adults and I'm not HP/Complex endorsed, so a 172, Cherokee or similar is probably what fits the bill. I'm based at KSWO (Stillwater Regional) and would prefer to fly out of there, but willing to travel an hour in any direction to make things happen, if necessary.

This post likely won't yield much more than some ridicule, but if anyone happens to have any solid advice/leads I could pursue, please feel free to post here or PM me.

Many thanks in advance.
 
Let us know if the rental options don't work out. Maybe a POA airlift can be organized (just to plant the seed of thought for folks here).
 
Thanks to you both. I'll certainly update further if things don't pan out on last potential rental option here.
 
Couple of thoughts.

This trip can easily turn into “must get there”-itis. Be careful.

Saturday and Tuesday both say “mostly cloudy” for the Denver area in the long term forecasts.

Any discussion of “airlift” type stuff should probably be done in private. It’ll never pass the smell test on “common purpose” and therefore becomes a Commercial operation. I don’t care at all if someone can get y’all a ride but FAA might. Fair warning.

You didn’t mention home airport ID or number of people or weights of people plus luggage. That’ll make it harder for someone to tell if their aircraft meets your rental mission.
 
I appreciate the thoughts you offered. I'm willing to drive if weather and such aren't looking favorable as we approach "go time," but just trying to avoid it, if possible.

I don't want to run afoul of FAA in any manner - you bring up a good point there.

As for the rest - based at KSWO, total weight of passengers is ~550. Luggage will travel with other family members in order to not knock out of gross weight range of the aircraft I'd likely expect to fly.
 
Christiansen Aviation at KRVS and Sundance Flight Academy at KHSD may still allow overnight rentals but they’ll require a checkout with a CFI beforehand and a minimum 3-4 hour per day charge.

Christiansen rents mostly Cessnas from 152 trainers to G1000 172s. Sundance has Piper Cherokee 140’s.

Don’t blame you for wanting to fly, the stretch from Salina to Denver is painful.
 
I hadn't even thought of the Tulsa outfits (I'm an OKC native, so guess I was prejudiced/had my blinders on). I'll look into that. I know HSD isn't doing overnight rentals with their fleet, as they book them pretty solid to not even need to do that.

I understand the outfit here at SWO is under new ownership since I last rented from them; they've received some better reviews/experiences compared to the last owners and I'm awaiting a call back from them. Seeing as I left them a telephone message yesterday and FB message today, my decision on them might be made if I haven't heard anything from them by tomorrow.

Weather is definitely looking iffy at this point. If it's not clouds, it might be winds. The drive is most assuredly painful, but might be what I'll be planning on with the hopes that the aviation outlook becomes more promising.
 
denverpilot said:
Any discussion of “airlift” type stuff should probably be done in private. It’ll never pass the smell test on “common purpose” and therefore becomes a Commercial operation. I don’t care at all if someone can get y’all a ride but FAA might. Fair warning.
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True, but there's no issue with publicly planning this in X-plane. You know IF we were going to do it, (which we're not) we could virtually meet up using flight simulator.
 
Don't mean to be "that guy" but flight time will be say 10-12 hours at least say $120 an hour for rental. Your a low time VFR pilot and you can buy tickets for $412 (I looked) so times three lets call it $1300 go commercial would be the answer if it were me.

Ooops that was Sun-Tuesday Sat is cheaper by $10 a ticket.


  1. AA.png

    American Airlines
    2:20 pm
    SWO
    Dallas/Ft Worth & other airports" style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 1px solid rgb(255, 255, 255);">
    DFW
    5:34 pm
    DEN
    4h 14m

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    American Airlines
    8:53 am
    DEN
    Dallas/Ft Worth & other airports" style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 1px solid rgb(255, 255, 255);">
    DFW
    1:49 pm
    SWO
    3h 56m
Operated by Envoy Air AS American Eagle
1
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$402American Airlines
 
DFH65 said:
Don't mean to be "that guy" but flight time will be say 10-12 hours at least say $120 an hour for rental. Your a low time VFR pilot and you can buy tickets for $412 (I looked) so times three lets call it $1300 go commercial would be the answer if it were me.
Click to expand...

Good point here. Might need to seriously consider. It was more than that a couple of days ago, which is surprising.
 
9:15 minute drive from Stillwater. You will likely want a vehicle once there too.
 
You might call the airlines and ask about bereavement fares. Most don't offer them anymore, but since will at least give you a better fare than what you'd ordinarily get booking last minute.
 
Still haven't heard back from the local joint and the more I dig into the projected weather models, the more it looks like driving or flying commercial is the way to go. I went ahead and booked airline tickets. I appreciate the help and feedback from you folks!
 
DrewG said:
Still haven't heard back from the local joint and the more I dig into the projected weather models, the more it looks like driving or flying commercial is the way to go. I went ahead and booked airline tickets. I appreciate the help and feedback from you folks!
Click to expand...

Yeah I saw they bumped the precip forecast into snow with a 57% probability for Friday.

Sorry you have to drive but glad you grabbed a ticket for a seat on the sky bus.

And condolences again for you and your family.

Weather here has been fairly squirrelly but in long waves. Good multiple days then a couple that are just ick. Normal for spring time but mildly annoying when it lines up to hit on days I might have time for flying.
 
DrewG said:
Still haven't heard back from the local joint and the more I dig into the projected weather models, the more it looks like driving or flying commercial is the way to go. I went ahead and booked airline tickets. I appreciate the help and feedback from you folks!
Click to expand...

Glad you didn’t try it. RVR 400 down my driveway today.

1337df6a6e174c5046a731507fbf9d14.jpg


Plus wind...

ef66c9e7d5690910d14ac99d91f88ca3.jpg
 
DrewG said:
If that's what's supposed to carry through tomorrow, I'm certainly glad I'm not attempting it, either! Happy to let the pros do it for me!
Click to expand...

The (unforecast) fog will lift but the weather will remain “unsettled” throughout the weekend.

4debf4dcad4cd78de84560b6ae24c808.jpg
 
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