Picking up an aircraft in a small town (transportation to that town options)

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callegro

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Callegro
Looking for a ride from Denver area to Goodland, KS

Well I will be picking up a Cherokee in a small town in KS next weekend and the only way of getting there is to fly into DEN, rent a car, and then drive to this airport. However, the town is so small, there is no place to drop the car off, no train station, nothing! I have thought about taking the Greyhound bus, but anyone have any other options??
 
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Charter, hitch-hike, or bring someone else along to return the rental car? You could probably see if any pilots in the area would be willing to fly you for the cost of fuel.
 
callegro said:
Well I will be picking up a Cherokee in a small town in KS next weekend and the only way of getting there is to fly into DEN, rent a car, and then drive to this airport. However, the town is so small, there is no place to drop the car off, no train station, nothing! I have thought about taking the Greyhound bus, but anyone have any other options??
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The seller can't pick you up?
Denver should have a charter service.
 
Picking up in Goodland, KS.

Thanks for the replies guys.
 
Might want to change the thread topic to something like "need a lift from Denver to Goodland, KS". Lot's of Denver area pilots on here, you might get lucky. Otherwise, bus could be your best option.
 
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Goodland is a hotspot compared to the rest of western KS. I agree on the new thread title.
 
Yeah I'll give that a go. Thanks fellas.
 
JustinWalton said:
Why not take a "flight lesson" from a local flight school in denver, and just have the instructor drop you off where the airplane is? Just an idea...
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lol... you haven't really looked at a map have you? :hairraise:
 
Can the owner fly it to a bigger town were you can drop off the rental car?
 
AKBill said:
Can the owner fly it to a bigger town were you can drop off the rental car?
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That would pretty much be Denver. There'so not much between Denver and Salina in western Kansas & easten Colorado.
 
timwinters said:
That would pretty much be Denver. There'so not much between Denver and Salina in western Kansas & easten Colorado.
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I think that Hays has a Great Lakes flight and it has the teachers college. :)

the joke is that is was called the teachers college about 50 years ago...

the other joke is that Hays and Denver are just about equidistant...

and to the guy from Texas saying "It doesn't look very far" yup, it doesn't, it's still a two-plus hour drive or an hour in the air

anyway, I'm sure callegro will find x-port from DEN to GLD 'cause I've made that flight just to meet folks for lunch at the Butterfly Cafe
 
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Enterprise ought to do it, though you may have a stiff dropoff fee it should be cheaper than a taxi or van.

Alternatively, you might rent a very small truck/van from U-Haul or the like and see what the cost of that might be.

My first thought is to ask the seller if he can pick you up.
 
JustinWalton said:
Doesn't look very far...what do you mean?
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I guess it depends on what rate you can get for plane/instructor. Might be close to 3 hours of flight (round trip). What's a plane cost? About $130 on the cheap side, and instructor maybe $50 minimum for which you may or may not have to pay for the round trip, you are looking at around $400-500 for that adventure I would imagine.

A Greyhound ticket is about $60.
 
UberX Fare quote is about $250.

Offer the seller $100 and lunch to pick ya up.
 
I know in many small towns where there are no rental car services, the local dealership is where you can rent a car.

This doesn't help with OP's problem. Just throwing it out there...
 
#1, get a friend to fly you to Goodland
#2, get the seller to pick you up
#3, if Greyhound goes to Goodland........ride Greyhound
 
Call around, find the outfit that runs the local dialysis van to the regional center.
 
Ask the current owner to fly to Front Range (KFTG) then you'll fly him back to Goodland. This does a couple things - first, you'll get first hand intro to the quirks of the airplane and the owner can tell you about them. Second, no need to worry about any other transportation. FTG to KGLD is a smidge over an hour, weather permitting. And that's the key. If the weather is lousy, you're stuck.

Getting DIA to FTG is easy. Cab will be about $40-50 or, easier, is to call the FTG office 303-261-9100, and explain you're there to pick up an airplane and will they please come get you? The FTG shuttle to/from DIA is $30-35.
 
Re: Looking for a ride from Denver area to Goodland, KS

callegro said:
Well I will be picking up a Cherokee in a small town in KS next weekend and the only way of getting there is to fly into DEN, rent a car, and then drive to this airport. However, the town is so small, there is no place to drop the car off, no train station, nothing! I have thought about taking the Greyhound bus, but anyone have any other options??
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Call airport manager. He might have an idea.
 
You can do what I did and ask one of the FBO girls if they would like to run your car back to DEN in exchange for an airplane ride back and other consideration.
 
flyingron said:
You can do what I did and ask one of the FBO girls if they would like to run your car back to DEN in exchange for an airplane ride back and other consideration.
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Hmm... "Other considerations"..??
 
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