Plane for traveling between Houston and Telluride

bikert said:
If you really want it, it can be done. I know someone who got into a King Air 90 at 300 hours just recently. He has to have someone right seat for a while for insurance but he did it.
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The insurance market is great for the quick jumps. While I think staging it is important, you can go about it other ways.
 
May sound like a dumb question but have you taken an intro flight to see if you actually want to do this?
 
jordane93 said:
May sound like a dumb question but have you taken an intro flight to see if you actually want to do this?
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Yes, I've take one and loved it. I also really like the idea of parking a car that is somewhat close to Telluride but not as challenging as that almost gets us there and could be a good progression point. You can get fairly close without getting into mountainous terrain. We are going to leave a car up there anyways.
 
And a G-IV crashed in Boston on a beautiful day when they forgot to disconnect the control lock.

There are always days you can't go. Doesn't matter what you fly.
 
Dlion0721 said:
Thanks everybody for all the replies! As is apparent this is certainly a long term goal and I have a long ways to go before it could be a reality. I'm going to go for it though as obtaining my pilots license has always been a dream that I've put off. Worst case is I have a pilots license and a plane that we can use to scoot around Texas and to the Hill Country where we also spend a lot of time. Best case is when weather permitting we can have the freedom to get to Telluride and the mountains in a much more fun way than flying commercial.



Also, my wife and kids have all flown in small planes (a Piper Saratoga) multiple times but just for a short distance (Houston to Austin) and really enjoy it.
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Good luck on your training and as you can probably tell from the thread, there's all sorts of options that will do your "mission" with varying degrees of capability.

I've stayed out of the thread because I think first and foremost you should focus on finding quality training, and the right airplane will come along anyway, since the training will take a while.

You can do it fairly quickly if you have time to focus on it, but it'll still take a while. And it's worth doing. You'll enjoy every minute minus the usual moments of frustration with yourself at "plateaus" in learning.

Lots of good trainers to rent out there. Less good options in "traveling" airplanes to rent and the cost for rent vs own graph starts to cross there. You'll know when it's time to buy.
 
Definitely don't buy a plane for training given your long-term mission. Just rent for training. Buy when you're ready to buy a plane that will do what you need it to.
 
I think if this was a frequent trip, I'd be looking at a twin of any sort, pressurized or not. The Barons, Senecas, 310s would all do an admirable job and give some extra security and payload for a growing family of 4. You could likely find many examples for the same cost as any SR22 or Cessna TTx, and near-200kts airspeeds will be a blessing versus a TR182 or 205/6. I would be going that direction if I had your particular mission, and maybe considering turbocharged twins if your mission supported it.
 
Certainly doable. But me personally to that kind of environment and with my family aboard? A pressurized twin, for sure.

I sold my Aerostar for $127K. It was de-iced, pressurized and turbo normalized and could do the job easily. Perfect for a small family with loads of capability. There are others, like 340's, 421's etc.
 
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