I currently work from home 1-2 weeks per month and I commute from middle to TN to my office in northern AR 2-3 weeks per month. I fly commercial when I commute, and so far I've racked up a little over 90 flight segments year to date. There isn't a direct flight to my main destination, which means a couple of layovers at ATL most weeks. Total time door to door is approximately 6-7 hours. Driving would be approximately 550 miles, which would be approximately 8 hours without stops or traffic problems.
I expect the scenario above to exist for at least a few more years, so I'm exploring if it would be practical to buy a plane and fly myself.
I live about five minutes from the small airport that I would use and there is a small airport that is about five minutes from the hotel where I normally stay. The distance between these two airports is 360 NM.
This sounds like an excellent mission for a GA aircraft, and pilot, provided you're instrument rated. I see you're not even rated at all yet, so best to get cracking on that training! And be aware that when you get your Private, you'll still have to cancel maybe 25-50% of the time on a trip like that, so plan to jump right in to the instrument training after you get your Private Pilot certificate.
The key is, you need to have backup plans - I like the "car on both ends" recommendation. Be sure that you leave early enough (flying) that if anything goes wrong (weather, maintenance, etc), you still have enough time to drive and still get to where you need to be on time. That should help a lot to alleviate get-there-itis, and that practice has served me very well over the years. There WILL be times you can't make it - You'll probably have days that you'll run into icing if you fly, and there'll be days with thunderstorms. Plan the plan Bs, and the plan A will be great when it works.
Any recommendations on planes for this mission? I like the thought of a Glasair III because of the cruise speed, but definitely want to hear experienced opinions on pros/cons and other options.
Since you are new to aviation - The plane you want is a Cessna 182. You could complete your mission with more of a trainer aircraft like a Cessna 172 or Piper Archer, but the 182 will be possible for you to train in if you so choose, or you could have a fairly easy transition from the popular 172 if you start your training as a renter.
What's nice about the 182 is it will go fast enough to complete your mission in a reasonable amount of time, but not so fast that you'll get behind it. It's relatively easy to fly and is a GREAT way to experience a lot of what aviation has to offer. It's not the best airplane at anything, but it is pretty darn good at everything. I've flown a 182 to the highest and lowest fields in the US, landed it in 30+ states from the Midwest to the East, West, and Gulf coasts, gone to big paved runways and short grass runways and everything in between.
After getting your Private and Instrument and getting the 182, fly the heck out of it for a good 2-3 years. By then you'll have some experience under your belt and you'll have a fairly easy time transitioning to your next airplane, not to mention you'll have a much better idea of what you want your next airplane to be.
How would annual operating costs roll up for something like this? I'm approaching the scenario from perspective of my company reimbursing the fuel expense. Any estimates on operating costs outside of that?
The major expenses in flying fall into the fixed (hangar, insurance, inspections) and variable (fuel, maintenance, engine reserves) categories.
Fuel is pretty easy to predict. In the 182, you'll burn around 13 gallons per hour, and the fuel is running maybe $5 a gallon right now. You can find it in some places for under $4/gal, while there are other places that will charge double that, but most of the places you go will be in the $4-$6/gal range.
Maintenance is always unpredictable. Usually the first year is the worst, but things will crop up over time as well. Luckily, 182s are plentiful and it's hard to find a mechanic that *hasn't* worked on one. Plan on $50/hr over time, most of the time it'll be less but there may be an occasional $15,000 surprise, or $30,000+ if your engine decides to need overhauling, so be prepared for that. Home equity lines are a popular method for dealing with that if you don't have that sort of cash on hand.
Engine reserves on a 182 should be about $22/hr ($27K overhaul, $6K removal/reinstallation/accessories, 1500hr TBO). Even if you never need an engine, the time you fly off the airplane will depreciate it by roughly this amount, so plan on it being a difference in what you paid for it vs. what you'll sell it for, all else being equal.
Hangar cost: Hangar rental tends to be roughly in the $200-$500 range per month, depending what airport you're at and how nice the hangar is. You may want to get a hangar on both ends, since you'll be in both locations for a lot of time and there can be some nasty storms in that zone.
Insurance: The cost of this depends mostly on hull value and your experience level. Plan on $2000 the first year, maybe down to $1000 in the third year with the same plane.
You'll be flying about 3 hours each way on average, so about 15 hours/month or 180 hours/year. Flying this much and this frequently is actually very good both for you as a pilot and for your airplane. Fixed costs should be about $8,000 (one expensive hangar or two cheap hangars), and variable costs about $137/hr. So, you'll be spending a little over $180/hr all in, or $32,660 per year. Pulling fuel out of the equation would put you at $115/hr or $21,000 for the year.
You may be able to get your company to contribute more, depending on what your current costs are. 550 miles each way at the IRS standard rate is $299.75 one way or $599.50/trip. See how your average airline ticket costs compared to that too. Your fuel-only cost for flying yourself is about $390/trip. If you're doing 30 round trips per year, the company would save over $6,000 by having you fly yourself. See if you can negotiate some of that back!
