We had a bit of business in Columbia, SC. The drive is 4:40 minutes with no accidents or stops so realistically with a gas stop each way, 10 hours round trip to drive. Not something I would normally want to do for an hour of work. We had a second reason to visit, we have friends in town who we had not seen in way too long.
Of course this is an airplane blog so we didn't drive, we fly. Weather had been terrible last week with a low sitting over the Carolinas. Luckily it had moved out and high pressure dominated. Summer highs are usually hot and hazy and this one lived up to the reputation.
We left home at 12:40 and headed off to the airport. We were running a bit early so we really took our time getting the plane ready and socialized along the way. We were in the air at 1:20. We had departed runway 5 which was mostly on the way and soon had our climb to 7000 with an on course turn.
I would say it was a beautiful day but the haze made it mostly a dust bowl below. We were up at 7000 which put us in smooth air over the haze but there was not much to see below. We had been direct Columbia but over Brunswick, GA we got a reroute SAV then direct. This kept us from getting too close to the restricted areas and actually added less than a minute to our trip.
Heading North we had a headwind of about 7 knots which wasn't too bad. The trip would take 1:22 minutes. We did run into a few clouds along the way after Savannah. They were thin and had tops below 9000. The ride was a bit bumpy in the clouds and I had considered climbing above them but the winds were stronger above and we would need to start down soon anyway. CC mostly spent the time working on a script except when I called bumps and she put it away to hold on.
Our arrival to Columbia was easy but approach vectored us pretty wide, I think it was to avoid a large military plane. He also had originally set us up for the slightly longer and less into the wind runway. And I do mean slightly, it was 8600' vs 8000'. I chose to use 5 which had the advantage of being into the gently 5 mph breeze and terminating where we were parking.
After a nice touchdown we turned off and taxied to the ramp with tower. No one came out to park us so we parked where I had parked a few years ago and as I shut down. Then they came out and put some chocks under the wheels. Usually figuring ground transport is a thing and I would have Ubered on a trip like this but our friend had offered to get us and as we were walking in he showed up.
We were downtown by 3PM and done with work by 4:30. It took a bit longer than planned but we were not in a rush. Our friends wife joined us who is actually a childhood friend of my wife and we socialized a bit and then headed out for an early dinner. After lots of good food, and good company, he dropped us back at the airport around 7 PM. We paid for our gas, checked the plane and were airborne at 7:23.
On the way home the forecast was for the winds to strengthen. We climbed to 10,000 which kept us in smooth cool air and for once the forecast was accurate. I was able to pull the power back and save some gas. We were making 184 knots and with the wind enjoy 200+ knot groundspeed. Typically around 207 knots.
At that speed, as soon as we levelled off we were less than an hour from home. Of course we had to re-route over SAV, the military was working late. We also got to enjoy the sunset. I had prepared for a late return and done a night currency flight a few weeks back but we landed at 8:30 which was official sunset. We put the plane away and were home a few minutes after 9 PM. Total time 8.5 hours with 4.5 on the ground in Columbia.
If we had driven it would have been a long day. We would have left at 10AM and returned home at midnight. I looked at the airlines, it is possible. You leave at 10:45 and return at around 12:45 am. You do have more time in Columbia, almost 7 hours but door to door its a 16 hour day and with 4 flights, a good chance that something doesn't work out. It's also $932 for two people.
While our business was neither urgent or that important, it does show the utility of the plane for most small businesses that operate regionally.
