Thursday, September 11, 2008

Finding a Ferry Pilot - Part 1

Travelling with my husband on his business trips to Florida is not as glamorous as it seems. It is interesting and sometimes fun but not so glamorous. One of the big time wasters is the driving. He generally works in the Panhandle but during the same business trip, may also have business in Southern Florida. It then becomes a tossup as to whether we fly or drive – each taking approximately the same amount of time after considering airport transfers and check in time.

When we are working in Florida, I generally do market research which entails going to resort developments and getting as much information on the project as possible. During one of my marketing research days I decided to take a side trip to a flight school to do another type of research. I was enquiring as to whether someone at the flight school would be interested in flying us from Destin to Tampa occasionally and if I had a pilot’s license could we rent a plane. I talked with an instructor, Pete, who was available to fly us to Tampa occasionally. He also explained that I could rent one of their planes for $60 to $100 per hour, dependent on the plane and size of engine. The rental charge is based only on the time in the air and if we were in Tampa over night, we would not be charged any additional dough. This sounded pretty good, now all I had to do was get a pilot’s license.

My husband wonders why when I go into a store or other establishment it takes me so long. These thoughts go through his mind occasionally when he emerges out of cell phone abyss. It takes me longer because I am usually engaged in a conversation with a stranger. I like people. I wouldn’t say I am a people person because I am not as socially skilled as some but I do find people fascinating. Pete was from Millinocket, Maine. This detail became useful information as I started to think about how I was going to get my little bird from Rockledge, Florida to Nova Scotia.

It was a few months before my bird would be ready and I was going to be in Florida so I decided that I would go see Pete to determine if he would be interested in flying my plane back to Nova Scotia with me, perhaps we could time it around his summer vacation back in Millinocket. I met with Pete and he was interested. Just a few more details to work out and I could check ferry pilot off my to do list.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I can't wait to read the next part!

Pat, from Aviatrix's blog.