Ferry pilot

[bognostroclom]

So Im not sure if anyone could answer this or know. What would the cost be to get a 177 ferry'd from sudbury area to sask? Im not nearly experienced enough to pull it off myself with a whopping 70ish hours lol. But id tag along and do the flying or whatever i can if that were possible. Just curious.

[photofly]

People I know who have arranged this have done it for a daily rate plus a plane ticket home. Find a class 3 flight instructor and you can log the dual, too.

[sheephunter]

That's not all that bad a flight, even with 70 hrs. Just plan well, watch weather around the top of Superior, morning fog, mid-day thunder storms and the usual stuff. Cell service most of the way following the trans Canada. Lots of nice airports and short legs, presuming you're on wheels. Maybe plan to fly into Toronto, jump the shuttle to Sudbury, check-in with a local instructor and get a day or two local hours under your belt as well some confidence with the new plane and blast off with good weather and hopefully light headwinds.

[Bradley Tucker]

I sent you a PM.

[leftoftrack]

I vote for you doing it. Do you have your privet licence yet?

[ahramin]

A privet licence? Would that be for growing or just trimming?

[bognostroclom]

Yes i have my private already. Ill keep that in mind, just snowballing right now. Its a 177A and im hearing about the underpower issues so not sure. But was just curious about ferry or having a ride along for some of the southern ontario airspace and lotsa forest north route. Thanks for the vote of confidence though!

[Illya Kuryakin]

A 177, as in a Cardinal? No worries mate. Fill the tanks, monitor the weather, and enjoy the journey! You don't need somebody to escort you. As long as you take it easy, you'll be just fine. Hey...this is why you got a licence....
Illya

[bognostroclom]

Haha thanks Illya! Great support here!!!

[Illya Kuryakin]

I'll go one step further. If you have ANY concerns enroute, you can PM me. I'll check your concerns (weather etc.) and get back to you. The first trip over the horizon is always a challenge. The airplane is capable of taking you anywhere your spirit of adventure takes you. I took a 150 to the Bahamas! Not even a challenge.
Illya

[bognostroclom]

Sweet thanks!

[oldtimer]

This is a message from an old book on flying I read way back when.
"If you go when the weather is OK and don't go when the weather is not OK, you will be OK"
Just top off your fuel tanks, top off your wallet, buy newer maps and a CFS, spread your maps out on the living room floor to plot your routes and just give'er. You will be OK.

[dirtdr]

I did a trip in a 172 (that I now own) from southern Ontario to northern Alberta at 100hrs.

It was a trip of a lifetime.

"This is why you got a licence"... Exactly. Why give anyone else the fun

Just don't plan on doing it in minimal time. Wait out any questionable weather, and be prepared to make miles when it is clear.

My trip took me 8 days.... 6.5 of those waiting for conditions that were acceptable to me. Spent as much on hotels and meals as I did fuel....

[tonyhunt]

I did Winnipeg - Ottawa in a Cardinal, ink on my license still wet and me with 49 hours. Bring a friend, share the fun.

C-177A is not the underpowered one. It has an O-360, 180HP and CS prop. The original 1968 C-177 had the O-320, 150HP and fixed pitch, exactly like a C-172. It could feel a little underpowered on a hot day with bums in all the seats.

[PilotDAR]

I vote that you plan it and set off on your own with care Bogs. If Illya is unavailable for a moment, I'm sure you'll have lots of support from the rest of us.

I too have taken my 150 to the Bahamas, Edmonton, Îles de la Madeleine, Nantucket, and most of the east half of North America. Just take it slow and easy. If you've got a good day steady on for the whole day, and you'll be there....

A Cardinal is an excellent cross country plane. Do take proper emergency gear though, a SPOT, and file flight plans.

[bognostroclom]

Tony,
yeah its a 68 with the 150hp. I looked at the specs and seemed to be okay for me. But im getting warned about it from my flight school.

Well thanks for all the advice. I will consider it a bit more and do alot more research on it. I may just tackle it myself. If i do pull the trigger on it.

[photofly]

I bet nobody at your flight school has even seen a Cardinal, let alone flown an 'A' model.

Best type club in the world, bar none:
http://www.cardinalflyers.com/home/_home.php

[photofly]

C-177A is not the underpowered one. It has an O-360, 180HP and CS prop. The original 1968 C-177 had the O-320, 150HP and fixed pitch, exactly like a C-172. It could feel a little underpowered on a hot day with bums in all the seats.

The 'A' model doesn't have a CS prop.
The 'B' model has the O-360, 180hp, and the CS prop.

Be careful where you take your Cardinal advice from. http://www.cardinalflyers.com/home/_home.php - these guys are the best type club in the world, bar none.

[tonyhunt]

I bet nobody at your flight school has even seen a Cardinal, let alone flown an 'A' model.

I bought my C-177 while I was still a student, had to wait until I had the license to pick it up. It was the 1968 model with the 160HP conversion. It had enough power, just kept one or two seats empty on the hot days. Flew way nicer than the flying club's 172, I just had to learn to flare gracefully, not plop onto the runway like a C-172. I did hear vague warnings about Cardinals from flight instructors, but true to form they had never flown one.

http://www.cardinalflyers.com/home/_home.php - these guys are the best type club in the world, bar none.

Best type club in the world, bar none: http://www.cardinalflyers.com/home/_home.php

Have you heard of any type clubs for Cardinal owners?

Twelve years after selling mine, I'm still on their mailing list. I still follow the Husky owners group too, it's not just about the airplane, it's the people who make it great.

[CFR]

I'll offer some thoughts on your original concept.

There are a couple of factors at play here, skill, cross country experience and personal comfort level.

I bought a plane in Toronto and moved it to Winnipeg through the US. At the time I had over 300 hours, but most of it local flying with the max cross country on a single flight 3 hours. Could I have done the flight myself? Absolutely! Did I feel comfortable doing so ... Nope. So I did as you originally proposed, I took a friend (who happened to be my flight instructor) with me. I logged the time as dual which satisfied my insurance requirements (10 hours on type). After the first leg, I realized that, yes I could have done it alone, but it was a) nice to have the company, b) a great opportunity to pick the brain of a very good flight instructor, and c) it was nice to be able to hand off control for a break from time to time (no autopilot) and while tuning VOR's/radio's, reading the map, nav log, etc. While I had planned to take as much time as needed for the flight if weather became an issue, a nice bonus was that my friend is instrument rated, so on the one leg that had a low ceiling in the morning, we were able to be on our way.

I paid for my friends ticket, meals and hotels. He was nice enough to not charge me for the flight hours, but I did give him some cash anyway.

Assess your own skill and comfort level and do what you think is right.

Above all fly safe.

[bognostroclom]

Thanks again for all the advice. I have been to the cardnal flyers site alot. Really for what i will be using it for I think it would suit me well. The 8 inches extra width and 7gal/hour is the biggest selling feature by far for me. I want something that I can fly ALOT and it not break me for insurance and fuel costs. Plus me being a lardass, the width would be a nice change for whomever i haul. Really ill be flying mostly by myself and maybe one other usually would be a instuctor for commercial or at very least night ratings. The instuctor i was talking too about them has 150 hours on them, although im not sure if that was a 68 or not but I do know him personally and value his opinion. My buddy who is a AME loves them and tells me to buy one. So im torn lol.

[Wacko]

Great... so no one actually answered the question.

I'm not in the business but I talked to a friend of my and he said he'd do something like that for $300/day plus all expenses paid including the flights. He has a flight instructor rating... I think a 1 or 2 so you can log the hours and do the actual flying. He works for a 705 operator so there's also that experience as well...

... before anyone starts flaming... I DON'T CARE! I don't know if that's too expensive or not expensive enough. I just want to answer the question and now I'm also curious what other ferry pilots would charge......

[bognostroclom]

Waco, I actually got a few PM's with numbers ranging from 150 and up plus expenses. I guess the other issue is insurance being so low on hours if i WAS to tackle it myself. Ive only ever rented so never had to deal with that as yet and may be another reason to bring someone along.

[Lost Lake]

I never understand the fear of a cross country flight. You are not going non stop from one province to another. In other words, a cross country flight is equivalent in distance to the cross county you had to do to get a license. Should be no more than 3 hr stops. Enjoy the scenery, get good weather reports, (Northern Ont. can be nasty for thunderstorms this time of year) and bring a good camera. You got into flying to fly, so go fly!!If you plan your flight and fly your plan, you will have such a great feeling of self accomplishment. Weather comes from the west, so if you do run into weather, make sure you haven't reached the point of no return or to an airport behind you.

My 2 cents worth

[fish4life]

Ok so I have have never really looked up anything about the 177 before but just taking a quick look over anything can anyone explain to me why the heck Cessna isn't making these as brand new aircraft over 172's.?????