Question:
Just how many miles is TOO many miles to drive a bunch of Cadets for an activity?
100, 250, 500??
I am considering taking some of my cadets to the Reno Air Races..
http://www.airrace.org/indexJS.php
But its a heck of a long haul....
I live in the northern part of Louisiana, and most CAP events happen in the southern part of the state. The usual drive is four hours, one way. With the price of gas going up, it's almost cheaper to fly until you consider that I can only carry three other members besides myself.
Same issues we have.
We are VERY far from any activity out here in the desert.
And the plane just isn't a real option when you have a load of Cadets that would like to go.
But I am looking at something around 550 miles to make the drive with a van load of Cadets to take them to the Air Races.
I am just wondering if I am NUTS for even considering it??????
It's too bad CAP regulations don't allow CAP to own school buses. They're cheaper than dirt when you buy them used (maybe only $1,000 - $3000 for a 60 passenger bus), and diesel fuel is cheaper than unleaded.
Granted, you'd need a CDL (Commercial Driver's License) in most states to drive it, but imagine what it could save some Groups in transporting cadets en masse to weekend activities, encampments, etc.
At one time, CAP owned buses. However, the used buses they got were not the best or safest around. Some were extremely far from the "safe" end. Plus a corporation operating a bus has a whole bunch of costs to consider. Parts for buses are not cheap. They average 4-20x the cost of the same part for a car/van. (I buy parts for company vehicles for a living & drive buses when asked). There is also the cost of maintaining a cdl random drug testing and the conrols that come with it. Our decentralized structure does not lend itself well to the necessary controls for drug testing.
Diesel is more expensive than gas in CO by about 8 - 10 cents per gallon. Also, not many buses get more than 7-8 miles per gallon. Which is why long haul buses have 150+ gallon fuel tanks.
Quote from: arajca on August 25, 2005, 07:47:04 PM
At one time, CAP owned buses. However, the used buses they got were not the best or safest around. Some were extremely far from the "safe" end. Plus a corporation operating a bus has a whole bunch of costs to consider. Parts for buses are not cheap. They average 4-20x the cost of the same part for a car/van. (I buy parts for company vehicles for a living & drive buses when asked). There is also the cost of maintaining a cdl random drug testing and the conrols that come with it. Our decentralized structure does not lend itself well to the necessary controls for drug testing.
Diesel is more expensive than gas in CO by about 8 - 10 cents per gallon. Also, not many buses get more than 7-8 miles per gallon. Which is why long haul buses have 150+ gallon fuel tanks.
Hmmm... okay... so maybe not the best idea then. ;D
Quote from: arajca on August 25, 2005, 07:47:04 PM
At one time, CAP owned buses. However, the used buses they got were not the best or safest around.
Hey, I remember those busses - they always broke down on the way
home from an event. It was like they knew we wanted to get there but not get back. ;)
I have driven cadets to lots of activities ranging 2-11 hours each way in the van. The 11 hour trip was for Region Cadet Comp.
abysmal - I think the trip to the air races would be awesome if budget would allow it. I am sure the cadets will always remember the trip. You could check to see if there is a place to camp overnight, since it is a long trip and the cadets love to camp.
ya, I think it would be a BLAST.
I put out a note to the Cadet Officer Staff asking if they thought the others in the squadron would be interested.
Will see what kind of interest the note generates.
Since I absolutely despise driving anything over thirty minutes is too long. :-X
CAP in my opinion has a bad mix of vehicles in the total fleet. We've scared ourselves away from 15 pax vans due to their stability issue. There are not enough 12 pax vans to make up the difference and a 7 pax van is always too small.
Where we need 4x4's we don't have enough. Ford Windstars don't make the best 'off road vehicle'.
(Just the LG in me speaking).
Quote from: Major_Chuck on August 26, 2005, 01:23:19 AM
Since I absolutely despise driving anything over thirty minutes is too long. :-X
I guess you would not like my drive then. I go an hour each way to CAP every week.
Last week one of the squadrons here in Connecticut sent a van of senior and cadets to Washington DC. Roughly 650 miles each way.
Another squadron sent their van out to NESA.
I guess its just a matter of what your willing to take on.
I drive 110 miles to work one way each day. I hate driving. Love my job. Hate the drive.
Did I say I hate driving?
Quote from: JaL5597 on August 26, 2005, 01:43:41 AM
Quote from: Major_Chuck on August 26, 2005, 01:23:19 AM
Since I absolutely despise driving anything over thirty minutes is too long. :-X
I guess you would not like my drive then. I go an hour each way to CAP every week.
Last week one of the squadrons here in Connecticut sent a van of senior and cadets to Washington DC. Roughly 650 miles each way.
Another squadron sent their van out to NESA.
I guess its just a matter of what your willing to take on.
Quote from: Major_Chuck on August 26, 2005, 02:40:21 AM
Did I say I hate driving?
I don't think you mentioned that. ;D
Quote from: arajca on August 26, 2005, 03:36:47 AM
Quote from: Major_Chuck on August 26, 2005, 02:40:21 AM
Did I say I hate driving?
I don't think you mentioned that. ;D
I don't see what you're driving at.......... ;D
Quote from: Major_Chuck on August 26, 2005, 02:40:21 AM
I drive 110 miles to work one way each day. I hate driving. Love my job. Hate the drive.
Did I say I hate driving?
You could always put in for a transfer to a more remote office location.
Something that would give you more time on the road to enjoy the drive.
I am a former cadet from the Texas Wing -- we traveled to Pensacola Naval Air Station two years in a row. It was quite a trip but we really enjoyed it.
2Lt Robin Law
Vermont Wing
My squadron is in northern new jersey. A couple years ago we traveled (by van) all the way to Kittyhawk, NC for the 100 years of flight celebration. That was a pretty long haul! :D
Just how far of a drive was that?
I don't remember, but it took forever. We drove for almost the entire day.
For the IL Spring encampment, we no longer allow cadets to travel more than 4-5 hours to attend.
The issue is that this is a weekend encampment and the drive must be repeated 4 times in 7 days.
The in-bound trips are bad enough with Chicago traffic, but the outbound ones are the danger - imagine a 4-5 hour drive, mostly in the dark, after having drilled, etc., all day Sunday.
Falling asleep at the wheel is our fear.
Also, though we understand that because our is a two-weekender very early in the season it is great for new cadets looking for NCSA in the summer, since we are a basic encampment with no flight component, making a 10-hour isn't worth the hassle.
It's unfortunate as we really enjoyed having cadets from Kentuky, Ohio, and Northen Michigan participating, but safety is more important.
Quote from: abysmal on December 13, 2005, 09:59:34 PM
Just how far of a drive was that?
Gee whiz, can'tcha just plug two places into Yahoo! Maps and find out how long (hr and mi) the drive is?
Lessee: north Jersey - New Brunswick oughta be North enough; Nawth Cackalackie - Jacksonville oughta be close enough for a first shot. (Nah, Jacksonville was too far away. After consulting my handy-dandy Rand-McNally paper atlas, I decided Croatan Shores is better, since it's the closest town on the map to the memorial.)
And the survey sez: 474 miles, and a driving time of 7 hr, 17 min. Add chow/potty breaks, and construction on the interstate, and it's prolly a 9 -10 hr trip.
A few years back, we used to get buses and bus drivers from the Reserve/Guard component at a base near us. It worked well and all we had to pay for was the gas/diesel. Perhaps rattling a few laison officers could help? I think we have transported cadets to events about 250 miles away, but we get parents to help us. We talk them into joining as chaperoing parents for $20.00 and then we later talk them into upgrading into full senior member status. It doesn't cost anything more for them to upgrade their status and thus saves them a considerable amount up front. We also have alocal church that has been allowing us to utilize their 15 passenger van, if we will clean it and fill it up. Great deal for us.
Gee Wiz!
Of course I could just fall back and use the technology.
But what fun is that!
this is CAP TALK forum, its all about TALKING with other people!!
how many cadets are you taking? maybe instead of driving you can rent a couple of cesnas (Have every cadet pay and equal amount to help pay for them) and fly down there and back?
Quote from: MustangCadet on January 03, 2006, 10:48:53 PM
how many cadets are you taking? maybe instead of driving you can rent a couple of cesnas (Have every cadet pay and equal amount to help pay for them) and fly down there and back?
It already happened over two years ago. :D
When I was a cadet in 1984, we had two Senior Members that took us fromGeorgia to Columbus, MS for the AETCFC. They came and picked us up to. Thats the kind of volunteer spirit thta got me interested in doing what I can to help young people.
Quote from: flyguy06 on January 09, 2006, 04:23:23 PM
When I was a cadet in 1984, we had two Senior Members that took us fromGeorgia to Columbus, MS for the AETCFC.
What squadron in GA were you in when you were a cadet? I am currently in Augusta Composite Squadron (formerly CSRA Comp. Squ.) One of our Senior Members just took three of our cadets to MS for AETCFC. Our SM was staff there. I believe it was 6-7 hrs.