Flight Planning: The Value of TravelMath!
The real joy in aviation, for most people, is visiting places that bring enjoyment or for a purpose. The intrigue of going places you have never been part of the fun. If you are like me, and don’t like surprises, you probably take your time and make detailed plans.
One valuable, yet free, resource available to travelers is the TRAVELMATH.COM website. It provides a wide array of information related to destinations and distances. It provides you with a list of airports and their distances in relationship to your destination.
NOTE: A couple fellow Cirrus Vision Jet pilot let me know that multiple local airports may be missing from the database used by the Travel Math site. I apologize in advance for recommending this tool if this situation affects you.
Load the TravelMath website, and select the FLYING category. Now, select “Closest Airport”.
Since the client’s meeting is in Ashburn, Virginia, we start there.
- Type your destination city and state and options will populate as you type.
- One thing to note is many popular sightseeing destinations may populate.
- This includes places like zoos, museums, popular places, etc.
- The site is funded by advertisers so that is how it remains free to users.
I entered “Ashburn, Virginia” and Travel Math then presents me with “Closest Airports” in airport category type. Larger, international, airports populate at the top of the page. I look there first and look at driving distances in this category. Large airports generally offer the best arrival and approach procedures, but also more expensive fuel and airport fees.
The next category of airports is “Domestic airports near Ashburn, VA”. I noticed KIAD, Washington Dulles International Airport in this category and it was eleven miles from Ashburn, VA. It is a solid option to keep in mind, but is there another airport even closer? We will keep IAD in mind in case we need a poor weather alternate.
I worked my way down to the “Local airports near Ashburn, VA” category. Local airports offer shorter driving distances to certain destinations, as well as less expensive fuel and airport fees. My client loves to fly but does not like to spend time in the car. This is why I selected KJYO, Leesburg Executive Airport with a six-mile distance to Ashburn, VA.
I drill down a little further in ForeFlight to see runway information, services available, NOTAMS, fuel prices and airport fees to make sure all that supports the decision to land there. Saving a little money is always secondary to safety and a pleasant experience for the client. They will never remember paying a little extra for fuel prices, but will never forget an unpleasant experience.
We get a nice overview of the Ashburn, VA areas from ForeFlight as we look at the three green indicators inside of the blue oval. The larger green circle represents Ashburn, VA on the map. Due south is KIAD, Washington Dulles International Airport. To the northwest is KJYO, Leesburg Executive Airport. It is starting to come together as a plan and makes logical sense in terms of the driving distance for the client and the quality of the selection of the Leesburg Executive Airport.
Saving a little money is always secondary to safety and a pleasant experience for the client. They will not forget a bad experience, and will never remember paying a little extra for fuel.
- Don Medine, Professional Pilot