<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by ALadyNCal:
The flight in this type of plane would take 4 to 5 hours and would run about $55 to $60 per hour for the plane and about $15 to $20 per hour for the pilot.</font>
Those numbers sound unrealistically low. I also question how much aggravation you'd be saving your grandmother by putting her in a small propeller plane as opposed to a large commercial aircraft. Even for $100/hour (with fuel, without pilot), you can only get a plane with the interior size/comfort of a subcompact car, traveling in which is IMHO more stressful than first-class commercial plane travel. Take a look at the plane you're renting to make sure there's enough room. Maybe even go for a test ride to check comfort and noise level.
Realistically, I'd expect to pay $100-$150/hour for the plane ("wet," which means including fuel) and maybe $30-$40/hour for the instructor/pilot (of course, the pilot becomes more expensive as the plane becomes larger and more comfortable). Use the roundtrip time to calculate the cost. The cost can be reasonable, but is much higher than the prices quoted above.
I don't know where you can hire a pilot for $15/hr.
[This message has been edited by pynchonesque (edited Feb 23, 2004).]