Richman
JC’s Resident Curmudgeon
Well in my case, the pay phone was in the non-locked part of the building, but to balance that off, the departure runway was only 1800' long and you were on your own for obstacle clearance since it had no approaches.
No one has ever called me a "real pilot" before, so I thank you.![]()
So on my airplane, we go to some places where the tower is closed prior to departure (and no, not one of those places where you can drag your feet a touch to wait for it to open).
I'd fly to those same type of places any time in my personal airplane, and think nothing of it. Read the NOTAMs, check the charts, run the numbers, use proper CTAF, get your clearance and release, no problemo, easy peasy, lemon squeezy.
Some how, nearly the same exact circumstances, at work in the jet, becomes 3 orders of magnitude harder, WITH an extra pilot.
One of life's mysteries I suppose.