Getting to work can be a breeze for Barry and Jennifer Lamb most days. Especially if there’s a tailwind.
The couple routinely flies to their jobs based in Olathe from their home three miles east of Mildred.
They land at Johnson County Executive Airport in Barry’s 1966 Cessna 150, a two-seat, single-prop airplane.
Typically the 84-mile drive takes upwards of 75 minutes. By plane, it’s an easy 35-minute trip.
“And we can avoid the railroad tracks,” Jennifer said, where trains can delay their arrival by up to 15 minutes.
Contrary to what most would think, the added costs of flying aren’t exorbitant when compared to taking a car.
Barry explains.
His Cessna averages 20 miles per gallon, and with his plane’s fuel priced at $3.40 a gallon — nearly 40 cents cheaper than what motorists pay — air travel costs about $25 to $30 an hour.
Lamb saves on other expenses thanks to his job: he’s an airplane mechanic for Air Associates of Kansas, which is stationed at the Johnson County airport.
With Barry due at work four days a week by 7 a.m., and Jennifer 30 minutes later as a legal assistant at a nearby law firm, the air commute fits in perfectly with the couple’s schedules.
“I actually had an opportunity to get a job in Iola, but having the plane really makes this work for us,” Jennifer said.
The Lambs keep a pickup parked at the airport, which Jennifer uses to drive the remaining 10 miles to work.
Her workday ends about 90 minutes earlier than Barry’s, which allows her to do other errands, such as shop for groceries, before returning to the airport for their flight home.
Their “runway” is a half-mile grass strip next to their house, laid out by Bill Lamb in 1995. A hangar was built two years later.
Barry and Jennifer moved a house onto the property in 2003.
THEIR ONLY limitations are weather.
“I try to stick with flying only during ‘severe clear’ weather,” Barry said, with cloudless skies and minimal wind.
