Many people define the $100 hamburger as a tongue-in-cheek excuse pilots use for spending the day flying. It is hard, after all, to make a reasonable case for logging a couple of expensive hours in an airplane to fetch fast food.
But the act is not that simple. Pilots get far more than meals from these sorties. Flying to airport restaurants, when done properly, is really a mission. We fly laps around the pattern and perform S-turns, steep turns and stalls in the practice area to stay current, hone skills, and improve our overall precision. But to remain truly sharp, pilots need to travel. And a restaurant at an airport that is 50 to 100 nm away is an opportunity to test ourselves on a regular basis.
