How do they manage to get wheels up in 30?

[rainbow-goddess.livejournal.com]

My partner just asked me this question: "Is the BAU operated out of an airport?" I told him that I don't think it is. He said, "Then how can they manage to get wheels up in 30?" I replied that the team all have go-bags packed so that they're ready to leave. Then he pointed out that they have to deal with traffic -- how long does it take them to get to the airport? what if one or more of them gets stuck in traffic? -- and that the pilot of the jet has to do a pre-flight inspection and file a flight plan. Is the jet on standby? I suppose someone could have alerted the pilot to be ready before Garcia even presents the case to the team.

Oh, and in case there is anyone other than me who hasn't seen this before:

Wheels up in 30: Hotch's Song. This is the "explicit" version so be aware.

Comments

[ndmzero.livejournal.com]

I'm in the DC Metro area, and I can tell you it is more likely that the team could be on their private jet and be in the air in 30 minutes (Quantico is a Marine Base and I think the FBI Academy and other offices, including the BAU (BSU) are actually on the base -- and I think the above explanation that there is a small airport on the base makes the most sense - don't know if that is accurate, but I can suspend disbelief) - the more impossible scenario is that they act like they can get to Downtown DC or anywhere with a metro in 20 minutes, regardless of the time of day -- that is flat out impossible unless they have an actual matter transporter. Quantico is about 40 miles south of DC on one of the busiest highways in America -- and no one who had a choice would live in Silver Spring (MD) and work at Quantico, which somebody on the team did for at least one season. They do a good job of getting names of places (Arlington and Fairfax - although not always the "feel" of the place named, but they really don't pay any attention to the actual geography.

[blue-sunflowers.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that's what I'd think. Quantico is a military base, and it is pretty large IIRC. It'd have an airbase, or at least be very close to one. Even the small one by me has a what I'd term a small town "airport" (small runway and hanger). With the jet they use, they really don't need much. They showed CM's set up on Extreme Aggressor.

As to where the team lives - yeah, Reid's got a hell of a commute from Van Ness with the Metro and VRE (though I doubt he minds). And when Prentiss was living near Georgetown? I laughed, even though she's right next to the parkway.

The episode where JJ and Garcia go to Reid's "apartment" in the morning just made me roll my eyes. No way would anyone manage to do that and still get to Quantico on time - unless they either got up at an ungodly hour, were extremely late to work, or lived near Reid (which I'm pretty sure they don't).

ETA again: Quantico's air field is Turner Field (http://www.airnav.com/airport/KNYG).

[aim2misbhave.livejournal.com]

I generally agree with that - they're the FBI, they probably have arrangements to be able to get their agents on one of their jets in pretty short order. If nothing else, I'd assume that they have a helicopter ride to wherever they keep their jet.