$6 avgas letter

[Seerjfly]

$6 avgas, I love it.

[Hangar10]

I hope it's not over... heck, I'm just getting started. I recently (2009) hung up my remote control airplanes in order to start on my first project... a Pietenpol Air Camper. While I do enjoy R/C, and hope to make time for it again in the future (mostly for my son's benefit), I hope it isn't because I can't afford to fly my Piet. It is hard enough to stay motivated at times, especially during the cold months... I'd hate to think that my years of work will just make for a nice static display because of govt. and environmentalist regulations/expense.

[Seerjfly]

.

[Hangar10]

I'm not giving up... just seems that fuel cost is the primary variable in our sport, and regardless of the type of aircraft a 50% increase is a 50% increase. I may only burn 5-6gph, but I will notice as we go from $5gal towards $7.50gal, or whatever it ends up being during my flying lifetime. Not much I can do about it (except vote)... I will continue to work on my project, but this is one of the reasons that people can't (or won't) afford to learn to fly or continue to fly, and it also makes it hard to recruit those that may be interested in flying to EAA. I know several people my age (late 30s) that are licensed who just don't participate in aviation anymore... cost is the primary factor. I'm sure that we all know people like that, but as a younger member and chapter leader/organizer, I'm finding it difficult to figure out how to encourage people to get involved. No matter how we approach the subject, we eventually get to the topic of cost, which is normally more than most are willing to budget in.

[LJM]

Please don't give up. Everyone has an opinion - ignore the ones you don't like, as it may not come to be anyway. While he may be a great mechanic, $900 fill up are not the norm for most, nor is the $1500. engine instruments. My gosh what did the piston airlines do for years before we had such technology? Nice yes, but really necessary....? The "fixed" cost of ownership is a far greater % of total cost for most of us, and definately for me. Between insurance (manditory- my wife said so), and hagar rent far exceeds my fuel budget. Fortunately, maintenance has been cheap for me.

As they say "cheer up things could be worse" I know it worked for me - I did, and sure enough, things did get worse!

Have a great new year!
larry

[Mike Switzer]

I am hanging on, just barely, if it wasn't for the club & the fact I am a maintenance officer I might not be flying at these prices. As it is I only did 3 trips of any length this last year, one family trip 1.9 hours, one for business 1.9 hours, and one 1.4 hr cross country flight as part of getting checked out in our Arrow (which I'm still not done with). Other than that most of my flying this year has been for club maintenance. I budget some money for flying, hoping to stay somewhat current, but if any unexpected expense comes along that is the part of the budget that I get the money from. I'm not IFR or night current right now & I don't know when I will be.

[hydroguy2]

I fly, therefore I am.

I'm just a regular working stiff and probably shouldn't own an airplane. But I do. Fuel while is expensive at any cost doesn't keep me grounded, I just throttle back a little when puttering around. Burning 5-6gph vs 9-10gph. On trips I go high and lean as appropriate. Most of my expenses need paid whether I start the engine or not.

some people believe the sky is falling and aviation is dead. I chose to fire up the plane, go skyward and see if that's true....not dead here.

I committed acts of aviation twice this week.

[steveinindy]

The rising cost of AvGas and it's impending altogether demise another reason why I am staying away from an engine powered by it for my design. The only valid option otherwise was to look at something powered by Jet-A which is almost always considerably cheaper (thank you airline lobbyists for a change) and more widely available.

some people believe the sky is falling and aviation is dead. I chose to fire up the plane, go skyward and see if that's true....not dead here.

Same here. A lot of folks on this forum seem to be here simply to share their fatalistic views of aviation. It's one of the major reasons why I think this place is not nearly as busy as most of the other aviation forums even the others geared towards experimental aviation. No one wants to spend most of their time around folks who are pessimistic and just want to grouse about any little thing that catches their attention.

[MickYoumans]

I am fortunate that I can burn super unleaded auto fuel in my Cherokee. In my area super unleaded has been oscillating between 3.40 to 3.90 a gallon while AvGas is between 5.80 to 6.00. That helps me so much. Since my Cherokee will hold 50 gallons I fill up before heading out on cross country flights to save as much as possible. Most of my cross country flights are less than 400 miles round trip and I can make the complete trip and stilll have more than an hours fuel reserve.

While the cost of gas is a problem, what is really killing me is the cost of annuals, maintenance and parts. My annual in October was $3600. I did get a new carburetor ~ $1000, oil cooler hoses ~ $500, oil change ~ $100, stabilizer counter balance inspection ~ $400 and the rest was just small miscellaneous items. In the process the mechanic broke one of the spinner back plate "L" brackets. I'm still flying with my spinner in the back seat of my plane waiting for a new bracket to come in. It just blows my mind when I look at the difference in cost between a certified part versus what you can use on an experimental. The sad thing is I doubt there is any real difference in the parts other than the pedigree paperwork. I know parts companies have to spend a good deal of money getting their parts through the certification process. I am wanting to change out the throttle, mixture, and carb heat controls on my plane. A certified throttle cable is more than double what an RV throttle cable cost. I really think the FAA is way over regulating small planes like mine and the mechanics are certainly not going to let me use anything on my plane but certified parts. I would love to see them deregulate a lot of the miscellaneous parts on the smaller simple commercial planes. I don't think you would see a decline in safety and it would help more people be able to afford to own a plane. I actually think it might improve the material condition of many planes because the owners could afford to update/upgrade more of the old parts on their plane. Just like my throttle cable, there are newer designs that are better and have vernier fine tuning that is less than half the price of the only one that is certified for my plane. The one for my plane has a locking mechanism but no vernier adjustment.

Sorry I got on such a soap box, but I think plane maintenance is just as big, if not a bigger killer of GA than the cost of gas. I'm just grateful my children are finished with college and I have the extra funds available for flying.

[stinsoner]

The Franklin 165 in my Stinson burns 10 gal/hr, around $50/hr in fuel costs alone. I tell people its not for the faint of heart. But as Larry has pointed out, the fixed costs are the lion's share of costs. Hangar rent, $4100/yr; insurance, $1000/yr; annual inspection, $500/yr; upgrades, variable, say $400; That's $6000/yr whether I fly or not. My annual fuel costs run $2000 for 40 hours of flying, which is typical for me. EGADS! OMG! I never added these costs up before! Anybody want to buy a Stinson?? Seriously, though, the airport is my social club; and aviation is my way of life. I'm fairly frugal in my lifestyle, so my airplane is my one indulgence. I am concerned for the high costs though because they are slowly killing the pastime. Light Sport has done nothing to lower costs. Somehow saving 3 gallons/hr fuel burn while you're renting a $150,000 light sport versus renting an old Cessna 152 valued at $30,000 doesn't compute in my brain. The Technams at my local airport are $175/hr dual. Who can afford that? I have found a C152 in the area that is $150/hr dual, still not cheap.

Dennis C.