"F. Baum" wrote in message
...
On Apr 4, 8:47 pm, "Jay Honeck" wrote:
JH With Avgas topping five bucks a gallon, I find myself asking: How much
more
JH will it take before GA is completely unaffordable? At what price point
JH will all the current "weekend pilots" be driven from the market?

FB I am mid 40ies now so I have been at this for some time. The one thing
FB that has been consistent in those 30 years is listening to complaints
FB about the cost of flying. I have been ask what it costs to own and
FB operate my airplanes and I allways tell people that I dont keep track
FB of it and even if it cost twice as much I would still fly because it
FB is worth it to me. I think it is more about getting the most out of

Economies change. It's not so much the cost as it is the value. Flying no
matter what it costs only works as long as you can still put food on the
table.

I'm getting ready to fly to SnF and somone asked me how much it will cost.
My answer was: about the same cost as a first class ticket but a little
slower and a little more cost than driving my Suburban but about twice as
fast. That's for me flying solo.

For this kind of a trip, the question is go or not to go. Once I decide to
go, flying myself is a viable option that is not totally out of line.

I think weekend trips and family vacations fall in this same category. The
question is go or not to go. Flying yourself versus commercial or driving
have different costs and different tradeoffs but flying yourself is not the
clear looser. However, it's a larger expense and people tend to plan for and
save up for these kinds of trips.

Burger runs, brunch runs and just puttering around pose a different
question. Clearly, the purpose is to fly. Those kinds of flights will never
be justifiable and will diminish as people have less time and less
disposable income.

The problem with flying is that the more frequent, shorter, harder to
justify flights are necessary to keep skills up. There is a definite
threshold where you have to have enough time and money to keep the basic
skills up so that the occasional, justifiable trip is possible.

Parents that are properly engaged with their kids and well enough off want
to do things to pull their kids into the real world. Weekend trips to
explore the world are an important part of their children's development.
Those trips take time and cost money.

Again, the question is go or no-go. Once a decision is made to take the
family away for the weekend, flying is not that unaffordable.

As pilots, I think that we can do a lot more to support each other. If I fly
once a month or less because I can't afford to fly more frequently, my
skills are rusty everytime I get in the plane. But, if I fly with others
several other times a month, the whole experience helps keep my skills and
attitude up.

Heading to the airport alone? Call up a fellow pilot and invite him along.
It's more fun and cheaper for all.
------------------------------
Travis
Lake N3094P
PWK