On 2008-04-04 19:47:30 -0700, "Jay Honeck" said:

With Avgas topping five bucks a gallon, I find myself asking: How much
more will it take before GA is completely unaffordable? At what price
point will all the current "weekend pilots" be driven from the market?

Example: While on our trip back from Florida a couple of weeks ago, we
paid $5.20 per gallon in St. Louis. Since we needed 60 gallons, we
paid over $300 for a single tank of gas -- something I *never* thought
I'd see.

That price has more than doubled in just the last few years, and there
appears to be no end in sight. So the question is: How much higher
must gas go up before *you* hang up your headphones for the last time?
Anyone care to predict what year the last personal flights will occur
in America?

Considering that there are waiting lists for people to buy a Cessna 172
for nearly $300,000, almost double what one cost a couple years ago, I
doubt that the price of gas is going to have much effect on aviation,
even if it goes to $100/gallon. The only effect will be to make the
complaints louder.

The cost of gas is a pittance compared to whatever else people spend on
an airplane. If gas starts to hurt airplane sales, the manufacturers
will simply offer incentives like Cessna has done in the past -- a free
year's fuel. Or more.

--
Waddling Eagle
World Famous Flight Instructor