"Michael" wrote:
Here's reality. There's nothing special about being an avionics tech
- it's just another flavor of electronic technician. An avionics shop
charges an average of $60/hr where I am.

Same here, and the local aircraft owners bitch mightily about it. They don't
know that my business charges $75/hr. for call-out tech labor, plus
50c/mile. My big-corporation competitors charge around $100/hr. plus
mileage.

That means the cost of the
labor is $30/hr - it always seems to work out to 50%. For a salaried
position with insurance, 401K, vacation, etc - we're looking at maybe
$35K, tops.

The same thing's true for aircraft mechanics. HVAC mech's that work for our
commercial air conditioning service business earn more, and good ones are
damned hard to find.

Amazing how we're all looking at homebuilts. Says a lot.

Yes, the reasons are pretty obvious. The certified aircraft world is
institutionally hostile - there's every incentive for someone who wants to
own an aircraft to stay out of it.
--
Dan
C172RG at BFM