Student Drop-Out Rates...why?

You'll notice I've not mentioned the Number One reason people mention for
quitting: Money.

To ignore the money issue is to ignore the elephant in the room.

Right. However, we can't change the money situation. We CAN change
the other variables that are causing the appallingly high student drop
out rate in aviation.

An investment in a used Harley or Corvette will earn a greater return than a
similar amount invested in an aircraft, and both can be reconditioned in
your home garage, have cheaper (but often identical) parts and qualify for
"owner maintenance".

Well, I don't think a Corvette is going to appreciate as much as a
common single engine plane. I bought my Warrior for $32.7 K and sold
it for $40 K, after flying the pants off of it for four years.

Now, of course, I put a TON of stuff into it -- mostly with sweat
equity. I think you are under-estimating the amount of stuff an owner
can do to enhance the quality and value of an airplane.

Cosmetics make a HUGE difference in the value of an airplane, and it's
one of the easiest areas for an owner to address. Replace the ratty
interior, fix the cracked plastic, reupholster the seats, buff out the
paint, put some ArmorAll on the rubber, and shazam -- you've got a MUCH
more valuable aircraft.

I would love to have my own aircraft (and have the
cash) but have listened carefully to the experiences of other owners and
have run the numbers for myself and I just can not justify the cost (or the
financial risk), especially after considering that the ongoing burdens of
insurance, fuel, regulation, hangar and maintenance are going nowhere but
up.

Sounds like you're a candidate for a homebuilt aircraft?

The private fleet is getting more than a little long in the tooth and I
must question where the new buyers are coming from to continue to subsidize
the keep of our aging hangar queens that we can not afford to fly due to the
rapidly increasing costs of fuel (approaching 6$C/usgal) and maintenance.

Gasoline is only now getting back to the price it was (in real terms)
back in the 1980s. As painful as I'm finding it to refuel our plane
(and we burn car gas!), I must remind myself that the last 20 years
have really been a tremendous bargain.


I continue to fly as much as possible but there are not many interesting
aircraft available for rent and the level of liability we assume as renters
is frankly scary.

In what way?

Until I find a way to make the cost of flying more reasonable, I will
consider it a luxury that I will consume as long as I find it enjoyable and
in the amount that I can afford. None of my thoughts are likely to make any
of my friends wish to take up the addiction.

Yes, you should probably keep them to yourself, lest we scare away any
new pilots!

:-)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

"Jay Honeck" wrote:
...
Gasoline is only now getting back to the price it was (in real terms)
back in the 1980s.

Don't fall for that propaganda regarding "1981 prices, in today's
dollars." There was a spike in crude prices during the Iran-Iraq war.
Retail price, in real dollars, on either side of that spike (late 70's
and mid-80s) were significantly less than today.

Fred F.

On Tue, 23 Aug 2005 19:20:21 -0400, "TaxSrv" wrote
in ::

"Jay Honeck" wrote:
...
Gasoline is only now getting back to the price it was (in real terms)
back in the 1980s.

Don't fall for that propaganda regarding "1981 prices, in today's
dollars." There was a spike in crude prices during the Iran-Iraq war.
Retail price, in real dollars, on either side of that spike (late 70's
and mid-80s) were significantly less than today.


What I want to know is why the Windfall Profits Tax (implemented by
President Carter in 1972 IIRC) hasn't been mentioned yet. It would
seem that domestic oil producers' costs haven't risen anywhere near
the price of crude.

"Larry Dighera" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 23 Aug 2005 19:20:21 -0400, "TaxSrv" wrote
in ::

"Jay Honeck" wrote:
...
Gasoline is only now getting back to the price it was (in real terms)
back in the 1980s.

Don't fall for that propaganda regarding "1981 prices, in today's
dollars." There was a spike in crude prices during the Iran-Iraq war.
Retail price, in real dollars, on either side of that spike (late 70's
and mid-80s) were significantly less than today.


What I want to know is why the Windfall Profits Tax (implemented by
President Carter in 1972 IIRC) hasn't been mentioned yet. It would
seem that domestic oil producers' costs haven't risen anywhere near
the price of crude.

Why should they be taxed more just because they are in the right place at
the right time? Should we tax stock investors at a higher rate during bull
markets? BTW Nixon was president in 1972

Mike
MU-2

On Wed, 24 Aug 2005 14:50:58 GMT, "Mike Rapoport"
wrote in
t::


What I want to know is why the Windfall Profits Tax (implemented by
President Carter in 1972 IIRC) hasn't been mentioned yet. It would
seem that domestic oil producers' costs haven't risen anywhere near
the price of crude.

Why should they be taxed more just because they are in the right place at
the right time?

The windfall Profits Tax was enacted as law when OPEC raised oil
prices in 1979. If that policy made sense to lawmakers then, why
wouldn't it be valid now? Why should domestic oil producers reap
unearned millions in profits at the expense of the American people
just because OPEC wants to price gouge?*

Think of it as the credit reporting companies making millions of
citizens' personal information public due to lax security procedures,
and then charging to insure those whose data they have compiled
against identity theft, as is currently occurring. While not the same
situation at all, it is another example of business victimizing the
people of this noble nation.

Should we tax stock investors at a higher rate during bull
markets?

Stock investors have their money at risk; think October 1988. Domestic
oil producers control a vital commodity without which this nation
would grind to a halt pronto. They should be regulated.

BTW Nixon was president in 1972

Oh yeah. That was the year he was impeached, wasn't it.

*
http://www.kucinich.us/archive/repor...7+10%3A06%3A14

"Larry Dighera wrote:
The windfall Profits Tax was enacted as law when OPEC raised oil
prices in 1979. If that policy made sense to lawmakers then, why
wouldn't it be valid now? Why should domestic oil producers reap
unearned millions in profits at the expense of the American people
just because OPEC wants to price gouge?*


It's not crude price increases which are causing the increase in oil
industry profits lately. It's world demand for refined product (we have
to import actual gasoline now, too), and limited refinery capacity in
this country -- a supply-demand problem. The gov't could easily cause
refineries to be built with changes in environmental regulations, so the
cause of the "windfall profits" is essentially -- our gov't! *Your
reference is to Rep. Dennis the Menace Kucinich, our hometown, nut-case
legislator here, and his proposed tax. He has no problem with taxing us
(the tax would be passed through to us!) and spending it on pork-barrel
stuff and in effect a tax subsidy to foreign auto producers.

Fred F.

It's not crude price increases which are causing the increase in oil
industry profits lately. It's world demand for refined product (we have
to import actual gasoline now, too), and limited refinery capacity in
this country -- a supply-demand problem. The gov't could easily cause
refineries to be built with changes in environmental regulations, so the
cause of the "windfall profits" is essentially -- our gov't!

Well said.

We are dangerously low on refinery capacity, and current EPA regulations
make it essentially impossible to build any more in the U.S.

It's insane, but it's the law.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

"Larry Dighera" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 24 Aug 2005 14:50:58 GMT, "Mike Rapoport"
wrote in
t::


What I want to know is why the Windfall Profits Tax (implemented by
President Carter in 1972 IIRC) hasn't been mentioned yet. It would
seem that domestic oil producers' costs haven't risen anywhere near
the price of crude.

Why should they be taxed more just because they are in the right place at
the right time?

The windfall Profits Tax was enacted as law when OPEC raised oil
prices in 1979. If that policy made sense to lawmakers then, why
wouldn't it be valid now? Why should domestic oil producers reap
unearned millions in profits at the expense of the American people
just because OPEC wants to price gouge?*

Think of it as the credit reporting companies making millions of
citizens' personal information public due to lax security procedures,
and then charging to insure those whose data they have compiled
against identity theft, as is currently occurring. While not the same
situation at all, it is another example of business victimizing the
people of this noble nation.

Should we tax stock investors at a higher rate during bull
markets?

Stock investors have their money at risk; think October 1988. Domestic
oil producers control a vital commodity without which this nation
would grind to a halt pronto. They should be regulated.

BTW Nixon was president in 1972

Oh yeah. That was the year he was impeached, wasn't it.

*
http://www.kucinich.us/archive/repor...7+10%3A06%3A14

The US oil companies get crude either by buying it at market prices or
because they have taken the risk to find it. They *own* the oil reserves on
their books, the government does not. When oil went to $10 not so long ago
they didn't make anything on production. They are currently paying higher
taxes, production taxes and royalties are based on pricing. Also consider
that a lot of oil produced by US companies is produced in foriegn countries
or off their coasts, should we tax the profits on these too. How about
people selling their homes? The housing market has been strong and people
are reaping windfalls.

If it is avgas pricing that concerns you, it is the FBOs that are f*cking us
not the producers/refiners/OPEC. The cost of crude is a small percentage of
the cost of aviation fuel (jet or avgas) so there is no reason that a
doubling of crude prices should be accompanied by a doubling of aviation
fuel prices.

...and if you want to tax something, tax mining on public lands, they pay
zero for the resource. (My pet peeve)...yes thats zero.

Mike
MU-2


Mike
MU-2

In article ,
Larry Dighera wrote:

BTW Nixon was president in 1972

Oh yeah. That was the year he was impeached, wasn't it.

nope.

--
Bob Noel
no one likes an educated mule

Larry Dighera wrote:

Oh yeah. That was the year he was impeached, wasn't it.

Nixon was never impeached.

George Patterson
Give a person a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a person to
use the Internet and he won't bother you for weeks.