Are People Still Flying As Much Around You?

Jay Honeck wrote:

Mary and I have noticed a substantial (and depressing) drop off in personal
flying of late. Often we are the only plane in the pattern, nowadays.

Worse, we've notice far fewer people talking to ATC -- which indicates that
this may not be a local phenomenon. On Sunday, for example, we flew 90
minutes over to Rantoul, IL, and back, and heard maybe three other planes,
the whole way, outside of "working" aircraft. (And one of them was Jim
Burns, who was with us!)

We *do* tend to fly at "off" times (Sunday afternoons; Wednesdays and
Thursdays, mostly) -- but the change we're noticing has been pretty dramatic
since gas prices spiked. There just doesn't seem to be nearly as many
people flying.

Anyone else noticing this?

Yes. We're noticed it particularly in our flying club. Five years ago,
the club had 20 members (about 10 were active, I believe) and two
airplanes. We now have one airplane, 10 members, but only four of us
who currently fly the airplane. And the four of us have flown the
airplane only 54 hours total.

Matt

Yes. We're noticed it particularly in our flying club. Five years ago,
the club had 20 members (about 10 were active, I believe) and two
airplanes. We now have one airplane, 10 members, but only four of us who
currently fly the airplane. And the four of us have flown the airplane
only 54 hours total.

Why so little, Matt? I would think the club format would do well to keep
costs low...?
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Jay Honeck wrote:

Yes. We're noticed it particularly in our flying club. Five years ago,
the club had 20 members (about 10 were active, I believe) and two
airplanes. We now have one airplane, 10 members, but only four of us who
currently fly the airplane. And the four of us have flown the airplane
only 54 hours total.


Why so little, Matt? I would think the club format would do well to keep
costs low...?

The costs are very reasonable at $56/hour wet plus $90 per month in
dues. Well, we just raised the hourly rate to $66 because of the fuel
costs of late, but still a good deal for a retractable.

I can't speak for the others, but the main reasons for me are distance
to the airport (45 minutes one-way for me) and three kids, a wife, and a
job with a fair amount of travel. The distance to the airport is the
biggest one for me. When I owned my own plane and had it located closer
(25 minutes vs. 45), I was much more inclined to run to the airport when
I had a couple of hours and take a short hop. Also, my plane was at a
non-towered field and I could be in the air literally a couple minutes
after engine start. Even though ELM is a pretty sleepy airport, it
still takes 10-15 minutes to go from engine start to in the air. It
takes time to get the ATIS and call for taxi and then it often is a 5-10
minute taxi to the active. And we have to deal with a slow security
gate to gain access to the hangars, etc. Basically, on a very good day
with no unusual delays, it takes me 60 minutes minimum from my house to
the air. And often it takes closer to 90 minutes. So even a short
flight takes a Saturday morning or a full evening in the summer.

I also flew a fair bit on company busines when I owned my plane as I had
the insurance my employer requires for their GAP (General Aviation
Program). Unfortunately, since 9/11, I can't get the required insurance
($1MM/$500K). The club carries $1MM/$100K and the best non-owner policy
I've found also as the $100K/person limitation. I was flying 25 or more
hours a year on business trips which helped a lot, but I now end up
either driving on these or flying the airlines.


Matt

Matt Whiting wrote:

The distance to the airport is the
biggest one for me. When I owned my own plane and had it located closer
(25 minutes vs. 45), I was much more inclined to run to the airport when
I had a couple of hours and take a short hop.

I also found that to be the case. After I moved from Franklin to Middletown (and
the plane moved from Manville to Old Bridge), my air hours went way down. In my
case, I also found the area down here less attractive to fly over.

George Patterson
Drink is the curse of the land. It makes you quarrel with your neighbor.
It makes you shoot at your landlord. And it makes you miss him.

I can't speak for the others, but the main reasons for me are distance to
the airport (45 minutes one-way for me) and three kids, a wife, and a job
with a fair amount of travel.

Yeah, I hear that a lot.

Interestingly, in the last few days traffic has been sky-high (ouch!) at our
airport, with the pattern stuffed with planes of all types.

Maybe it was just a little lull I was sensing? Dunno...

Today's predicted winds of 40+ knots ought to keep the weekend pilots on the
ground...!

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

("Jay Honeck" wrote)
Today's predicted winds of 40+ knots ought to keep the weekend pilots on
the ground...!


Another 'all-nighter' of window rattling wind last night in the Twin Cities.

(ANE) Anoka County-Blaine, MN
Sunday morning:

...........TEMP......WIND....(Gusts 50% higher)
6am.......37........W/23
7am....................W/26
8am.......37........W/23
9am.......39........WNW/24
10am.....39........WNW/31
11am.....41........WNW/34
12pm.....45........WNW/30


Montblack

Another 'all-nighter' of window rattling wind last night in the Twin
Cities.

(ANE) Anoka County-Blaine, MN
Sunday morning:

..........TEMP......WIND....(Gusts 50% higher)
6am.......37........W/23
7am....................W/26
8am.......37........W/23
9am.......39........WNW/24
10am.....39........WNW/31
11am.....41........WNW/34
12pm.....45........WNW/30

Yeah, did you see the charts today? It looked like a friggin' hurricane in
Minnesota! I don't ever remember seeing isobars so tightly spaced in the
upper midwest.

We stayed firmly on the ground today.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"