On Nov 9, 5:37*pm, bildan wrote:

IIRC, It was also a time when AVGAS jumped from around $.50/gal to $2/
gal. *It was a time when a sharp pencil analysis showed it no longer
made economic sense for me to own an airplane.

Fuel costs in a 2000 Hr TBO cycle went from $10,000 to $40,000 which
made fuel four times the cost of the engine overhaul. *By 1996, any
trip by GA airplane could be done faster and cheaper by other means.
Burning 10 GPH at 125Kts didn't make sense. *Many flying enthusiasts
who could no longer justify an airplane went to gliders.

Prior to the mid-90's, many people actually used GA airplanes as
business travel tools. *Afterward, airplane ownership tended to
resemble yacht ownership. *The purpose of owning an airplane became a
public display of how much money you had to spend. *Money display
types are hard to convert to gliding - it isn't showy enough.

I recall an "airport day" display of a very pretty glass glider next
to a Gulfstream bizjet. *The Gulfstream owner was really ****ed when
crowds gathered around the glider and not his flying yacht. *He made a
scene with the airport management demanding they, "Get that glider the
hell out of here".- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

You are lucky that you don't live in the UK, where Avgas is (very
highly) taxed as a motor fuel, but jet fuel isn't. And this is in a
country that is an oil producer! The only good thing is that oil price
fluctuations have little effect on motor fuel prices, because most of
what you pay is tax. BTW most UK gliding clubs run their winches on
LPG (propane) or red tractor diesel because these attract a lower rate
of duty.

http://www.petrolprices.com/fuel-tax.html

UK joke:
What do you call somebody who doesn't run a car?

A tax evader!

Derek C