The Airport Fence

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
oups.com...
GA activity at my airport with over 400 planes is not great. Perhaps
100 plus ops a day where a T&G counts as two ops.

What is the general status of GA activity around the country?

Our airport has been much more active this last month, after a VERY
down period. From January through June, I'll bet flying was down 30%
from the year prior -- but starting right before Oshkosh things really
started to pick up.

I'm hopeful that it will continue, as people come to grips with $4-per-
gallon avgas....

Try $10 per gallon AVGAS - you may say you will quit then but the old bug
wont let go of you. Rational people don't do GA.

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
oups.com...

Our airport has been much more active this last month, after a VERY
down period. From January through June, I'll bet flying was down 30%
from the year prior -- but starting right before Oshkosh things really
started to pick up.

I'm hopeful that it will continue, as people come to grips with $4-per-
gallon avgas....

Let's see: at $185 or so an hour operating cost at about 15-16gph, another
dollar a gallon is an increase of about 8% in operating costs.

Get a grip! :~)

S Green wrote:

Rational people don't do GA.


Or boating, or classic cars, or art collecting, or horse ownership, or
competitive show dogs, or race cars, or custom motorcycles, or $20,000
custom bicycles...

Chess or dominoes at the local park, whittling, needlepoint, local
hiking, bird watching in the backyard, etc... are much cheaper.

Personal interests are rarely rational.

("Ron Lee" wrote)
What is the general status of GA activity around the country?


In the spring and summer of 1999, 2000 and 2001, I could sit outside (with
my scanner) and watch plane after plane fly over the house. We are on a line
between the Gopher VOR and the end of runway 09/27 - two miles from the
threshold. Weekends were especially busy.

These past few years, nothing, nadda, zip (for hours at a time) is more the
norm.

Sad.


Paul-Mont
Minneapolis/ St Paul
VFR Terminal Area Chart (TAC)
http://skyvector.com/#24-117-3-1530-580
(GEP) 085 -- off the Gopher Vortac, starts (precisely) over "our" house.

On Thu, 23 Aug 2007 03:52:52 GMT, (Ron Lee)
wrote:

What is the general status of GA activity around the country?

I've noticed a lot less people flying since avgas went up and they
started wasting perfectly good corn squeezins by putting it in
unleaded gasoline...

Ron Lee wrote:
Jay Honeck wrote:


It's almost as satisfying as flying. I can't describe it, but I do
encourge it, if you are able to steal 10 or 15 minutes out of a busy
day. It is well worth it for all concerned.

We need to clone John, and get one of him stationed at every airport
fence in America. Within 15 years, the airports would be booming
again.

Jay Honeck

Anecdotal of course, but ops seem down at KFIT. I'd guess maybe 75% of
what it was 2 yrs ago. The guys over at the flight school note also that
the number of new students they are getting is down. I don't know how
they stay in business.

Take someone (a non-pilot) flying.

KC

Ron Lee wrote:
Jay Honeck wrote:

It's almost as satisfying as flying. I can't describe it, but I do
encourge it, if you are able to steal 10 or 15 minutes out of a busy
day. It is well worth it for all concerned.
We need to clone John, and get one of him stationed at every airport
fence in America. Within 15 years, the airports would be booming
again.

Jay Honeck

GA activity at my airport with over 400 planes is not great. Perhaps
100 plus ops a day where a T&G counts as two ops.

What is the general status of GA activity around the country?

It is all but dead at some local airports and somewhat alive at others,
but not great. The airport where I learned to fly, N38, has an FBO that
sells fuel, but no longer has maintenance services, instruction,
aircraft rental or even consistent pilots and aircraft to fly scenic
tour rides. These were all there until about 8 years ago when the
long-time operator retired.

7N1 is in better shape, but it just underwent a renovation like N38 did
about 8-10 years ago and I'm hoping it doesn't suffer the same fate.
N38 went downhill shortly after the renovation as hangars were torn
down, etc., and not all of the promised new ones were built. 7N1 is
facing a somewhat similar problem now. It seems easy to get money for
the runway improvements and lights, but hard for maintenance buildings
and hangars.

ELM is quite GA hostile now, at least for anything less than kerosene
burners. Hangars are being torn down and existing hangars not
maintained. I haven't checked lately, but I don't think the current FBO
(there have been 3 different ones in the last 5 years or so) rents
aircraft any longer or has flight instruction or maintenance available.
And fuel costs are incredible (100LL is more than $5/gallon). They
have a great building and cater will to transient pilots, but there is
no real local GA support.

I'm not real optimistic about GA in this area longer term. 7N1 is the
only bright spot at all and the operate there isn't too far from
retirement. I fear that when he does retire, the fate will follow N38.

Matt

GA activity at my airport with over 400 planes is not great. Perhaps
100 plus ops a day where a T&G counts as two ops.

What is the general status of GA activity around the country?

Ron Lee

My flying club has had to take on more members just to keep the fleet
flying as much as it used to with fewer members. Everybody is flying
less due to the cost rising while their incomes are not keeping up.

Dean

"Ron Lee" wrote in message
...
Jay Honeck wrote:

It's almost as satisfying as flying. I can't describe it, but I do
encourge it, if you are able to steal 10 or 15 minutes out of a busy
day. It is well worth it for all concerned.

We need to clone John, and get one of him stationed at every airport
fence in America. Within 15 years, the airports would be booming
again.

Jay Honeck

GA activity at my airport with over 400 planes is not great. Perhaps
100 plus ops a day where a T&G counts as two ops.

What is the general status of GA activity around the country?

Ron Lee


My day job is outside of flying but it is gas powered and does use
discretionary income, in many ways it parallels GA in demographics. Business
for us is kind of flat this year and in my industry it is down on the whole
so I don't think it is just GA. I haven't had much time to fly this year as
well and I have been spending more of my income on other things but man the
bug is biting hard. The local FBO has mainly new G1000 Skyhawks and I think
it is time to get current and rated in one of those!

--------------------------------------------
DW

Fwiw, and I've only been flying a year and a half now, but if
anything, I've been watching the Bay Area GA community growing
stronger since I started. The other day I got talking with the San
Carlos (SQL) Manager, and he mentioned that they are now on track to
break 200k operations this year, well above the 170k they saw last
year, in fact, they're now well past the threshold where their
contract tower is supposed to be replaced with an official FAA tower
here shortly (not entirely sure what that means, I'm just quoting).

Among my social circle (young, bay area tech dorks), there has been a
_sharp_ upswing of interest in GA in the past year. When I first
started flight training, my co-workers and friends could hardly
comprehend that was something a person could even do. Now, a year and
a half later, I'm giving two or so bay tours a week to various friends
and acquaintances, and I know at least three others who are actively
working towards their PPL, and when the topic comes up at social
gatherings, you here lots of "Oh yeah! I have a friend who does that!
I've been thinking about getting started myself.", a sentiment that I
never heard when I started flying.

So yeah, take it for what its worth... but to say the GA worlds news
is _ALL_ bleak is certainly an over-generalization.