$16,619.85

"Dallas" wrote in message
...

As much as we hate government involvement in general, I think it would be
fair to say that the U.S. subsides GA to encourage it's existence.


I spent a lot if time trying to convince skylune that this was simply not
true.

I fly from a privately owned field. He does not qualify for gubmint
subsidies. He's making a profit.

4.3NM away is a class D airport with a 7000' runway and a 5000' crosswind
runway. The big airport spends over three million dollars a year salaries,
maintenance, repairs, etc. They have been trying to attract an airline, but
keep failing. The last air carrier that flew there lasted nine months.

Because there is no airline service there, claims are made that the three
million dollars is supporting GA.

I still cannot fathom how the politicians can continue paying twenty five
people to work at an airport that has no air carrier.

Steve Foley wrote:
"Dallas" wrote in message
...
As much as we hate government involvement in general, I think it would be
fair to say that the U.S. subsides GA to encourage it's existence.


I spent a lot if time trying to convince skylune that this was simply not
true.

I fly from a privately owned field. He does not qualify for gubmint
subsidies. He's making a profit.

4.3NM away is a class D airport with a 7000' runway and a 5000' crosswind
runway. The big airport spends over three million dollars a year salaries,
maintenance, repairs, etc. They have been trying to attract an airline, but
keep failing. The last air carrier that flew there lasted nine months.

Because there is no airline service there, claims are made that the three
million dollars is supporting GA.

I still cannot fathom how the politicians can continue paying twenty five
people to work at an airport that has no air carrier.



I can't either. ELD has scheduled service and only 2 employees. The
money the local government spends would be much better spent either
lobbying their congresscritter for EAS subsidy or just paying the 3
million a year to an airline.

On 2008-01-04, Wolfgang Schwanke wrote:
"Steve Foley" wrote in
:

I fly from a privately owned field. He does not qualify for gubmint
subsidies. He's making a profit.

How? What does he sell and how much does it cost?

When I lived in Houston, I was also based at a private field which far
from receiving subsidies - paid over $6000 in property taxes per month.

What they sold: Fuel and rent. They sold Jet-A and avgas, as well as
renting premesis (hangar space, workshops for mechanics, buildings for
a flight school, ground rent for the flying club, tiedowns). It was all
GA, no airline service at all. Most of the based aircraft were piston
powered: there was one jet - a small Lear, and one turboprop - a Jetprop
DLX Malibu conversion. Everything else was the typical GA piston fleet,
mostly singles and some light twins.

They were profitable (not wildly so - it had to be carefully managed to
remain in the black - but profitable, nonetheless). The
airfield never took a cent of public money through its lifetime.
Unfortunately, after 9-11, the middle Eastern owners decided that being
middle Eastern and in the airport business wasn't good, especially when
a property developer offered them top dollar for the land to put houses
on.

Hangarage was competitive with the subsidised airfields in Houston, as
was their fuel. (Having said that, hangarage was relatively expensive
all over the area: at the moment, if there WAS a hangar available, I
could get a hangar at Ronaldsway, an airport here with frequent airline
service, plus the flat rate annual fee for landings for slightly less than what
I was paying for hangarage in Houston at a pure GA airfield).

It is entirely possible for a GA airport to run without subsidy. Most of
the really expensive things you need such as control towers, ATC, and
fancy approaches, elaborate security, are needed for airlines; GA can
live quite happily without them.

--
From the sunny Isle of Man.
Yes, the Reply-To email address is valid.

"Wolfgang Schwanke" wrote in message
...
"Steve Foley" wrote in
:

I fly from a privately owned field. He does not qualify for gubmint
subsidies. He's making a profit.

How? What does he sell and how much does it cost?

I pay a tie-down fee of $50/month, and I'm paying $4.50/gallon for fuel
(self-serve). The runway was paved in 1987. He's finished paying the
mortgage for that. There are twenty-five planes based there, so he's
collecting $1200/month in tie-down fees. He owns the land free and clear.
The place is pretty low maintenance. The tie-down areas are grass, except
where people have poured concrete pads. He's got a tractor to mow the lawn
with every other week or so in the summer. He also has an old highway plow
truck for the runway in the winter. Anyone with a plow on their truck shows
up to help out with the taxiways.

He's also an A&P/IA, and handles most of the aircraft maintenance/annuals on
the field. A few go elsewhere, but he's probably doing an average of two
annuals per month. A few people come in from elsewhere because they like his
work.

He recently gave up flight instruction. A guy who also instructed part time
retired from his full time job. He now does all of the instructing.

The runway is under 2000 feet long, so there is no commercial activity
(except flight instruction and the few photo flights). The pavement is not
thick enough to handle any large aircraft, so it didn't cost too much.