Why Falling Oil Prices Aren't Good News

By Paul Bertorelli



But first, reader discretion advised: Politics and aviation sometimes intersect and I know by experience that some readers don't like hearing about that. If you're one of them, be forewarned.

The reader responces are though provoking.

http://www.avweb.com/blogs/insider/AVwebInsiderBlog_OilPrices_198975-1.html

Thanks, Rob- good thought-provoking reading. I would agree that the dropping prices take the sense of urgency away from a looming, undeniable problem, and it will just be that much longer before prevailing attitudes and patterns budge in any direction.

If using fossil fuels for recreational flying makes anyone squirm, I look at it this way: I do fly recreationally for the most part- but that allows me to maintain essential proficiency for the times I need to fly. Also, with my fuel burn of around 7 GPH, and TAS of 100 MPH, that's about 14 MPG. But if I want to travel from my home to Anchorage, as I recently did for an urgent medical emergency, I'm looking at a 150 mile direct flight or a 330 mile circuitous drive. Now the fuel economy of the plane starts to be competitive with a lot of road vehicles. Overall, it's rare to be able to drive straight-line between anywhere and anywhere else up here, if you can drive at all. A lot of the time, the plane comes out ahead of the car on fuel economy, as long as you don't have to haul a lot of cargo.