http://www.airnav.com/airport/S95
In Walla Walla, WA. 5.99 for 100LL and are you ready for this (much fan fare) 3.99 for Mogas

Tim

If you have to ask, you can't afford it...

qmdv wrote:http://www.airnav.com/airport/S95
In Walla Walla, WA. 5.99 for 100LL and are you ready for this (much fan fare) 3.99 for Mogas Tim

I'd like to see either or both prices around here-- 100LL just went up from 5.95 to 6.33 at my airport, & (off-airport) 92 octane E0 mogas is at about $4.35.

Av8r3400 wrote:If you have to ask, you can't afford it...

I beg to differ. Necessity may be the mother of invention but poverty is its abusive alcoholic father. We need to find clever ways to make aviation more affordable for more people, not give anyone ANY reason to leave or not come in.

Aviation is fighting for its life, and we cannot afford to have any such thoughts. There are far too few pilots as it is... shooing any of them away by making ourselves sound like an elitist yacht club is just plain wrong for everyone.

I'm doing my part, by being part of several different efforts to attract new people and getting others to stay. Another EAA type and myself are designing a small super-economical airplane that flies on 1.5 GPH with 4 stroke reliability. You don't have to be doing all that if you don't want to... but it would be helpful if you didn't make the problems worse by promoting the exclusivity of aviation. We need the punk kids with tattoos, and the old geezers, and the housewives, and the schoolkids. Badly.

Flap - I think it's a matter of choices. I know of people who have airplanes sitting because they can't afford to fuel them. They also have new cars in the garage, new ATVs, snowmobiles (snowmachines for my friends in Alaska ), several thousand dollars of RC toys, etc, etc. All bought on credit with seven more years of payments. It's the "I want it all and I want it now mentality".

Flying is an expensive hobby. Period. It demands a ton of financial and time resources from it's participants.

So is ATV-ing or snowmobiling or new car-ing (?) every three years. When people start stacking several of these pastimes together, they are often overwhelmed financially.

I had a conversation with my good friend and neighbor the other day when he was giving me a hard time for owning two airplanes. he had little to retort when I informed him that my two planes cost me about half what his new diesel truck and bass boat cost him.


It has nothing to do with a yacht club mentality. It's all a matter of choice, IMO.

Av8r3400 wrote:.... I think it's a matter of choices. .....
Flying is an expensive hobby. Period. It demands a ton of financial and time resources from it's participants.........

This is an equal oportunity world. we all get 24 hours a day, 7 days a week-- it's up to you how you spend that time, and your money. Aviation is somewhat different from a lot of hobbies in that it requires you to spend a certain amount of time becoming & remaining proficient -- esp when you're just getting started.
Say I was a youngish dude with some disposable income & an urge for a new motorized hobby. I can go down to the airport, spend a lot of time & money over the course of about a month, and then I can solo. Woo hoo! Or I can go down to the Harley dealer, plunk down a wad of money, and be riding that afternoon. ( or substitute crotch rocket, boat, motor home, hot rod, etc for harley) If you were not already an aviation fan, what would be your choice?
That's a big part of why aviation is fading away IMHO.