The International Cessna^® 170 Association

IN Early MAY I did a road trip from St Louis, MO to Salt lake City and return; 2806 miles.

I cannot get over the fact that during the entire trip I never saw a fixed wing aircraft of any type in flight.

In western Wyoming I saw a scud running helicopter at about 300 ft. I think he was servicing gas or oil exploration camps along I-80.

I saw a commuter parking lot full of cars at Kansas City International. No Aircraft movements.

More than disappointed actually a little saddened at no flight activity.

What is happening to aviation?

Regards

I know the feeling does anyone fly anymore??, I go to smaller airports and this a major big city area, that have lots of airplanes and on a beautiful Saturday no one is out , hangars are closed, and a ghost town, it is like this at a lot of airports anymore, when I moved to where I now live it was common to hear airplanes engines all the time any day of the week, now it is rare.

I think the pilot population is aging and pilots just do not fly as much but keep their airplanes anyway, I know that I fly less now than ever, and I live on an airstrip my airplane is 100 feet away, it is we lose our passion as we grow older? or has life just gotten so busy that time is not there. I too wonder why no one is flying.

I was lying awake EARLY this morning contemplating my upcoming relocation, along with a lot of other things, and heard a single engine piston-powered airplane fly over. I looked at the clock, and it read 1:39...

The price of avgas is too high and too many guys are afraid of mogas.

blueldr wrote:The price of avgas is too high and too many guys are afraid of mogas.

I'm not afraid of mogas, just ethanol - ethanol in mogas that is not the kind in beer.

lowNslow wrote:

blueldr wrote:The price of avgas is too high and too many guys are afraid of mogas.

I'm not afraid of mogas, just ethanol - ethanol in mogas that is not the kind in beer.

No, it comes from corn -- so it must be the same as in whiskey!

I flew yesterday and saw plenty of people flying. It was hard just to get out onto the runway to take off.

I have ferried four small planes this spring, all more than 1000 miles on each trip. They were all during the week so probably not as much flying activity as on weekends but what I have seen is the small airports are for the most part drying up. The towns and counties are keeping the airports open but they are not making any money. Thank goodness for self service gas pumps or it would have been difficult to make those trips without stopping at the big high-dollar airports.

Even in Alaska where in the past you could always hear a small plane in the air, traffic has slowed noticeably and gas is relatively cheap right now.

On the positive side, Cub Crafters is making a plane a week and is back-ordered for around 6 months.

If we get the medical bill passed, we will probably see more people flying.

John

The past three airports where I have hangared my plane were like what a lot of you describe. Dead during the week and not much activity on the weekends. Fortunately here in Murfreesboro between the MTSU Aviation Program and private fliers like us, there is a lot of activity. We live under the pattern so if I am not at the airport, which I try to be most every day or so, I hear or see planes. I think age does enter into the flying activity. While I still enjoy going out and boring holes in the sky, I don't do so as much as I once did. I enjoy going to the Saturday breakfasts every Saturday, but even though fuel is less costly now than in the past several years, it is a bit of a negative to go fly for an hour or so then fill up the tanks for $50+. I sometimes wonder if the boating guys experience declines like we do.

n3833v wrote:If we get the medical bill passed, we will probably see more people flying.

John

Are there that many pilots out there with expired medicals waiting to get back in the game who are not already flying LSA?
I'm pro 3rd class abolishment but I don't think it will make much of a dent in the pilot population.

Of everything - I think the big nasty fences with the security warnings mandated after 911 did the most damage.
An airport looks like a forbidding place now and folks don't realize you can fly for fun.

I hear you about the fences. I was at a nice little public grass strip just outside of Cooperstown, NY last fall talking to the manager. Picnic tables, a nice parking lot, a little snack place and no fences of any type. Nice family atmosphere. He said he's been fighting with the Feds who want him to put up fences. I told him to keep up the fight. He has no intention of giving in. Good for him.

There is actually no fight so long as you dont take Fed money. They can't make you put up a fence.
I guess terrorists don't fly from private runways

Fences around airports are dumb dumb dumb.

I'll second the fences need to come down sentiment. They just drive good people away. Almost every airport I've been to has a sign or note some where that says, "Unicom opens door/gate". Security? What a joke.

At my little county airport we have a dozen nice hangers, and maybe twice as many aircraft. Our runway is in good shape, we have a cross grass runway, a nice clean and modern terminal building, and a new fuel farm. On a nice Saturday afternoon I am more often than not the only person there. I rarely see others flying. I figured I just be missing the others, as I'm not there 24/7, but I wonder..... I fly about 100 hours/year, which I consider to be completely unremarkable. Yet the airport manager gave me my own discount fuel card, "because you fly so much!"

Why aren't people flying? I have no clue. Sure, gas is expensive, but it always was. Right now you can buy mid time 172's for less than $30 grand. That's the price of a new mid size car. I see lotsa new cars in parking lots, which tells me people can afford it. As far as I'm concerned these are the good old days. Unfortunately no one is taking advantage of it!

DEM

Lowandslow,
As a matter of fact, if I'm not mistaken, the "Ethanol" in mogas is Ethyl Alcohol. the kind of alcohol that is also found in Beer and other adult beverages.
For many years after the removal of MTBE from mogas, my airplane used to thrive on mogas containing ethanol with both the TCM O-300 and IO-360 engines and there was never a problem with either hoses, gaskets, or seals.
Please understand, however, that I was very discreet in that I never did confide in either one of the engines that I was feeding them a bootleg fuel. I always did feel a little bit of guilt about my lack of confideing in them. But not really very much.