Clip4
Touchdown! Greaser!
Since 1980, what is referred as the golden era for anything recreational for the middle class that involves leaving their house?
Golden Age of GA
- Thread starter brien23
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Mosaic....
I'm skeptical that does anything as the original LSA approval was nothing more than a blip
Go to any storage facility. The volume of toy haulers and campers is absolutely staggering. Definitely the current era there.
A friend just bought a side by side and then a toy hauler. All in almost 100k. All to use 6 times a year.
KE5BM
Pre-takeoff checklist
Damn, that really puts it in perspective.
I think you’ll find only a minute percentage of the driving public actually has the knowledge of the risks to recreational flying to even make that mental calculation. Adjust your sample to include people who do understand that risk and they’ll be jumping in the aircraft with the same regularity as people “hop in their cars without a second thought.” Context is everything in these types of comparisons.
Unfortunately, I think MOSAIC at best will only temporarily flatten that decline curve. However, if implemented as I think it will be, it definitely will make recreational flying easier, but I don't see any growth outside certain specific sectors like LSA helicopters or something similar.
Rene
Pre-takeoff checklist
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Rene
The present is definitely MY golden age of aviation.
But,
Is more what I think of when the term is used.
Anyway . . . back to my ongoing project in the garage.
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Vintage Snazzy (so my adult children say)
People just moved to other things.
Example- In the 60s and 70s the new car model introduction was almost a religious experience. Every 16 year old couldn’t wait to get a license. Today? Not so much, if at all.
Example- In the 60s and 70s the new car model introduction was almost a religious experience. Every 16 year old couldn’t wait to get a license. Today? Not so much, if at all.
Jaminky
Pre-Flight
I think a big thing is just the ridiculous expensiveness for aviation,especially certified aircraft.30k to overhaul an incredibly simple 6 cylinder engine,7k for an aluminum 2 bladed fixed pitch prop,etc,etc.
I get it that aviation parts are engineered and maintained to higher standard then most but there seems to be a lot of “just because we can” pricing.End of rant
I get it that aviation parts are engineered and maintained to higher standard then most but there seems to be a lot of “just because we can” pricing.End of rant
Doc Holliday
En-Route
Even if a magic wand was waived and tomorrow all prices and expenses were half of today, you would still have people complaining "it's too expensive".
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The Little Arrow That Could
Supply and demand at work. When you have no alternatives, you're a captive audience that's fairly price-inelastic
You're not wrong. But half priced everything would be quite nice...
DaleB
Final Approach
I know of teenagers and even one in her early 20s… no desire to even get a license. And we’re not in a place like NY or LA. Man, when I was in my teens it was one of the biggest goals I had. But - I actually had places to go. Had to go places to hang out with friends. We had the lake, the park, the mall, movies, all that stuff. A lot of the same age kids now are perfectly happy to live in a wholly virtual world, and if they really need to go somewhere (but why??) there’s Uber and Lyft.
In my opinion they have no idea what they’re missing, but I’m old so my opinion no longer matters.
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Vintage Snazzy (so my adult children say)
Some - not as many as now
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Llewtrah
In principle I agree. In practice, I’m still scratching my head as to why the hourly rate for aircraft repairs is still well below car shop repairs - at least around here. Would seem to be completely reasonable to be the exact opposite (not that I WANT that…). A car gets a bad oil change and breaks down on the road, it’s an inconvenience. In the air, not so much.Supply and demand at work. When you have no alternatives, you're a captive audience that's fairly price-inelastic
Regardless of cause, with that as a reality it’s no wonder there’s a relative shortage of aviation repair people.
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Vintage Snazzy (so my adult children say)
Ditto.
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Richard Digits
Yep...kinda mind blowing. I've mentioned before that my local pt.145 shop charges $110/hr, whereas the dealer that works on my ag equipment has a shop rate of $150, plus a $250 charge if they come to you, and you're paying for the drive time as well. Meanwhile, the pilots all ***** that they're too expensive. My IH dealer has a mechanic who was apprenticing in the aforementioned pt 145 shop, but quit when he found out how much more money he could make working on tractors.
Working on my 540 has been interesting too. I just spent $1500 on a new set of rod bolts. Exhaust valves were $300/ea. G&N's bill was a bit over 10K to clean and inspect all the internals and overhaul the cylinders. 7k was parts. They aren't getting rich off that. Now, had I just dropped off the engine and said "overhaul it", I think they would've made somewhere around $25K, but I'm going to have close to 500 hours of my labor in it counting research, part ordering, etc. So that's $50 an hour. Cut the hours in half for someone who knows what they're doing, and you back at $100/hr. Then overhead, insurance, etc. etc.... I'm not sure overhauls are overpriced. The parts are...which is mostly due to the fact that it's so hard to 1) get a PMA and 2) carry enough insurance to not go bankrupt the first time an engine containing your parts gets run out of fuel and you invariably get sued.