Where is everyone?

JOhnH said:
Driving a tractor trailer all over the country was fun for a year or two. But that job is the reason I returned to college. Long story there, but nobody wants to heat that.
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I know that story.

A friend of mine leases his trucks and has long term contract hauls that pay for his fuel. The high fuel prices haven't hurt him... yet.
 
So will avgas prices have an affect on Oshkosh attendence? We're still planning on going, I purchased my tickets online a couple days ago. For us it's only about a 2 hr flight, so avgas price isn't a big deal, but for others that are coming in from a long distance it's going to be an expensive trip!
 
Dan Thomas said:
Keystone XL is the one shut down by the new administration. The TC pipeline is a separate fiasco up here in western Canada. Proceeding, but at obscene cost and with constant harassment.
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And I got that wrong. TransCanada Pipeline is a company that runs a system of natural gas lines, not oil. I should have remembered that. Both TransCanada and TransMountain, the one that is expanding their line and getting a lot of pushback, run though my hometown. TransMountain is installing a much larger pipe alongside the original pipe that was laid in 1953.
 
I have cut way back on flying, maybe once or twice a month where I used to go up once or twice a week. Gas is the main factor but combined with increases in all other living expenses I really have to decide what takes priority.
 
I was flying yesterday over Long Island sound on my way to/from Montauk. For a holiday weekend, both the airport and the skies were unusually empty. It was so quiet on the radios even my wife made a remark.
 
I knew yea olde ADS-B was working because I could see the traffic coming out of DTW.
But other than that, a 172 came out of ONZ behind me, and one other aircraft crossed my track. Pretty quiet.
Plus, what I assume was a part 103 ultralight - somewhere near MI12 perhaps? Didn't show on the ADS-B (well within the 30nm ring of death around DTW) - so y'all keep your eyes open.
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For the holiday I flew my buddy up to KAZO to go see the Air Zoo. Great museum and a great time (except for that last landing...). Saw no one. Could be shock from fuel prices, though I suspect that even though fuel has gone nuts it's still a minor cost for most airplane owners compared to everything else.
 
WDD said:
Getting a little Zen there ……

What is the sound of one hand clapping?
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Same as two hands only quieter (and you have enough flexibility).
 
na na na na na.....

 
I retired in February 2022 and am now on a fixed income. Just trying to stretch the dollar during the rise of inflation. Fuel prices have slowed my flying a lot. $10/gal for 100LL and a fuel burn of 8 or 9 gal/hr adds up. Lately I try to keep my flights at about an hour in duration
 
The Bravo over Boston was so quiet yesterday morning I also had to check and make sure I had the traffic map turned on. Portland's Charlie on the other hand seemed to be a steady stream of regionals. Not much of any traffic up through Maine past Portland. Of course it did cost me almost $500 to fly up to LRG just to take a picture of my airplane next to a sign oh and fly over my buddies Christmas tree farm.
 
Our whole family goes to Galveston every year for Fourth of July. The airport tarmac is always packed with airplanes for days before and after the Fourth. When we flew in last Tuesday there were three other planes on the Tarmac. When we taxied out this morning there were only three including us. We weren’t at the airport on the actual holiday, but I fully expect that it was very thin compared to years past.

In the air, even around the Houston Bravo, there were almost NO ADS-B returns showing up.

Not sure of the reason, but $7 fuel prices can’t be stimulating General Aviation.
 
Seven dollars a gallon certainly is a hard pill to swallow but let’s put it in perspective. If you’re like me, You fly about 50 hours a year burning 10 gallons an hour. If I was paying five dollars and I’m now paying seven dollars a gallon that’s an extra two dollars a gallon times 10 which is $1000 over the year. My plane partner and I have been considering doing a panel upgrade that will likely cost around $20,000. The aircraft value will only go up by $10,000 or probably lesd. So essentially we’re losing more than $10,000 in the upgrade that is not needed for safe flight. I’ve heard of lots of people spending more than twice that on their panel upgrade. Does a plane with a Garman G3X fly any better? On a five hour trip it’s only an extra hundred dollars. Don’t go out to dinner and you’re even. It is just a number on a credit card statement, assuming of course you have the money to pay off the credit card at the end of the month.

what is more crazy to me is spending eight dollars for a beer or $3 for a soda when I’m going out to dinner.
 
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I think for me it’s more that everything else is going up at least as much. Groceries are crazy. So even if gas was the same there is less money to go around.
 
TomF said:
I think for me it’s more that everything else is going up at least as much. Groceries are crazy. So even if gas was the same there is less money to go around.
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This. My monthly flying budget might have to be reduced. And I can only fly as much as my flying budget allows. If wet rates go up 50% I fly 33% less.
 
TomF said:
I think for me it’s more that everything else is going up at least as much. Groceries are crazy. So even if gas was the same there is less money to go around.
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Yeah, I've been experiencing "sticker shock" at the grocery store checkout. :eek:
 
I think that we are entering a decade of frugality, much like the 70’s. I have seen my you tube feeds start to include how to be thrifty topics. Doing more with less. Frugality may become fashonable.
 
I remember malaise of the 70’s. And the boom of the 80’s.

I prefer the 80’s.
 
TomF said:
I think for me it’s more that everything else is going up at least as much. Groceries are crazy. So even if gas was the same there is less money to go around.
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Exactly. While the gas increase is marginal all my other expenses have gone up as well. Of course I have other things I like to do and other hobbies as well which have gone up too.
 
I’ve flown the last couple of months more than ever before. It hurts the wallet but, as others have said, the fixed costs remain while it is sitting. Weather and no repairs have had me flying a lot. No question about it, the traffic on my main route is greatly reduced down at the GA piston levels.
 
Today flying in north Texas it was pretty quiet on the radio. A few school planes, some jets and that was it.
 
AKBill said:
Then the wife can nag at me for spending to much on 100LL, no thanks.
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edit: Tami has never over the past 22 years ever said anything about what I have spent upkeeping the Sport. We have maintained the plane in a very responsible manner. We have taken on some big projects, some lasting 4 yo 6 months and she has never complained about the cost. When I retired we planned on $350 a month for 100LL. At that time fuel was around $6/gal maybe a touch higher. Anyway I'm trying to stay within the budget....:(
 
I’m still flying, 15 hours in the last week. Hopefully a few more tomorrow. Float flying on Lake Superior.
 
Gas prices are definitely slowing down GA. I hopped down to NJ to see some family last weekend. Mostly empty skies, only one other plane sharing the Hudson route with me. Landed at Lincoln Park because FF advertised $6.50 or thereabouts; ended up melting my debit card at the pump at $8.60/gal for 100LL. Ouch.
 
Gas prices are putting a strain on my flying. It seems they go up about a buck a month. At my home field, it is currently $8.10. As others have said, it's not so much the cash but the idea of taking the bird up and flying to a destination without seeing other pilots and their planes around. I can definitely say that the skies are noticeably empty and same for the GA areas of the local fields.

At my home field, when I was out prepping the plane for a flight, there used to be quite a few fellow pilots out at the tie down area doing the same or just hanging around. It was not unusual for a conversation to start or a group to form. I miss that social interaction aspect, lately the field is like a ghost town. Same for a lot of our usual destinations, nobody around except for the FBO guys.

Combine that with the demise of most of the on field restaurants in this area and you can see why all of this has put a damper on flying, at least around here. I think it's mostly due to the perception that it cost too much to fly for what is now a $200 hamburger and not so much the actual cost of avgas. But never the less, things are noticeably quieter around the community.

I am not one to take my plane up just to do touch and goes unless I feel like I need the practice. I like to fly cross country to a destination that has some sort of an attraction. Be it a restaurant for a day trip or some other venue that we can stay for a day or two. You add the cost of the flight, a rental car, a hotel and the cost of food and it piles up. So yep, this whole economic situation has really put the brakes on flying for me.
 
Unleaded has gone down a bit around here, it was $4.59, now it's $4.39 at most stations. GasBuddy is showing a decline in national prices as well.

I have no idea when that will show up in the avgas market.
 
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