As Flying Gets More Expensive, Will We Still Be Willing To Pay
The Price?
By ANN Reader/Guest Columnist Rich Davidson, Lee Bottom Flying
Field
Be honest; you’ve asked yourself this very question
haven’t you? If you have a pilot’s license, own an
airplane, or have any interest in aviation what so ever, you know
what I’m talking about. There you are just going about your
day when BOOM, the thought of seven dollar Avgas, $500 hangar rent,
$2500 annuals, registration fees, taxes, and TSA restrictions to
liberty flash through your head like that feeling when you realize
you’ve left your wallet or purse on the gas station counter.
Panic jolts the senses, a sick feeling comes over you, and until
you have that wallet in your possession, nothing else matters. You
know what I’m talking about. You just haven’t had the
nerve to say it out loud because you know that when you say it
takes on substance. Maybe to you it’s like telling your
family you lost your job right after getting a mortgage on a new
home. Whatever the case, “what am I going to do” is the
question that makes everything else irrelevant.
Fortunately, there are things you can to do offset this feeling
of hopelessness and despair. Most of them involve accepting
reality, banishing irrational beliefs, and making more of your time
with flight. If you are willing and able to do these things, life
will not be so bad.
First, it is time to accept the reality your airplane is not an
investment. Except for a very few years where things got out
of hand with easy mortgages and speculating, aircraft have not made
good investments. Yes they do hold some value over time but
the primary value they hold is similar to that of a core
exchange. This may be hard for many people to understand and
having lived through the good years of aviation many will dispute
this completely. In the real world though, there is now a
much bigger ratio of old planes to people who want them than ever
before. Therefore, the thing you have to decide is if you are
in this machine because you love flying. If not, then you
need to get out of the airplane you own and invest those funds
somewhere else. Your conscience will love you for it.
Rules of thumb for this decision: If you aren’t flying
your own plane or a rental at least once every two weeks you
aren’t in it for the right reasons or you can’t afford
it. If you aren’t flying it because you truly
can’t afford to, you need to sell your plane immediately and
let reality come into your life. If you aren’t flying
because you can’t afford a rental, then you need to find
additional streams of revenue because have you succeeded beyond
your pay grade.
Second, it is time for everyone to banish their irrational
beliefs. If you own a Champ that burns five gallons an hour, at $4
per gallon that is twenty dollars. If fuel then goes up to $6
dollars per gallon, that means your fuel costs only ten additional
dollars. Now I know every penny counts but if you can afford twenty
you can afford thirty. And yeah it’s an old argument but it
is also a true argument that you likely waste that much money every
other day as it is. If you don’t believe that, then perhaps
that is how you ended up in a plane you cannot afford. You must be
willing to face reality and you must be able to do the math. Then
take those numbers to do battle with the irrational belief the
extra ten dollars makes your flying too expensive. If nothing else,
find a friend that would like to fly with you for a percentage of
the gas expense. This is a great way to get more people involved in
flying and it will help you feel better about the money your
spending despite the fact you can afford it; right?
Oh wait, there is more to part two. Since I know there will be
people who say yeah but what about my plane that burns twelve
gallons an hour, I feel I must continue drawing it out. If this
person is you, that means you are spending $48 dollars an hours;
for all practical purposes $50. With the rise in prices you now
have an hourly fuel cost of $72. Yes, I agree, that looks like
quite a bit when typed out but it is only $24 additional dollars.
Now do not get me wrong, I know every dollar counts. That’s
why all our engines are described with two numbers instead of
three. But again, if you can afford $50 an hour, you can afford
$72. If, like most people, you fly 25 hours a year, that’s
only $600 extra dollars. I say “only” because what do
you think the average price is of a plane that burns twelve gallons
per hour? There is no way of figuring this out for sure but a rough
guess, judging by the known values of the cheapest to most
expensive planes in this category, would have it somewhere around
$75,000. Can you honestly name one person who can afford, truly
afford, a $75,000 airplane that can’t afford an extra $24
dollars per hour? This doesn’t mean that I’m not ticked
off about high prices. It means your fear of gas prices is
irrational unless you are in a plane you cannot truly afford. If
that’s the case, see the first topic above. Your conscience
will love you for it. Rule of thumb for identifying this issue: If
you believe you will not be able to do any flying this Summer or
you have already written of flying to some events this year because
of fuel prices, you are either being highly irrational or you are
in a plane you truly cannot afford to have sitting around. Your
conscience is trying to tell you something.
Finally, make the most of your flying. If you have historically
gone up and tooled around once a week and felt like nobody else was
out flying, then this is your chance to change your flying habits.
It could even make your time in the air more fun despite the fuel
prices. How do you do this? Well, what you do is save your flying
for an event or a trip to a restaurant with other pilots. Do a
little basic planning, find an event or a restaurant you would all
like to visit, and fly there together. Airplanes, like motorcycles,
are infinitely more fun when there are more planes and people
involved and by doing this you will find those extra dollars spent
are better utilized and possibly not even noticed. A bonus is that
you will also be helping out the larger aviation community by
supporting the places that support flying. Rule of thumb for this
issue: If you find you feel like you are the last person on the
planet who flies their airplane, you need to find new friends or
put forth the effort to get them together to go flying.
So, let’s review.
A plane is not an investment. You should have a plane and or be
a pilot because you love flying. At the point you begin to think of
any part of it as an investment, you are heading down the wrong
path and you should re-evaluate your priorities.
Rising fuel prices do not devastate the bottom line as your
brain would have you believe. If you can afford four dollars a
gallon, you can afford six dollars a gallon. If you can’t
afford six you can’t afford four and it is time to sell the
airplane, find a different hobby, or get someone to share the fuel
expenses with you.
Make the most of your flying. Yes it would be nice to fly an
hour every day but you might find it is infinitely more fun flying
as part of a gaggle to an event where even more fun awaits.
Take these tips to heart and you will find your worries about
gas prices are relieved. Yes times are tough and fuel prices are
going up. But, if you are in aviation because you love it, there is
no reason for you to be losing sleep. Do an honest evaluation of
your situation, make rational decisions over emotional, and learn
to enjoy what you have.