Fly Like An Eagle

This weekend all my flying buddies are in Casa Grande, Arizona.  All except one.  As I write this the guys are sitting in the hot tub, beer in hand, telling each other about the flight down there from Los Alamos, Santa Fe or Albuquerque.  Ya know, I can't believe I learned how to spell Albuquerque.  It took YEARS before I could get it right without looking. 

There's a gathering of pilots and airplanes going on there that starts on Friday morning and lasts until Sunday afternoon.  Although there used to be a lot more planes and pilots than there are now, a lot of guys still hop in their airplanes and fly in from all over the western states this time of year.  I've even met folks from as far away as Kentucky while attending this get together.   There are, I believe, several  different conditions which have combined to cause the declining numbers. 

The price of gas at first just made everyone fill every seat - no more of the flights with two guys in a four seater.  The FAA allows guys to pitch in to cover the gas but not much else.  And, gas has gone from around two dollars a gallon to well over five bucks for the same amount over the last four years.  When you consider an airplane burns anywhere from 41/2  gallons an hour for a slow, two place version to between 9 and 15 gal. per hour for a four to six place marginally faster model,  you can understand why more guys pile in these days.  It costs around $50.00 - $85.00 an hour just for the gas to spread your wings like an Eagle. 

Making sure all the seats were full worked for a while, but mechanics wages have also learned to soar - from 25 bucks an hour to around 70 bucks in the last few years.  And, an airplane must have a rigorous inspection performed by one of these mechanics every year.  Also, every time somebody crashes one, the FAA looks carefully at what happened  and sometimes determines every one of the same model aircraft will need to have parts replaced.  The rulings are called Airworthiness Directives and these little presents from the government can run several thousands of dollars.  Every aircraft owner I know dreads opening up any correspondence from the FAA.  It usually means the wife won't get a new car in the near future.

Insurance is another big deal.  It'll run about $1100 a year for an average everyday slow mover.  That doesn't sound like a lot but when you figure most guys fly around 60-100 hours every year it adds another 15- 20 bucks an hour.  How'd you like to pay 20 dollars for insurance every time you put in an hour on the freeway?  Oh yeah - don't forget the hanger.  That'll run another 200 bucks a month just for a place to park your bird.

It all gets to be pretty expensive so a lot of guys who are missing from Casa Grande these days have just given up and quit flying.  Also, we're all getting older every year, and there are not all that many youngsters to replace the old guys who follow the Sun and fly West beyond the horizon each year.

These days instructors are afraid of lawyers, and want to be sure they won't be sued if a new pilot bends the plane and kills himself, so it takes new guys a lot longer to get their wings. It's taking the youngsters around 60-80 hours of instruction at 30 bucks an hour for the teacher and 160 bucks for the plane, to get their license.    When I got my ticket I soloed in 8 hours and took my check ride with the minimum 40 hours under my belt.  The plane, gas and instructor cost me $10.50 an hour back then.

I started this rant by saying all but one of my buddies would be there. This morning I learned a good friend, one with whom I have swapped many tales of derring-do, suffered a massive stroke earlier this week.  He and I have shared this particular rant several times, and I'm sure he'd jump right in and talk about all the stuff I've left out if he could.  We don't know if he'll make it or not, and if his body gets through this, there's no telling what will have happened between his ears.  I hope, for his sake, that if his mind is gone, his body goes as well. 

Around this house we've learned that some things are worse than just easily crossing over.  This year we've watched several friends and a couple of family members just sort of wither away, sometimes in pain, sometimes not even knowing what is happening.    At our age, there's a huge problem with having lots of friends and family.

You start to lose them.