Originally Posted by
cardiomd
I just posted another synopsis of this kind of "enforcement" in another thread, didn't see this one until afterward.
Since starting in GA I have had a blast. It still is wonderful freedom. That being said, I totally agree two things are eroding it:
1. Cost -- when I was a kid my schoolteacher had a plane and would go on trips after work and in summer. A schoolteacher! Gas was <$1 per gallon. With 100LL $6.50 gas alone is $50/hr for cruise now. A new 172 is a quarter million dollars. I don't even want to think how much I have personally spent even in the past 2 years.
GA has moved from "regular people" to "doctors, lawyers, and a few professional" and will likely make the jump to "executives, pro athletes, movie stars, and wall-streeters" pretty soon. It is a damn shame.
2. DHS -- stop the nonsense. The whole "department of homeland security" should be abandoned. Searching planes hoping to find "the big score"? They need to be sued, and those that make the laws need to be educated.
You're right but I still see tons of regular people in GA. The friend I fly with who owns a 152 is a city sanitation worker. His other friend who flies with him is a contractor. I'm mostly a hobbyist and work in science making less than a lot of regional FOs. People I fly with in CAP are engineers, small business owners, computer people, welders, etc. Basically people who want to fly will find ways to afford it and minimize the cost.
There are still lots of planes you can buy inexpensively. Even though they're 30, 40, 50+ years old most GA planes still have a lot of life left in them. I've been seeing old early 150s an 172s for less than $20K. The next best thing are the LSAs. You can buy a brand new Luscombe 8F reproduction for less than $90K. ACA Champ and Citabria in the low $100K. And most other LSAs for under $150K.