I didn't mean to jump down anyone's throat on this one. If you remember the old saying about the best way to make a small fortune in the aviation industry is to start with a large one, I can vouch for that. Although my partner and I never started with large fortunes.
The FBO business at smaller, county type, single runway airports is a real crap shoot, especially in the parts of the country with winter weather. Here in Ohio, we've had 6, that's right, 6 really good VFR days with light winds on weekends since Thanksgiving. Our business receipts demonstrate that. And for the guy who hangars his airplane, many counties retain the hangars unto their own right (ours does) so the FBO gets zilch from hangar rents. 100LL will always be expensive for many reasons, but primarily because it's the only gas left with lead in it. It takes a dedicated tanker truck to haul it, and it's a very expensive cleaning operation if they have to haul it in a tanker that will then be used to haul unleaded auto fuel. Same for running it thru the nationwide pipeline system, which is seldom done anymore due to the cost of cleaning out the line before a load of car gas can be run thru it. And, it accounts for less than 2% of all of the gasoline that is refined. Our FBO is a labor of love - my partner is a dentist and I'm a lawyer. We can each invest our disposable income in something far more attractive than an FBO. But, we did it out of love for aviation, and the fun of being around the airport. As for income, forget it - most small airport FBOs are truly shoe string operations because our industry is shrinking, not growing. Hence, every time we hear of pilots who carp over the cost of fuel, our comment is that we'll be glad to sell the operation to that person, then he can set the price where he thinks it would be more fair. The same goes for maint. prices - we have a competitor nearby who has no insurance (ours costs over $30,000 per year), operates from a nearly deserted airport where he pays a mere pittance for rent for his hangar, so sure, he can do an annual for less than can we. And, of course, he has no current computerized maint. library like we pay over $10,000 per year for; the list could go on and on. So if you think your FBO has a fancy car and big house in the country, he may; but it wasn't acquired thru FBO operations. Now, of course, the large airport FBO business is different, but I doubt many Coupes are based at large, airline type airports, or even the large GA airports. The little guy at our typical GA airports is struggling everyday just to pay the rent. If you expect him to be there for you when you need him, support him when you don't. Thanks for listening to me whine. Jerry E. -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of Mac Plumb Sent: Thursday, February 28, 2008 11:12 PM To: [email protected] Subject: [ercoupe-tech] Re: Plastic Gas Cans Ok, I gotta come outta the woodwork and add my two cents on this one. I own two planes at the moment. I burn auto gas in both, and take it to the airport myself in plastic cans, bought brand new just for the planes and checked regularly for trash and moisture in their brand new clean bottoms with a flashlight. You wanna know why? It's simple enough. I get auto gas for about $3.20 a gallon. I can fly on about 6 to 8 gallons an hour in my planes. I love flying. I've been privileged to have flown 500 hours in the last 4 1/2 years. If I go 40 miles, I can get avgas for about $4.00 a gallon. That's a considerable amount more, and yeah, I believe it's an airport owned by the county it's in. Or I can support my own FBO, as one of you said. Of course, he charges $4.91 a gallon. Do the math. That's more than a buck fifty more per gallon, at 5 to 8 gallons an hour. Imagine just how much less I would have been able to fly if I bought gas from the FBO. I estimate I saved enough to have flown over a hundred more hours easily. I'm sorry for the FBO guy and his nice car and his beautiful home, but I figure I pay him for a hanger and that's gonna have to do. I fly on weekends, he's only open 8 to 5 weekdays anyhow, I honestly couldn't pick him out of a lineup as I've only seen him maybe 4 times in 4 years. That doesn't mean I dislike him, it is just plain good business sense to me to bring my own gas. As for ethynol? I agree, it's a political mess that is just beginning to get started, and is gonna change our lives before it's over. I talk with my local gas/oil company manager regularly, he will not sell it in any of his stations "in the forseeable future." It reduces the octane level, making distributors either lie about their octane rating, or they have to mix it with higher octane gas to sell at the same level on regular pumps. It costs more than gas, raising the cost even higher. And that doesn't count the increased handling charges, ethynol is added at the ethynol factory into the trucks between the fuel depot and the dispensing gas stations. So I'm garaunteed safe from that problem at this point as long as I continue to buy his gas from one of his stations. Just my own choices of course, everyone is certainly expected to do their own "due diligence" to maintain the safety and security of their own aircraft. And I do love both of mine, I'd rather total my car than scratch my planes!!!!! Happy flying all, hope to catch you in the air and see some of you at Sun n Fun. William. 1967 Alon N5640F, and 1955 Mooney M20 serial number 4 (oldest flying m20 in the world!!!) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -- Looking for last minute shopping deals? Find them fast with Yahoo! Search.
