Ditto! On Fri, 29 Feb 2008 10:27:15 -0500, Jerry Eichenberger wrote > > 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. >
