Well, that is too bad. Poor time to sell an aircraft though, with the economy the way it is.summitx wrote:My aircraft is for sale. It will be gone by this fall. Got my license in 82 owned ac since 86 worked 10 years in the business. My annual went up 40% in the last 2 years for the basic work. This combined with fuel price increases, Nav Canada fees, increase medical costs, landing fees, increased airport tie down fees etc makes it not worth while. Interestingly the increase in the annual costs was the straw that broke my back. I hope the hole you folks are shooting in your foot feels good. GA is dead. Bought a motorcycle and a parapont. GA was fun but not that much fun.
As I see it the real loss is the one less guy in the coffee shop talking about the great flight he had yesterday and how great it is to own an aircraft.
I suspect most of you will be out of business soon. You've certainly lost my business.
But do you not think for a second that perhaps part of the increase in annual costs is because everything else has increased in price? We still have to live too you know. In the ten years I've been an AME, fuel prices have doubled, house prices have nearly tripled, and wages have hardly moved (oh sure, I make a little bit more, and the tax man takes a lot more). Shop rates have gone from $60 where I started to $100 where I work now.... a fucking bargain if you ask me considering what all else has gone up! If GA maintenance was portable, you'd be getting your aircraft maintained in China. The big boys are already heading for the third world!
If you got to own an aircraft for cheap for a few years, good for you. I don't own one and probably never will on an AME wage with a young family because they are way too expensive... even with all the free labour in the world. Even with aircraft available to me for fuel costs only I only logged 25 hours a year flying personally. I am not a charity operation for the more affluent to smile at the coffee shop.
And don't feel too concerned for your shop. Like aircraft rentals to flight schools, private maintenance is almost a public service by the time you deal with whiny owners, delinquent accounts, and aircraft that are ready for the scrap heap. Any shop that has a hope in hell of making it has commercial contracts where for the most part they are most interested in dispatch reliability so they can make money with their aircraft.