Shysters

[Fuji Abound]

"Ownership is usually a massive hassle, a huge learning curve (in a business where there are more shysters than double glazing and loft insulation combined) but if you can do it, it's worth every penny for the freedom and the options."

This caught my eye on another thread about ownership and shares.

Sadly I suspect many of us would it agree it is true of the industry .. .. ..

.. .. .. but why?

Aviation is one of the most heavily regulated industries, so what is it about the industry that seems to breed these particular tendencies?

[BRL]

Simply money really. Whether you like it or not, you must have a few quid to run your own plane, and as they say, money attracts money grabbers.........

[IO540]

There is very little evident money in UK GA and very little scope for making a fast buck.

Even sinking a flying school and doing a runner with a load of student deposits is going to yield no more than £20k-50k; anybody half enterprising can make that honestly in a year.

I think what attracts these people is the "romantic" nature of flying. Flying attracts a lot of strong characters (which is fair enough in itself) and it's human nature that a lot of those types do a lot more talking than delivering the goods.

The only way to make money from aircraft owners is through maintenance ripoffs, but you can do that only once and they get wise after that. The average owner learns who to trust within the first year.

[Rod1]

Go PFA and do your own maintenance. Chances of getting riped off are almost zero and the people are friendly too.

Rod1

[Pilotdom]

A forum like this should also stop people falling in to the traps of Money Grabbers and Rip-off merchants. With the knowledge and freedom of information on this forum and others like it any company or person who is seen as a Rip-off merchant will be outed in style!

[BroomstickPilot]

Pilotdom,

Actually it does, but only if the person joins Pprune before starting to fly.

Sadly, we have seen too many people arrive on here after having experienced their first rip-off.

Whenever I meet a wannabe professional or a PPL beginner, the first thing I so is to tell them about Pprune.

I reckon I have prevented a good many rip-offs just by doing that.

Broomstick.

[Say again s l o w l y]

Unfortunately, aviation does seem to attract an awful lot of plonkers. What you see is the result of people getting into flying for the wrong reason. Usually because of their ego's.

GA is an overly complex business that leaves new and inexperienced people clueless as to what is right or wrong. Something like Pprune is invaluable in trying to educate folk and publicise the rip off merchants.

I have met so many Walter Mitty's, all of whom would be totally believable to someone who was totally clueless. Now I can see them a mile off, but 10 years ago I may not have been so fortunate.

The simple facts are though, that because margins are so tight in GA. Many feel the need to cut corners and use dodges to try and make money. This leads to greed and dishonesty and becomes an ingrained character trait. It doesn't help that most "decent" business people wouldn't put money into GA unless they are obsessed by it. It is simply too risky a proposition for most.

There are honest and respectable people out there in GA (I hope I'm seen as such!) but I still know more idiots than professionals and until that ratio changes. It will always be a minefield for the unwary and inexperienced.

[IO540]

I don't think margins are universally tight in GA, well not trade (resale) margins on hardware. Avionics margins are generous, and the installer makes a mint on top for the installation.

Elsewhere I think the real problem is under-utilisation of assets. Flying school planes in Arizona do say 600hrs/year. Here it is perhaps half that, and some "mostly self fly hire" types (Archers for example) do a lot less than that.

Maintenance is tight but even there appearances can be deceptive. Shops can be very busy but a lot of the work is low value jobs for very tight flying school customers. There is a lot of competition in maintenance and flying schools often fly their planes many miles away where the cost is a bit lower, or because they rent the plane in from somebody who stipulates a particular maintenance firm is used.

Probably the biggest problem is the very small size of the GA fleet which flies for utility. Much bigger in the USA. Bimblers spend too little money to keep the system afloat.

Hard to know how to improve things; GPS approaches being the norm at all the obvious places (Wellesbourne kind of airfield) would help a great deal with the utility value.