Lotta glass half empty people here.
Pure fun aviation is thriving.
Is it cheap? No but then again it NEVER has been. It may have been more affordable in the past before politicians inflated our currency to almost worthlessness but it was never cheap.
Is it ubiquitous? No but then again it NEVER has been.
30-50 year old ****boxes? Age does not HAVE to equal poor condition - how many 60+ year old Mustangs are in poor condition? A lot fewer than 40 years ago when they were common and of no great value.
I am in the middle of restoring a 40 year old Bonanza - it will be better than new when I am finished and at a cost somewhere around 20% of the cost of buying a new Bonanza. A 50 year old V tail (in remarkable
structural condition due to a life hangared out west) is in a hangar at Redcliffe. Its just been bought by someone for 30k (they probably paid 5-10k too much) and will be restored at a cost of probably another 100k. It may not be 'worth' 130k when it is finished (because 'the market' is populated by idiots) but it will be a wonderful aircraft for its new owner at a cost dramatically less than many other options. A mate owns a 1971 A36 that is
immaculate after a new interior/avionics/paint and inspection/correction of
ALL structural issues - thanks largely to it being properly corrosion proofed at the factory in 1971, unlike mine, there were remarkably few of those. A 40+ yr old Piper Commanche turned up in the same hangar mine is in recently - apparently virtually abandoned in the long grass on some airfield far from the sea air and in
great structural condition - I don't know what was paid for it but I bet it was next to nothing - its going to have LOTS of money spent on it and when its finished it will be as reliable, efficient and beautiful as it was when new - at a
fraction of the cost of a new equivalent.
Other mates have done the same with Twin Commanches, Commanche, C180s, 182s, 185s, 195s, Stearmans, Tiger moths, Piper Cubs and Chipmunks - others, like Jaba, have spent similar money to build an RV10 which is a remarkable aircraft both in its flying qualities, load carrying ability (true 4 seater+bags) and the technology in the panel. It does 165kts on 40 liters/hr!!.
If you don't want to hire tatty old ****boxes then don't.
No one I know does. But NONE of the aircraft in the above list will EVER again grace a flying school/aeroclub flight line because
its the hirers that turned them into ****boxes!!!. The only reason hire cars are so nice is the fleet is rolled over every 2 years or so - they get treated about the same, maybe worse, than rental aircraft -
except unlike a Ford Falcon a G1000 C182 costs 1/2 million dollars. And you people whinge because it costs $400+ to rent one for an hour? That's CHEAP!!!
Instead of whining about the death of GA why don't you eschew your next new car and get together with 1 or 2 others and buy a nice older Cessna/Piper/Beechcraft and restore it to as new condition? Or buy one someone else already has restored. Or get a fast build kit for a RV7,8 or 10?
Engines? Well all those who whinge about 50yr old technology need to accept that the engines we bolt on our Bonanzas or RV10s are NOT the same as their forbears - they may look the same and function similarly (magnetos etc) but they are vastly more efficient, 20%+, thanks to aftermarket mods like gamijectors and engine monitors. The economies of scale just DO NOT exist, and NEVER will, for other than that sort of incremental improvement. A mate who restored the Tiger moth I have been flying of late incorporated modern Slick mags, sodium filled exhaust valves and an alluminium head and has a Gipsy 1C that is vastly more reliable than when new - you can buy
NEW Lom engines in eastern europe that look the same (inline inverted 4) but are vastly better than the 1930s/40s equivalent - yet another mate is restoring his Ryan STM after a crash with one of those to replace the original Menasco that failed on him. People have tried and failed to shoehorn car technology into certified airframes. Maybe it will work next time someone tries.
You think recreational GA is dead? Come out to Redcliffe or Caboulture on a weekend
SAA/LSA both fixed and rotary? They are like flies
Recreational GA will be BETTER in 2015 than now
