Musings…
My, but we’ve had a lot of flotsam lately…and between work and keeping up, it’s challenged me to catch up here…but here goes…where to start…OK…
New guy in the interim general aviation job at the TSA…gotta wonder what it is about that place that so encourages turnover…regardless, hope the interim is as good to work with as Brian Delauter, his predecessor, and that a new, *permanent* person soon fills the post. We’ve still got issues to resolve…
Moles tell me that flying activity is edging upward again and that piston sales are easing ahead…some…quarterly report from GAMA is due right after Oshkosh…we could all use some good news here…but don’t expect a lot of improvement among most jet or propjet categories…
Attracting new blood to aviation remains our front-line issue as far as this scribe is concerned…and reminding the public that it doesn’t take a fortune to own an old Skyhawk or Cherokee or other used entry-level bird needs to be part of the equation…but we focus so, so much on trying to attract people who can afford the new stuff that the rest of the population takes away the same tired-old “you gotta be rich” message…where’s the 21st Century’s Learn to Fly campaign that so helped GAMA members in the 1970s…Money where mouths are, please…
In in light of my last complaint…
President Obama last week spoke about the need to end special tax deals that impact specific, narrow interests — among them “business jet owners,” which prompted a lot of breathless hyperbolic reaction from the usual suspects, as is their job. My biggest problem with the reactions: never once did the President “excoriate general aviation” or the people of GA, as some said…couldn’t even find the words “general aviation” in the transcript…and getting hyperbolic about proposing to end the current five-year depreciation schedule for business aircraft (taking it back to the seven of pre-9/11 days) shouldn’t be the death knell of corporate aviation since the effective tax benefit remains unchanged — just stretched out. And no, the comments were not about ending this year’s “bonus depreciation” deal; it ends at year’s end anyway, going to half for 2012…And acting as if stretching out depreciation schedules threatens the very existence of business flying does little for our public image — but it does further reinforce that misbegotten belief that private aircraft are only for the rich and richer…
UCAP readers, thankfully, know better because they’re the ones flying those affordable airplanes…like the Cherokee 140 listed recently on Craig’s List…for sale in Kentucky…airworthy, useful, 100-knot machine…for $15,000…too late, gang…the listing was gone a couple of days later.
But think about it. How “super-rich” do you have to be to afford to own and fly an airplane priced less than an new economy car — and that goes twice as fast? Those deals are out there, regularly, but it takes some proactive searching to find one in time to snag it.
And speaking of looking…We’ll be watching for all our UCAP friends at Oshkosh…if you’re there opening or closing day, consider dropping by the EAA Radio station to witness the mayhem of one of our live podcasts…we’ll even sign NOTAMs for you (hint, hint…)
Safe flying, all!
– Dave