The $1 Per Gallon Avgas Experiment

[Dan K]

No joke. Hopefully many folks can and will take advantage of it.

http://www.eaa.org/news/2013/2013-08-28 ... tivity.asp

[rtwpsom2]

LOL I hope your sig line isn't indicative of the success of the study.

[T Ricketts]

I'm interested to see how this pans out. Have to admit that I will be flying there to fill up in October.....in a rented plane. If it wasn't for this I would land somewhere else. Hope that does not skew their data, but that may be the kind of data they are looking for.

[snj-5]

Why can't they have one of these "experiments" in my neck of the woods? 8^)
In any event, the results are sort of a foregone conclusion...

While those of us who fly tend to pay whatever it costs to keep flying, naturally,
we're going to be doing a whole lot more of it if the cost of fuel is less....
Post 9/11 (when car gas dipped below $2/gallon), I flew every single day I could
(weather permitting).

When Avgas goes north of $5-$6 per gallon (and car gas goes north of $4/gallon),
I don't fly every single day I can (maybe that little factoid will help their experiment...???).

Bela P. Havasreti

[b29driver]

Being a Beech 18 owner I can see several trips to that area in October.

[Obergrafeter]

We have visited that FBO a few times in the C-47 before. I see several trips to San Marcos in two months. I am having a little trouble with math.....................820 gals at $1=??? or 820 gals at $5.44=??? Which should I choose?

[maxum96]

I see a trip to San Marcos in my future for some of that $1 avgas. Anyone wanna fly my gas cans for my hotrod into the airport so I can take advantage of the offer? lol

[groggie]

The airport lists one of it's runways at 6330'. Wonder if they'd let FIFI or some of the B-17's in there?

[famvburg]

So they'll be selling it how much BELOW cost??

[Randy Wilson]

LOL I hope your sig line isn't indicative of the success of the study.

Ah, you have never seen "The Defender" I gather. You can view it here: http://www.nfb.ca/film/defender. Please don't hurt yourself laughing!

Randy

[kmiles]

So they'll be selling it how much BELOW cost??

Depending on where you are in the country, and any local taxes/delivery costs, 100LL "cost" has been around $4.50 for the past year or so. Selling it for $1 is going to be well below cost, and prices that we have not seen for about the past 15 years.

[b29driver]

I called them today to ask if it will be full service or self service. It will be a full service truck.
That will be good so you don't have to start and taxi 100 times when the mother of all lines starts forming.

If I plan arrival fuel correctly I should be able to take on 225 each time through.

[famvburg]

That's my point. They will be selling it for $3+ below cost. So what if it increases flying? What will that prove? The avgas producers aren't going to magically drop their wholesale prices to pre-1980s prices just because it increases activity. No matter what the traffic increases, it'll never increase enough for that sort of price drop. Oh, wait, maybe it will become subsidized by Obama & Co. and it won't cost the taxpayers a dime!

[b29driver]

Don't bite the hand that feeds the gift horse in the mouth....or something along those lines.

[shrike]

That's my point. They will be selling it for $3+ below cost. So what if it increases flying? What will that prove?

GA flying has been on the decrease for the last few decades. While it's generally accepted that 'cost' is the major contributors of the decline, there are a lot of factors that are part of 'cost'. Insurance, fuel, hangarage, maintenance, instruction, regulatory compliance, et c. all add up. By offering fuel at a price well below cost, they hope to isolate the effect of fuel costs from the rest, at least temporarily as an experimental control. If low fuel prices create an increase in flying hours (controlled for a spike of opportunistic purchases - hence the questionaires) then that will be useful information to more precisely determine what factors have lead to the decline in general aviation.