"Fuel prices grounding private pilots"

["Stephen Irwin" <stepheni@xxxxxxxxx>]

Friday, July 4, 2008

Fuel prices grounding private pilots
The Associated Press 


HARTFORD, Conn. - Increasing fuel costs are grounding many of Connecticut's
private pilots and forcing some small airports to boost their fees for
lessons, hangar space and equipment rentals.

Some aviation buffs say the hobby has become too expensive as aviation gas
used in their planes hovers between $5 and $6 per gallon.

"It's definitely causing a strain," said Thomas Vrissis, a pilot who flies
at Brainard Airport in Hartford and said fuel there has gone up a dollar per
gallon since January.

At Skylark Airport in East Windsor, the usual 3,000 gallons of fuel sold
monthly has dropped to 2,000 gallons, airport manager Mike Koczera said. He
says flying there has dropped about 30 percent as fuel costs have increased.

Connecticut pilots are mirroring a national trend, according to a recent
survey of several thousand members of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots
Association.

It found that two of every five people surveyed said they had cut their
flying time in half, or even more, because of higher fuel costs. Many others
said they'd scaled back by at least one-third.

Recreational flying represented more of the decrease than business travel,
said Kathleen Vasconcelos, a spokeswoman for the association. That's also
true in Connecticut, where some pilots and instructors say the tax
write-offs for business travel help ease the crunch.

For aviation enthusiasts like Vrissis, though, cutting back on other
expenses is worth the sacrifice to enjoy their favorite hobby.

"We're willing to sacrifice and forgo other luxuries in life," he said. "I
don't go out to eat a lot, I don't buy a lot of electronics."

Aspiring flight instructor Chazz Logue, 19, who began flying on his 15th
birthday and is a ground instructor, said fuel costs haven't deterred him
either.

"Most of the pilots I hang around with are as career-oriented as I am," he
said. "It's just something we have to deal with in order to do what we
want."

Pilots predict there is a breaking point at which fuel will be too expensive
for most aviators, but they are unsure what that price will be.

"If you had asked me a year ago what would happen if prices got to their
current level now, things would have dropped, but we haven't seen it," said
Bill Thomas, manager of the Simsbury Airport.

"I'm beyond guessing. There probably is some level, but I have no idea what
it is. We haven't seen it yet," he said.

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