Fozzer wrote on Nov 27^th, 2012 at 7:33pm:


A real controversial topic in aviation today.
If all you are looking for is getting off the ground, LSA's and ultra lights are very affordable.

HOWEVER, I want to fly aircraft that I can take others in and go places. For that, you need a private pilot license and standard category aircraft like a Cessna 172. This is NOT cheap. In my area getting your private is $8,000+. Most rentals I have seen are for well over $100 dry for an old beater Cessna. 100LL is $6/gal +.

So yes, cost IS an issue....not that it will stop me forever, for now it does.

Sooner or later though I will join the ranks of plane owners and that is not debatable (yes I am that stubborn).

In closing,
costs are a major problem but they are not insurmountable.

Safety and aircraft design probably have a good deal to play in the game of reducing costs. Now I don't work on aircraft, but there are technicians, engineers and firemen online here who will knows the ins and outs - But on the one hand, added safety is always a bonus, and on the other hand, it's stopping a large portion of development because they trust the old technology.


An instructor at my university (PPL theory is a minor portion of my course) said that aviation was about 30 years behind cars. I can believe that.

While cars are capable of achieving 80+ MPG (and Audi have plans for a 280+ MPG car), light aeroplanes have a rough equivalent of more like 15-20 on a good day. Even sports cars have better efficiency!


The use of composites will certainly make the aircraft lighter (and thus cheaper to fuel), but they're costly. I think that the rules and regulations need to make aviation slightly more competitive without reducing safety. I believe a few aircraft run on alternative fuels, but they're still largely built like a block of concrete so as not to fail.