Handguns likened to small aircraft.

K

Keiller TN

New member
When I was a youngster in the 60's, airplanes were common in the farming community. My grandad had one in SE Oklahoma. Our neighbor had one one the section next to the one we lived on in Kansas. He flew it to work in Kansas City. I think there a still plenty of airplanes around but not too many owned by the common farmer. The lawsuits eventually made them a luxury for the rich. I'm seeing this happening to guns. It looks like only the rich will be able to afford the high tech wonders the politicians have in mine. Maybe, like flying clubs, a bunch of us peasants can scrape our money together and buy one or two of these wonder guns to have of a shared basis.
 
You're kidding, right?

(ring-ring-ring)

"Hello?"

"Hi, Bill, this is Jim... say, I've got a gang of hoodlums kickin' in my front door. Can you bring the AR to me right quick?"

"No problem, be there in an hour or so."

(click)

Yeah, that'll work. :rolleyes:
 
Yes, Ken, he's kidding about that part. But someone did bring up the lawsuits with small planes awhile back--they also contended that some years ago it wasn't uncommon to see planes all over, but people who weren't smart enough to fly them got hurt and sued the manufacturers. Eventually the planes were simply priced out of range. Now it's incredibly expensive and a fairly "elite only" hobby.
 
Elite Only?
No.
Not Really.
My Grandafather-In-Law (Very Close family - dont question that) is a Idaho Potato Farmer that lives near Blackfoot Idaho... He owned his own aircraft and flew it regularly to Boise, Salt Lake, Vegas, Seattle, Chicago... basicly all over the place.
He did so up till the point of his pacemaker being implanted - that grounded him via FAA rules.
I myself have spent many hours in a pilot seat and I am just a Low Brow Knuckle-dragging Gunslinger. I lost track of my hours - Instructed and Solo. But I would guess I'm very close to Liscense if I would just put the effort into finishing it up. In VA I rented a 152 a few times and a 142 (icky) once - just for fun, and as a student.
Owned my own Ultra Light for a time as well.

------------------
"I know that you believe you understand what you think I said, but I am not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant." -Nixon
 
It's ok for the same pilot who lost his license to the new FAA regs for having a pacemaker to get in his family automobile and drive into downtown rush hour traffic, but it's not ok for him to fly a plane in uncrowded air space over mostly crops and fields. What's wrong with that picture?
 
No offense, George, but by my standards I've always considered you and Rich to be, well, rich! That doesn't make you elitists but it does put you in the group they consider the elite.
 
Costs of owning an airplane:

Annual inspection for a fixed gear, fixed pitch prop airplane like a Cessna 150/152 = $1500.

Aircraft hull insurance = $500

Amortized engine overhaul cost = $5/ hr

Gas usage @ 4.5 gal/hr = $13.50 / hr (although I haven't bought Avgas in a while! ;)

Misc maintenance amortized $5/ hr

Tiedown/ hangar space = $1000/yr

So, If you are the average pilot that flies a basic airplane like a Cessna 150/152 for recreation about 200 hours per year, your costs total something like $7700 per year.

then if you want to upgrade your radios or other instrumentation you're looking at yet another good chunk of change. Throw in a couple hours of instructor time for upgrading/maintaining your proficiency....

Yes, flying gets expensive real quick!

------------------
Remember, just because you are not paranoid doesn't mean they are not out to get you!
 
As usual the main point of a thread are lost in trivia.

As an ATP rated pilot, I can tell you that airplanes of any size, type, category, whatever are friggin expensive.

One reason they are friggin expensive is tort law were Cessna gets sued because someone runs out of gas, or stalls the wing and spins in.

The other reason is the heavy involvement of the FAA coupled with liability attorneys which drives up the cost of the airplane and leaves the technology of the planes stuck somewhere between 1930 and 1963 (over-priced GPS and LORAN receivers notwithstanding).

My $400 AR15 is now fetching $1500. Just wait until government sinks its clutches into the industry even deeper.

Rick

------------------
"Congress have no power to disarm the militia. Their swords, and every other terrible implement of the soldier, are the birth-right of an American." Tench Coxe 2/20/1788
 
I agree that our tort laws and government regulation have killed general aviation.

In the late 70s I was very much into skydiving. It was an every Saturday habit. I recall the drop zone buying a very nice Cessna 182 for around $7500.00 in 78. Now aircraft like that fetch very high prices.

Now they have raised the cost of tobacco to the point that people are smuggling untaxed cigarettes into New York state. I have several military type semi automatic rifles that collectively would have brought $5000.00 ten years ago that now probably would bring $20,000.00. That doesn't even count the magazines for the same.

What's next? Alcohol...probably. 4x4 trucks and SUVs?

For all the talk in the media decrying the growing gap between rich and poor, the policies that they propose are only serving to help things along in that respect. General aviation was once a middle class pursuit...even Popular Mechanics magazine had a general aviation column. Military rifles were once an affordable hobby. At $1500 + for a preban AR15 and $15-30 for a used USGI 30 rd magazine, how many will you buy?

Jeff
 
RickD and Jeff say it well. Lawsuits against small aircraft makers for accidents caused generally by human error nearly killed the industry. Why? Two words: trial lawyers... going after the deepest pockets, and truth and actual responsibility be damned. It wasn't until Congress stepped in with some belated protections for the industry that it started to recover. They still have to overcome the huge loss in income, which means they don't have the R&D money to make better, higher-tech planes. Now, with the overloaded "hub and spoke" commercial aviation system maxed out, the FAA would like to see private aviation take the load off. There are something like 30,000 small airports in America. It won't happen until it becomes financially feasible (economies of scale and efficient manufacturing) for aircraft makers to make the small plane affordable. I can only hope.

The scourge of America: trial lawyers. Did you know that ONE law firm suing the tobacco companies made $600 MILLION as its share of a settlement with a southern state. I am no friend of tobacco-- lung cancer killed my mom (it WAS her choice to smoke or not), but that is obscene. :( :( :(
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top