LFHNflightstudent wrote:
the whole experience is limited to a bit of a glance at the passport and a until when were you planning to stay…
My UK/France flying trips were hassle free, I never saw a soul, especially 1pob or 2 crew
Pax flights were different: every time UKBF were calling by phone before departure or turning up on arrival: every time to check why 3rd person in GAR does not have PLF?! (the baby is exempt from PLF and attached to his mother form but that info was not passed through apparently)
For what it’s worth, I just wanted to reserve a plane at my club in LOWI for next week. Out of five A211’s,all booked out. Basically during whole of february, with some small gaps of 2h here and there. Never saw it this full. My feeling is that quite a few are “catching up” on the flights and hours they did not make in the last months/year due to various issues (mostly Covid I guess).
So, good to get my own plane soon, otherwise I’d end up not flying at all.
Just my 2 cents.
lukepower wrote:
Just my 2 cents.
And that is great feedback and proves that life does, and hopefully will continue in that vein. There is no doubt that the UK is in a particular position at the moment. with increasing inflation, post Covid difficulty, Brexit, energy costs, fuel costs etc etc. And there will be places in the UK that are immune, with a high net worth and disposable income catchment. So fingers crossed it will improve for everyone involved in GA throughout Europe.
Peter wrote:
I can’t explain that “massive statistical anomaly” other than by Estonia having only a wealthy, educated, intelligent, focused, etc group learning to fly. Across most of Europe, people have always struggled to hang in there, doing 5hrs/year and spending hundreds of hours on forums moaning about how terrible things are
I don’t know.
The flight time of my club increased by 50% from 2019 to 2020 –both flight training and private flying went up. From 2020 to 2021 there was very little difference in the totals, although private flying went up 13% while flight training went down correspondingly. So clearly many people who trained for a license in 2020 stayed on.
The Swedish national flight time statistics from 2015 – 2020 (2021 figures are not available yet) looks like this:
But this is perhaps not surprising considering that Sweden never had a lockdown or other legal restrictions on movement.
How about instead of worrying about the decline of GA in Europe, we figure out a solution?
I for one would propose that all the pilots get together and buy a few strategic airfields in each country, get the fuel companies to compete on price to have fuel on our fields, keep them open H24, no PPR, neat, tidy, good tarmac, lighting etc etc.
I would chip in, and I’m sure alot of my friends would too.
This could even re kick-start the utility of GA as a business tool rather than a hobby which will only benefit us all.
lukepower wrote:
For what it’s worth, I just wanted to reserve a plane at my club in LOWI for next week. Out of five A211’s,all booked out.
The same here. Actually worse. My last flight was in October. By some incredibly bad luck I had to cancel every single reservation due to weather or suddenly appearing work appointments and the last ones because of missing currency to take passengers. No chance to get a plane on short notice when the weather was good enough. Other club members apparently had better luck when I see how often the planes need their 50 hour inspections.
Newbie wrote:
How about instead of worrying about the decline of GA in Europe, we figure out a solution?I for one would propose that all the pilots get together and buy a few strategic airfields in each country, get the fuel companies to compete on price to have fuel on our fields, keep them open H24, no PPR, neat, tidy, good tarmac, lighting etc etc.
I would chip in, and I’m sure alot of my friends would too.
This could even re kick-start the utility of GA as a business tool rather than a hobby which will only benefit us all.
Great idea!
Same her. No declining. Flight schools full, and if any planes are sold they have a new owner long before they arrive on the internet market.
How about instead of worrying about the decline of GA in Europe, we figure out a solution?
I for one would propose that all the pilots get together and buy a few strategic airfields in each country, get the fuel companies to compete on price to have fuel on our fields, keep them open H24, no PPR, neat, tidy, good tarmac, lighting etc etc.
I would chip in, and I’m sure alot of my friends would too.
I have often wondered about why this doesn’t happen. I think the answer is a lack of “collective spirit”. Most pilots want to freeload on the back of others, and when the airfield shuts they are out on social media moaning about the usual stuff. Whereas if they invested a few k they would secure their future. The investment would be secure because if the airfield shuts it will become a housing estate and they will get their money back several times over which btw is why a lot of businesses set up on airfields when it doesn’t seem to make any sense e.g. Shoreham has a laundry which wasted a good hangar, big enough for 6xTB20 and which I nearly bought.
Newbie wrote:
How about instead of worrying about the decline of GA in Europe, we figure out a solution?I for one would propose that all the pilots get together and buy a few strategic airfields in each country, get the fuel companies to compete on price to have fuel on our fields, keep them open H24, no PPR, neat, tidy, good tarmac, lighting etc etc.
I would chip in, and I’m sure alot of my friends would too.
This could even re kick-start the utility of GA as a business tool rather than a hobby which will only benefit us all.
Good idea! But idfficult to realize, I think… I actually went looking some weeks ago for a suitable area in my proximity for an aviosuperfice, but guess what? FInding some 600m of straight-line grounds amidst the mountains is more difficult than I thought. Hilly and mountaineous terrain, be damned. I am sure that, would we have a decent landing strip here in the middle of the skiing area, there would be some movement :)
