Economic crisis - flying and plane ownership
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I fly an MCR01 Club;
G-KARK
IFR in hombuilts is quite likely under new rules being negotiated with EASA. The new LAA CEO was very upbeat in a recent article in the Light Aircraft mag. However the devil will be in the detail and it will be some time before we know what strings are attached.
Rod1
G-KARK
IFR in hombuilts is quite likely under new rules being negotiated with EASA. The new LAA CEO was very upbeat in a recent article in the Light Aircraft mag. However the devil will be in the detail and it will be some time before we know what strings are attached.
Rod1
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This really depends on what you use an aircraft for? If you are a guy/gal who purely wants to nip up for an hour on a sunny day then thats one thing.
I just knew you would be in here, Rod1
Your examples, IMC Rated, need an IFR machine if they fly instrument approaches in real "overt" IMC, otherwise they don't because IMC under VFR while enroute is totally unenforceable, and "VFR" departures into low cloud are generally allowed here, and a well equipped VFR-only machine with a decent big GPS and the usual instruments, with an instrument capable pilot, is fine for that.
It's different for going abroad. The moment you are going to enter cloud, you need an IFR clearance. Of course you can still hack this under "VFR" but if you add the old business of rising terrain / lowering cloudbase etc etc then one can get into a pickle, and airports do not allow UK-style VFR departures into sub VFR conditions, and this is why people go to the huge length of getting an IR. There is still no cheap solution to this capability.
It's fantastic to be able to do a VFR flight on a nice day, and then when it is OVC007 do a IFR departure, a flight in perfect sunshine above the cloud, under a constant radar service (not that there is any other traffic, ever, at GA levels) and an instrument approach. No CAS transits, no real suprises. Just you and the weather have to be played against aircraft performance. Priceless.
I don't think plastic planes are yet ready for IMC prime time. A friend has had some spectacular electrical problems in a well known "IFR certified" plastic plane, flying it in perfectly normal IMC.
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MEP
hi I own a multi engined aeroplane,I am still doing about the same amount of flying,this bank crisis will be over soon..fuel will probably trend down as well,dont forget you can recover the duty on the fuel when you go foreign..
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A big problem has been with "buy to let" where loads of people bought on borrowed money thinking that letting and the forever increasing house prices would allow them to build a portfolio of houses on borrowed money.
Provided you had a "what if the Tories get back in and interest rates go back up to their favourite 15%" column in your spreadsheet, you didn't borrow more than 50% LTV across your portfolio, and are sitting on positive equity (with anything less than a 50% house prices crash) and a rental income that more than pays the mortgage. Rents haven't gone down. (Albeit you have a smaller portfolio than if you'd been completely mad and borrowed 120%.)
OK, so the particular reason for that column in my spreadsheet hasn't come to pass (... yet) ... but overall it worked, don't knock it.
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Gertrude the Wombat
>As the UK’s biggest buy-to-let lender, Bradford & Bingley has had a torrid year
with repossessions and arrears at the bank soaring.
Bradford & Bingley could be the next bank to be pushed into a rescue takeover deal as the financial crisis shows no sign of abating.
The City watchdog the Financial Services Authority has begun searching for a buyer for the struggling buy-to-let lender.<
You seem better placed to know i was purely relaying what I had read in a number of newspapers
Pace
>As the UK’s biggest buy-to-let lender, Bradford & Bingley has had a torrid year
with repossessions and arrears at the bank soaring.
Bradford & Bingley could be the next bank to be pushed into a rescue takeover deal as the financial crisis shows no sign of abating.
The City watchdog the Financial Services Authority has begun searching for a buyer for the struggling buy-to-let lender.<
You seem better placed to know i was purely relaying what I had read in a number of newspapers
Pace
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I was replying from the point of view of the BTL punter - if you're sensible about it then, like anything else, it's a sensible business to be in.
From the point of view of the bank, of course, the same applies - if they never lent more than 50% they wouldn't be in the ****, would they.
From the point of view of the bank, of course, the same applies - if they never lent more than 50% they wouldn't be in the ****, would they.
Pompey till I die
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Funny
> Bradford & Bingley could be the next bank to be pushed into a rescue takeover
Bankers, all of this crisis and turmoil, couldn't happen to a nicer set of people
Bankers, all of this crisis and turmoil, couldn't happen to a nicer set of people
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B&B was history (dismembered) even before the above posts were written!
I still cannot believe they had 80% of their mortgage portfolio in BTL and self-cert mortgages. I am all in favour of capitalism but running this allocation right up to so recently is pure blind greed and stupidity.
Back to flying, I suspect flying is going to be like it has always been: a lot of people can always afford it, a lot of people could never afford it (but still went and got a PPL), and everything in between. And some 90% have always chucked it in within a year or two.
I still cannot believe they had 80% of their mortgage portfolio in BTL and self-cert mortgages. I am all in favour of capitalism but running this allocation right up to so recently is pure blind greed and stupidity.
Back to flying, I suspect flying is going to be like it has always been: a lot of people can always afford it, a lot of people could never afford it (but still went and got a PPL), and everything in between. And some 90% have always chucked it in within a year or two.
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>And some 90% have always chucked it in within a year or two.<
That would make an interesting topic as probably most of us have at one time or another been close to that.
When I started flying all I wanted to do was to say I had flown an aircraft from takeoff to touchdown on my own ie first solo. I would then drop it all.
But then I went on and got the PPL. After that and the usual highs of impressing your friends with 1/2 hr jaunts there than came a point of what do I do now? add ratings.
I am sure had I not gone on into the commercial aspect and getting others to pay for it then who knows. but most of us must have at some time questioned whether to carry on.
Pace
That would make an interesting topic as probably most of us have at one time or another been close to that.
When I started flying all I wanted to do was to say I had flown an aircraft from takeoff to touchdown on my own ie first solo. I would then drop it all.
But then I went on and got the PPL. After that and the usual highs of impressing your friends with 1/2 hr jaunts there than came a point of what do I do now? add ratings.
I am sure had I not gone on into the commercial aspect and getting others to pay for it then who knows. but most of us must have at some time questioned whether to carry on.
Pace
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Fuji, as my neighbour down in Maders, Cornwall observed to me the other day "we wouldn't know anything about a credit crunch if it wasn't on the news all the bloody time".
There is a certain truth to this rustic logic.
IMHO the media are guilty of propagating insecurity for the sake of "news".
I am aware that other sectors of the economy are feeling pain but remain entirely confident that the economy, house prices etc... will recover given time.
As previously a new government on both sides of the Atlantic is sure to follow and bring with it more optimism and security in the markets.
In the meantime I remain the busiest that I have been in several years - it makes little sense to me but I'm not complaining
Go figure...
SB
There is a certain truth to this rustic logic.
IMHO the media are guilty of propagating insecurity for the sake of "news".
I am aware that other sectors of the economy are feeling pain but remain entirely confident that the economy, house prices etc... will recover given time.
As previously a new government on both sides of the Atlantic is sure to follow and bring with it more optimism and security in the markets.
In the meantime I remain the busiest that I have been in several years - it makes little sense to me but I'm not complaining
Go figure...
SB
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>we wouldn't know anything about a credit crunch if it wasn't on the news all the bloody time".<
Scooter I was married to a Cornish Girl and thought you had carrot crunchers not credit crunchers down that part of the world xcuse my joke.
Used to fly a company into Davidstow about ten years ago in a Cessna 303 crusader. they were on a contract with the food factory there.
I had to select patches of the runway which were landable on checking for sheep and other wildlife which frequented the broken up runways. There was a microlight group there and a small clubhouse.
Your other airfields were Bodmin which I never landed at, Perranporth which was and is a great location, St Mawgan where I have flown into in biz jets and Truro a grass strip which I visited even longer ago in a 182
Beautiful part of the world
Pace
Scooter I was married to a Cornish Girl and thought you had carrot crunchers not credit crunchers down that part of the world
xcuse my joke.Used to fly a company into Davidstow about ten years ago in a Cessna 303 crusader. they were on a contract with the food factory there.
I had to select patches of the runway which were landable on checking for sheep and other wildlife which frequented the broken up runways. There was a microlight group there and a small clubhouse.
Your other airfields were Bodmin which I never landed at, Perranporth which was and is a great location, St Mawgan where I have flown into in biz jets and Truro a grass strip which I visited even longer ago in a 182
Beautiful part of the world
Pace
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Pace, youa re quite right in that we have "carrot crunchers not credit crunchers down that part of the world" that must be why I have been immune to the recent goings on - the price of root vegetables has remained stable! lovely part of the world (in the summer).
I was planning to head back to Plymouth this evening but may drive back instead - the wind looks like it would be a bumpy old ride.
SB
lovely part of the world (in the summer).I was planning to head back to Plymouth this evening but may drive back instead - the wind looks like it would be a bumpy old ride.
SB
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A number of "my" consultants in Harley Street have never been so busy. Business is literally booming.
However, consider the point, however you approach it, the cost of what is (and has) taken place in the financial markets has to be paid for however you cook the books. The Government is meeting the cost out of borrowed money because when they looked the chest was empty.
Of course the pot is stirred by the press. The same press that are as opposed to increased regulatory control as they were when their freedom was questioned during the McCartney trial. The press doesn’t want regulation any more than the City or us pilots. They claim both the press and the City is still capable of regulating itself despite what has happened.
Those of us who have paid for our aircraft and do not have any or any significant borrowing will not feel an immediate consequence. However tax will rise, the cost of living will increase and the economy will slow in many key segments. Of course we hope it will be short lived but some people will suffer, and suffer greatly. Since GA is largely a leisure pursuit experience suggests these are the areas that suffer most during times of economic slow down. That can bring advantages. Some engineers will be open to more competitively pricing for work and larger airports that priced GA out during the busy times might want to encourage them back. I recently had an aircraft cleaned. I was confronted by two engineers who had become cleaners for the day and indeed spent the whole day on the aircraft. When I asked why, they said they had nothing else to do. The year before they were snowed under with work. I hope it doesn’t bring too may disadvantages. The knee jerk reaction can equally be to increase prices to make up for the work lost. Simple - if the number of landings fees has halved, double the charge and you, the operator are back where you started. Of course if this happens we are on the road to the end of GA - at least at the larger GA airports.
However, consider the point, however you approach it, the cost of what is (and has) taken place in the financial markets has to be paid for however you cook the books. The Government is meeting the cost out of borrowed money because when they looked the chest was empty.
Of course the pot is stirred by the press. The same press that are as opposed to increased regulatory control as they were when their freedom was questioned during the McCartney trial. The press doesn’t want regulation any more than the City or us pilots. They claim both the press and the City is still capable of regulating itself despite what has happened.
Those of us who have paid for our aircraft and do not have any or any significant borrowing will not feel an immediate consequence. However tax will rise, the cost of living will increase and the economy will slow in many key segments. Of course we hope it will be short lived but some people will suffer, and suffer greatly. Since GA is largely a leisure pursuit experience suggests these are the areas that suffer most during times of economic slow down. That can bring advantages. Some engineers will be open to more competitively pricing for work and larger airports that priced GA out during the busy times might want to encourage them back. I recently had an aircraft cleaned. I was confronted by two engineers who had become cleaners for the day and indeed spent the whole day on the aircraft. When I asked why, they said they had nothing else to do. The year before they were snowed under with work. I hope it doesn’t bring too may disadvantages. The knee jerk reaction can equally be to increase prices to make up for the work lost. Simple - if the number of landings fees has halved, double the charge and you, the operator are back where you started. Of course if this happens we are on the road to the end of GA - at least at the larger GA airports.
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I thought that a surgeon would always be busy? Or is it mainly cosmetic surgery you do and therefore an expensive treatment that people dont' need to do?
Hi Youngskywalker, I perform both reconstructive and aesthetic surgery. The insured market has fallen off in the last year or two because the NHS has become far better at getting on with things - shorter waiting lists etc... which is a good thing. Most of my income comes from private work which is self funded (non-insured) and I am as yet unaffected (in fact at present 30-40% busier than last year and getting busier by the week). Historically even the non-essential aesthetic type surgery has not been affected by economic slowdown, although we may be witnessing a downturn bigger than anything in recent history and I may well eat my words (and have to sell my hard earned toys!)
Anyway, I'll keep crunching the carrots (keeps my eyes sharp!) and sharpening my scalpel -
SB
Hi Youngskywalker, I perform both reconstructive and aesthetic surgery. The insured market has fallen off in the last year or two because the NHS has become far better at getting on with things - shorter waiting lists etc... which is a good thing. Most of my income comes from private work which is self funded (non-insured) and I am as yet unaffected (in fact at present 30-40% busier than last year and getting busier by the week). Historically even the non-essential aesthetic type surgery has not been affected by economic slowdown, although we may be witnessing a downturn bigger than anything in recent history and I may well eat my words (and have to sell my hard earned toys!)
Anyway, I'll keep crunching the carrots (keeps my eyes sharp!) and sharpening my scalpel -
SB
Danny Boy said
"hi I own a multi engined aeroplane,I am still doing about the same amount of flying,this bank crisis will be over soon..fuel will probably trend down as well,dont forget you can recover the duty on the fuel when you go foreign.."
I am not sure I am on the same planet as you. The effects of what we are seeing now will be around for a long time. Many Western governments will find their budgets blown apart, not just from the cost of bail-outs but because of lower tax revenues. The inevitable consequence will be higher rates of taxation, and more stealth taxes - such as OFCOM's ridiculous frequency taxes.
as for duty drawback - have you not heard the rumours about that being ditched shortly? Why would a bankrupt third world government want to give back money to its citzens when it can hang on to it and spend it desperate attempts to win the next election (eg nursery education for two year olds).
Have no fear, we pilots will suffer.......
Skua
"hi I own a multi engined aeroplane,I am still doing about the same amount of flying,this bank crisis will be over soon..fuel will probably trend down as well,dont forget you can recover the duty on the fuel when you go foreign.."
I am not sure I am on the same planet as you. The effects of what we are seeing now will be around for a long time. Many Western governments will find their budgets blown apart, not just from the cost of bail-outs but because of lower tax revenues. The inevitable consequence will be higher rates of taxation, and more stealth taxes - such as OFCOM's ridiculous frequency taxes.
as for duty drawback - have you not heard the rumours about that being ditched shortly? Why would a bankrupt third world government want to give back money to its citzens when it can hang on to it and spend it desperate attempts to win the next election (eg nursery education for two year olds).
Have no fear, we pilots will suffer.......
Skua
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as for duty drawback - have you not heard the rumours about that being ditched shortly?
I am pleased to have some good news for a change.
