06/10/87 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

Although the cost of crude oil has been declining during the past few years, the aviation gasoline and jet fuel prices have not followed along and remained at relatively high levels (1). High prices of new aip~craft have in turn, fueled the used aircraft market. Three to five year old aircrafts are available at almost half the new cost of the same versions (8). Home-built aircraft are also becoming popular in recent years because they can be built at a fraction of the cost of buying one directly from the ~factory. Currently, 1.5% of the existing Minnesota fleet is home-built aircrafts (2). Table 6 shows some national figures for home-built aircraft. Table 6 Home-built Racing Source: 1983 7,212 1984 9,299 1985 10~161 1986 10,839 Experimental Aircraft Assoc. 418 485 562 618 The availability of l°W-cost alternatives such as ultra-lights for recreational flying may significantly affect the demand at a number of FAA facilities in the region. 4. Total Hours Flown: The total number of aircraft hours flown in Minnesota steadily increased from 1972 and reached a peak in 1981 as shown in Table 7. The biggest drop in terms of number of hours flown is in the category of flight training. In the category of business related trips, the total number of aircraft hours increased by 70% from 1981~to 1984. This trend is expected to continue well into the forecast period as the total employment related to Business Services in the metro area is also expected to increase steadily. (This item will be discussed at a later section.) In general, the number of aircraft hours flown in the category of aerial application, air taxi/charter, corporate, and personal/pleasure flying have decreased slightly in 1984 from 1981. As seen from the table, the total hours flown by turbo jets and props have almost doubled from 1972 to 1984. 7