High gas cost keeps some plane owners on the ground

<p>The high cost of aviation gas is grounding many small plane owners, who are finding it too costly for their recreational jaunts. </p><p>Hobby flying is down at least 25 percent this year, local airport officials said. </p><p>“The biggest issue with the aviation gas customers is that you see the impact there sooner than in the jet market. It is product that is not coming out of a corporate credit card; it’s coming out of their back pocket,” said Glenn Barrett, general manager of Kaiser Jet Center.</p><p>Kaiser Jet Center is one of two sellers of aviation gas at the Charles M. Schulz-Sonoma County Airport, where 330 of the 400 aircraft based there are small, single-engine planes used for recreation.</p><p>In the past three months, aviation gas has gone from $5.30 a gallon to $6.70 a gallon. A small plane will burn about 10 gallons per hour.</p><p>“It’s the talk of the airport,” said Dave Pinski, a private pilot and executive director of the Pacific Coast Air Museum. “I hear talk about it, we look at the pattern and there are less general aviation planes in it. When I talk to the fuel truck drivers, they have noticed less flying.”</p><p>In the first four months of the year, the number of take-offs and landings at the airport has dropped 25 percent.</p><p>“Sunday was busy. Saturday was quiet,” said Jon Stout, airport manager. “There was some traffic today, but not a lot.”</p><p>From January through April, the last month for which figures are available, there have been 33,687 take-offs and landings, compared to 44,331 for the same period a year ago.</p><p>“Since we do have jets and Horizon, we still see aircraft, whereas at some smaller airports it may be a bigger drop,” Stout said.</p><p>The sale of aviation gas in that period had also dropped from 112,169 gallons last year to 84,549 gallons this year, Stout said.</p><p>The decline will affect the airport’s budget, which is proposed to be $7.5 million this next fiscal year. The airport gets 10 cents for every gallon of aviation gas sold.</p><p>You can reach Staff Writer Bob Norberg at 521-5206 or bob.norberg@pressdemocrat.com.</p>