Pricey aviation fuel grounds amateur pilots

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SMITHFIELD, N.C. -- Twenty years ago, an amateur pilot could escape Earth's mundane grind and enjoy an hour in the clouds for a mere 50 bucks.But fuel prices have truly reached the heavens, pushing out the casual thrill-seeker who has a slim wallet. The spare-time aviator is also being squeezed by airlines eager to recruit experienced pilots to replace their aging captains and co-pilots, slicing into the corps of veteran flight instructors who serve hangars and flying clubs -- and novice fliers.Both trends make for too much quiet on the flight line of smaller airstrips in North Carolina's Raleigh-Durham area, such as the Johnston County Airport. Business travelers aside, things are pretty sleepy; you can spend an hour along the runway without hearing the hum of propellers. The soaring price of fuel is the most visible problem.On Monday, a gallon of low-lead aviation fuel cost $4.71 a gallon at the Johnston airport -- about a dollar higher than last year .It costs $105 an hour to rent the cheapest plane at the Smithfield airport: a waspish, low-winged monoplane with a T-tail.Chief Pilot Paul Forehand used to average about 15 students in training. Now, he said, it's closer to five."When we had to go up over $100 an hour on our rental prices," Forehand said, "there were some people who just quit flying. That $100 was their limit."Gasoline prices have dogged motorists for more than a year, reaching an average of $3.30 in early April -- a record. But the hit has been even harder on casual fliers. The 100 LL aviation fuel, low-leaded and the choice of weekend warriors, comes in at an average of $4.94.Price doesn't much bother the corporate salesman who travels either by business jet or puddle-jumper. In Smithfield, Forehand spends part of his time ferrying that sort of passenger."Your pleasure flier, your typical Saturday-Sunday flier, has been curtailed," said Johnston County Airport Director Ray Blackmon. "When the pain exceeds the pleasure, they're going to stop doing it."Flying has never been cheap, but most pilots still at it on a small-time basis recall the cost being an easier hurdle. Getting licensed in the mid-1980s cost about $2,000 all told, including books, flight time, and instructor and test fees. Now, that's closer to $8,000. The price tends to shut out the hobbyist."You either bury that dream of flying or figure out a way to get another $150 every month," Forehand said.He and other commercial operators face another problem. They're having a tougher time hanging onto flight instructors because airlines have lowered their threshold of experience for the pilots they're recruiting from the old 800-hour standard to 400 flying hours.This trend is part of the scramble to fill vacancies left by Vietnam-era pilots grown old. Younger pilots shy away from the expense of training and the years of low pay required to climb aviation's professional ranks.(Contact Josh Shaffer at josh.shaffer(at)newsobserver.com)(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)