AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2011 - 34

PILOTBRIEFING
For breaking news see AOPA Online (www.aopa.org)

BY ALTON K. MARSH

American pilots are getting a bargain
I
t is satisfying for American pilots to look across the Atlantic Ocean at the cost of flying in England. Consider the experience of Martyn Draper, who was born in England but got his certificate in the United States where he now lives and flies. Draper returned to the United Kingdom a few years ago for a vacation and got a shock. It cost him $13 to land at Headcorn Aerodrome, a grass field with no facilities. When he returned to Lydd Airport 18 miles away, he got a bill for $260 for the Cessna 172 and instructor he’d hired for eight-tenths of an hour. There are landing fees, touch-and-go fees, and fees to practice an instrument approach. Draper discovered it would have cost him more than $700 to do six instrument approaches for 2.5 hours with an instructor in a Cessna 172. Then there are the rules. To taxi the aircraft from its parking spot to a fuel pump, Draper was required to radio the flight school’s front desk for permission. He couldn’t walk out of the FBO to fly an airplane without wearing a safety vest, although it wasn’t needed

Biggin Hill Airport, London.

for preflight. When flying overhead or near a nontowered airport, he had to report how many souls were on board as part of his position transmission. Draper’s experience came six years ago. In December 2010 at the Biggin Hill School of Flying near London, a Cessna 172 without a glass cockpit rents for $164 an hour, but there is a VAT (value added tax) of $36, a fullstop landing fee of $36.84, and a “percircuit” fee (touch-and-go) of $12.21.

In addition, the fuel surcharge for nonstudents is $19.59 per hour (fuel is $9.75 per gallon). The total hourly cost including one touch and go is $268.64. An ILS approach at Biggin carries a fee of $78, so to make an approach and actually land the cost is $114.84. Biggin Hill School of Flying instructors take their students to a less expensive airport and practice ILS approaches for $25.75 per approach. To British pilots, America is still a bargain.

Deal struck to sell Continental, Mattituck
Agreement has been reached by parent company Teledyne Technologies on a proposed sale of Continental Motors and Mattituck Services to Technify Motor, a unit of the AVIC International Holding Company of China. AVIC had $6 billion in sales in 2009 and has substantial business operations in aviation. The company is to be sold for $186 million in cash. The 80-year-old company is to retain its service centers in Fairhope, Alabama, and Mattituck, New York. The sale is expected to close in the first quarter of 2011. It
AOPA PILOT •

must be approved by the Chinese government, and must receive clearance in the United States under the HartScott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act. It must also be approved by the U.S. Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States. If the sale is completed, Continental Motors will remain in Mobile, Alabama, and retain current senior management. The proposed owner has pledged to continue investing in technology development, including diesel engines. AVIC is a partner and supplier to Boeing, Airbus, Honeywell, and engine

manufacturer Snecma. The purchase promises entry into the potential China market. There are 230,000 general aviation aircraft in the United States; China has as yet only 900 small aircraft. That market is expected to grow over the next decade. Continental produced its first commercial engine in 1929. There are several foreign companies operating factories in Mobile, including Germany (ThyssenKrupp’s steel mill and Evonik Degussa’s chemical plant), Australia (Austal USA shipbuilding) and Singapore (ST Aerospace Mobile). The

34 • FEBRUARY 2011

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AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2011

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