OT - These gas prices are RIDICULOUS!

[captain_john]

You know, it is really ticking me off what is going on with the cost of fuel. How can a station that ALREADY HAS FUEL IN THE GROUND raise it's prices TWICE IN ONE DAY!?!

Have you seen stations in your area doing the same? It KILLS ME!

It is going to be a HUGE impact on the cost of goods and services nationwide!

Spike, you need to do something about this, FAST!

Hypothetically, if the cost of AVGas goes up to $7.50 per gallon... an RV with full tanks will increase $315 in value!

Over $300 to fill the tanks!!! OMG!!! I am soooooo glad I sold my sled! Gas is ALWAYS more expensive in the wood. At remote cabins we were already paying over $3.00 per gallon. This year it will probably be over $5.00 per gallon. The sleds get about 12 MPG and hold about 14 gallons. If you do a 500 mile day (quite common) it will cost over $200 in fuel just for one sled!!! Throw in the cost of the tow rig and a 400 mile road trip each weekend up to the prime sledding areas and you have a major expenditure on your hands!

Good thing I have a small boat!

Maybe I will get a used Honda Nighthawk 600 or something to boot around on?

Damn JEEP gets only 16 - 20 MPG... ain't gettin' rid o' that! Too much FUN!

What can one do?

Your turn to vent now...

CJ

[jimrobinette]

CJ,

I agree, to a certain extent. I have paid over $100 to fill up two Nissans this week! And that is only once each. Premium (which I have to run in the Z) has gone from $2.80 to $3.30 in two days, and I haven't been out of the house yet this morning to see if they raised it today!

There are valid reasons why the prices are rising, but I don't like it. Since my family has a very vested interest in the oil industy in OK and TX, and I am doing a paper on the effect of world (mostly military) situations on the cost of energy worldwide, I have followed with interest over the last couple of weeks. Here is a good link that I look at to get an idea of capacity.

http://www.ea.doe.gov/hurricanes.html

It is just supply and demand, even if it is in the ground. My friends in TX right near the LA border have said some stations can't get gas to replace what the have and are selling for over $4.5/gal!!!!!

I found an intersting side note to all this. I went to fill the Z up yesterday and paid with my credit card at the pump. As I will filling up, the pump stopped at $50. Turns out that is the limit (at this gas station) of the authorization on your credit card. Seems they haven't been upping the limity with the increase in gas costs.

If it starts to get too much more out of control, I am going to have to hock my penumatic squeezer to pay for gas!

Take care,

Jim

You know, it is really ticking me off what is going on with the cost of fuel. How can a station that ALREADY HAS FUEL IN THE GROUND raise it's prices TWICE IN ONE DAY!?!

Have you seen stations in your area doing the same? It KILLS ME!
Your turn to vent now...

CJ

[cjensen]

[quote="jimrobinette"]
If it starts to get too much more out of control, I am going to have to hock my penumatic squeezer to pay for gas!

Aaaaaaaaa!!! you can't say that! after all the talk about me getting one!

just kidding. i, along with most of america, am pretty ticked about the gas prices. our town fluctuates like ocean waves. i've seen it change 4 times in one afternoon here! that's why i bought the scoot. my wife's eclipse spyder gt cost $30 for HALF tank yesterday!! i about fell over when she handed me the receipt!

i did get rid of my jeep CJ. the fun factor was still there, but it was gettin' really hard to justify it. now, i have a dakota that still costs about as much to run, but it is SO much more useful than the jeep was. i miss it a lot, but i do love my truck (when i drive it!!)

[hngrflyr]

I'd be about ready for a nationwide strike of all workers till the powers that be get the message. Believe me, if the money stops flowing, they will get the message!

Bob S

[captain_john]

A stop work order!

Now that is the best idea I have heard yet! I am already cut back to 180 days a year... what's another week!?!

CJ

[Dan A]

Actually, as to the stations raising the prices, They don't! The oil company's own the gas and they tell the station what to charge. I found that out way back in the early 70's when I worked for a gas station in Tuscon AZ. I was closing one Saturday night and the boss said I was to set the price down from $.37 to $.25. (yes, it really used to be that low!!) I asked why and he said that all the bulk dealers met together on Thursdays and decided what the price would be that week and If they were to start a "gas war" who would start it ans what the price would be. It was our turn!! Boy, that opened my eyes up to just how much the gas prices are controlled. Today they could sell gas for about $.80 per gallon and still make a profit!!! So with the prices at around $3.00 /gal they are making about $2.20 profit. Check out the Exon-Mobil website and see what ridiculous profits they are making each quarter. Record profits every quarter and our senators and congressmen have the audacity to say they are not gouging us! Yes we need to do something---Like remove all of them from office and cut their funding from the oil companys to Zero!!! I think all of them are in the pockets of the greedy oil barrons! Oh, by the way,, the oil companys never buy oil, they sell it!!--- At least that's what my family's lease with Mobil says. They don't buy my oil, they only give me a small portion of their profit after they remove the oil from the ground!

Enough said, Dan

[Wicked Stick]

Hey Capt'n,

With the way prices are going, maybe you should put a 160hp in it, instead of that big honkin Testosterone burning IO-390

[captain_john]

Hahahaha, NO!

Even at these prices I am set on HORSEPOWER!!!

CJ

[Dan A]

Yesterday I flew to a Fly-in Breakfast at Prosser, Washington, about 140 miles south west of here and met with a buddy of mine who has an RV8 with a 220 Franklin and a 3 blade MT prop. I followed him back to his place about 50 miles east of Prosser ( lucky guy has his own paved airstrip . I had to throttle way back to about 18 in. map to keep from running away from him. He was at normal cruise power 2450 and 24 in. My total fuel for the 2.8 hr. trip was 23.2 gal. Figure it out!! Nice economy. i'll keep my 180hp.IO360
Dan 23 hrs on 742DA Sorry CJ, I just can't help it!!

[captain_john]

I read about the Franklin engined -8's in the RVator. They called the test ship Franklinstein. Van didn't like the match up and for practicality reasons the package wasn't a consideration.

It seems to me that economy WAS better with the Lycosaurus engine. What are you apologizing for?

CJ

[Dan A]

Not really appologizing, just ribbing you about the big engine thing. more power will give you a higher climb rate at the expence of a heavier aircraft and a loss in economy and cruise speed. This Franklin powered 8 is about the same weight as a 200 hp lyc but has about 20 more hp. As I recall Van thought the weight penalty of the Franklin was more than the lyc and providid no real benefits. This one was a lot of work and he had to build his own engine mount and had a lot of modifications on the cowl. To me the Franklin wasn't worth iT so I went with the Aero Sport Power IO 360 parallel valve 180 hp engine. I had it fuel flowed and balanced so it probably produces more power than the factory engines from lyc. All I know is I can out run him! At any rate, you are building your plane and you need to do what you want with it 'cause you're the one who will be flying it! Enjoy

Dan 26.7 hrs as of today

[captain_john]

IC...

Personally, if I was building an-8... I WOULD go with a good breathing 180. Good choice.

The -7 needs the weight up front and the extra HP doesn't hurt at all!

At least in my opinion, FWIW.

CJ