Something I read this week: 100-octane aviation fuel now costs more than £2 per litre in the UK - over £9 per imperial gallon. A Merlin on cruise burns an imperial gallon a minute - 60 per hour; on display power that goes up to 80-100 gallons an hour and full power burns 180 gallons an hour.
A Lancaster has four of these, so if the fuel burn is similar (on a US engine? no chance!!!) then just imagine how much the fuel cost to fly Liberty Belle from the US to Britain and back again, like they did in 2008. I'm not even considering the engine oil either...
Ouch!
100 LL at my country airport is currently $4.79/gal, at the main Panama City airport it is $6.75/gal. I have a friend who owns a T-6 Texan with a 650 hp engine. He flew it for an little over and hour the other day and when he topped it off it took 57 gallons,$273.
My 180 hp Cardinal burns around 16 to 18 gph at takeoff and 9.5 gph at cruise. A lot of Warbirds have been dumped on the market here in the US for pennies on the dollar as the owners can no longer afford to insure and operate them. You will eventually see AT-6 Texans in very good condition selling for around $100,000.
The civilian twin engine market and large engined complex aircraft has also collapsed. People can't give away light Piper or Cessna twins due to fuel costs. The only aircraft holding value are simple 4-place fixed gear aircraft in the 150 to 180 hp range, and some Light Sport aircraft like Cubs.
Steve