From pilots the phrase could be, "It's a shame I have to pay so much to fly. If it were cheaper, I'd fly more and flight schools would make more money."
It seems reasonable to think that if it cost less you would fly more and the operator would realize higher profits. But the reality is that the profit margins in flight training and aircraft rental operations are so low that it's a miracle anyone even tries to make a buck in those businesses. Many have said that aviation is populated with lousy businesspeople, and they are right-if we were good businesspeople, we wouldn't be in this business. Too frequently, the return on the dollars and effort invested falls well below the accepted norm for running a business. It's a tough way to make a living.
Enter the Hobbs meter, the realities of aviation, and you.
One of the basic facts of flight training is that nobody in the business is making enough money. If a Hobbs meter-you know, the clocklike device on your trainer's panel that tracks how long the airplane's running, and determines your aircraft rental expense for each flight-began doing its digital dance the instant that you, the student/renter, walked in the door, it would be a different story. Then the nonrevenue time spent booking you in, doing a preflight briefing, preflighting the airplane, and strapping in would appear on the Hobbs (and your bill), but it doesn't.
Neither the flight instructor nor the airplane owner/operator is making a dime until the engine starts, and they stop making money the second it's shut down, if "Hobbs time" is the sole basis on which you pay for instruction. The income stream is determined entirely by the airplane run time. The fixed costs (payments on the aircraft loan, insurance, office and tiedown rents, etc.) don't even slow down. One hour or a hundred hours, the fixed costs of owning an airplane and running a business are the same.
Think about the percentage of time a flight school or rental airplane is actually running and thereby generating income. Except for the bigger flight academies, it's not unusual for a company to be happy to get 40 to 50 hours a month on an airplane. If it is charging $65 per hour rental at 50 hours a month, it is grossing $3,250 a month. Figure fuel at $18 per hour and maintenance, including required inspections, at $7 (we're estimating here), so now we're down to $2,000/month. This is before such costs as insurance (for the airplane, business, and premises), airplane loan payment, utilities, rent, etc. Clearly, the only way anyone can make money in this business is by keeping their airplanes in the air as much as possible. When they are on the ground they are costing money, not making money.
Now look at the CFI's income stream: although it varies, in most small flight schools an instructor seldom flies more than four to five hours a day, and that day is generally 10 hours long. A flight instructor usually makes $10 to $15 a flight hour (yes, you're paying more, but the instructor doesn't see it all). He or she may be making $30 an hour or more as a free-lancer. Say an instructor flies four hours a day at $30 per, on a 10-hour day, he'll be making about $12 an hour for the time invested. Many instructors are paid half that amount and could be earning more doing almost anything else. On top of that, virtually every job in the world is less intense. For the same salary, instead of saying, "Pull up, or we'll die," he or she would be saying, "Would you like fries with that?"
Boring, but safer.
We went through all this to develop a context in which to think about the various ways instructors keep track of time and how that affects you. Some instructors will actually keep track with their watch. A few will use the tachometer, but most swear by the Hobbs meter. So, what's the difference between the methods, and what does it all mean to you the student or renter?
The watch should be the most accurate method with the least amount of interpretation involved. At least it would seem that way. It turns out there's a quirky thing that happens when you fly: It's hard to remember what the start time was. The second the prop starts turning, it's amazing how many times we forget-and then, even if we do look, it's amazing how many times we can't remember what it said when the flight is over. Unless you write it down, chances are that at the other end of the flight you'll be guessing.
For decades, the tachometer was the standard for keeping track of time, if the wristwatch wasn't being used. That is done very seldom any more for a very simple reason: A tachometer records accurate time only when the engine is running above a certain rpm and even then it probably isn't accurate. If you check a number of tachometers against a watch you'll find it's not unusual for them to be more than 10 percent off one way or the other. If you're shooting landings, the tach is useless for keeping time because the throttle is at idle (or a reduced power setting) for so long that the tach is just loafing. If you're making full-stop, taxi-back landings, where the throttle is at idle for long periods of time, the tach can be as much as 30 percent low when measured against a watch.
The Hobbs meter was designed for the sole purpose of accurately recording run time on an engine and eliminating interpretation. It doesn't care how fast or how slow the engine is running. As long as the engine is running, the Hobbs meter is clicking over. But can it be recording time when the engine isn't running? The answer is based on the two different ways Hobbs meters work.
The Hobbs meter can be one of two specific types. A majority of them are hooked to an electric relay that is activated by oil pressure, or they actually have a tiny oil pressure line going right to the Hobbs meter. If the engine is running, it will be developing oil pressure, so the Hobbs is tracking actual run time.
The other type of Hobbs activation depends on the master or alternator switch (if separate) to fire it up. That means if the master is on a couple of minutes before and after shutdown, the Hobbs runs longer than the engine does. You can see where we're going with this, right? An electric Hobbs, as opposed to an oil-pressure Hobbs, might increase the total enough to round it up to the next digit-meaning the next one-tenth of an hour, the accepted standard measurement for recording flight time today.
There are two different types of readouts on Hobbs meters. One is continuous and, like the odometer in older cars, shows the tenth as it rolls within the window. Here some interpretation can be required to determine which way the tenth should be rounded. A more black-and-white approach is the type where the tenths click into position. The number is stationary until it suddenly changes to the next one.
The type of Hobbs meter isn't as important as the way it is used. It is not only possible, but sometimes it is policy, to fudge the way a flight is conducted so that a tenth or so will be added to the total. This is the same concept as a taxi driver taking a slightly different route because he knows it will increase the time on the meter. The same thing can apply to the way an instructor programs the flight.
Don't read this as implying that an instructor would do anything unethical. However, keep in mind that both his and his boss's incomes are based on what that stupid little meter says when you shut down. As an instructor, I can tell you that sometimes a few small changes in the way a flight is conducted can add up to an additional tenth on the Hobbs.
A growing number of more progressive flight schools are breaking away from the old notion that the Hobbs, and only the Hobbs, should govern your flight instruction bill. There are different approaches here. Some charge a flat half-hour of the instructor's time to cover preflight and postflight briefings, as well as required recordkeeping (such as completing your logbook); others ask the instructor to track this time. This is a fair approach that helps to treat the instructor like the professional that he or she is. In addition, the instructor's time is always going to be less than dual instruction plus the aircraft rental. It also can eliminate any motivation for the instructor to unnecessarily lengthen or "pad" your flight-and your bill.
We suppose it is possible that an operator somewhere could start bending the rules in an effort to run up the meter. We don't, however, think it's a problem throughout the industry, but it is something to be aware of. Although this is unlikely, read on for some possible scenarios that, if they occur regularly, might be grounds for a discussion with your instructor.
In the early part of primary flight training, most instructors will avoid doing touch and goes with a student, and for good reason. It's often better to land and taxi back, which gives the instructor time to talk to the student about the landing in a less harried environment. This is necessary because touch and goes with a new student mean the student is always racing to catch up and has difficulty listening. A few minutes spent taxiing back after each landing gives them time to gather their wits while listening to the instructor; some instructors will take control of the aircraft so the student can concentrate on the critique of the approach and landing. This is good instructional technique and absolutely necessary, in some cases, to keep from wearing out the student.
The student benefits from the quality instructional time during the taxi-backs. Even though the process is necessary for the student, it works to the operator's advantage and gives his profit a microboost. However, when an instructor starts abusing the technique and avoids shifting over into touch and goes when it is obvious that the student can make the transition, then something is not right and a student-to-instructor conversation needs to be held.
Another example of bending the flight profile to build flight time can be seen when sitting in the run-up area watching a training aircraft drone in from an unnecessarily long, three-mile final. You have to wonder whether this is simply questionable instructional technique or a deliberate move to increase Hobbs time. Is it a matter of the instructor teaching landings in a way that judgment is being replaced by power? Of course, traffic sometimes necessitates an extended pattern, but such a pattern should not be the norm.
Truth is, we've never heard of any operator or school that has deliberately had its instructors drag out patterns to bolster cash flow. It is a fact, however, that long patterns contribute to Hobbs time, intentionally or not. That's another way of saying that habitually flying bomber patterns will cost you more money in the long run.
If your instructor makes it a habit to switch on the master and call ground control for a taxi clearance before starting the engine and you know the Hobbs is hooked to the master, you might have a talk with him-or offer the use of your handheld transceiver. Glance at your watch when the engine starts and, when the flight is over, if there's a big difference between what the meter says and what your watch says, have a talk. On occasion, Hobbs meters have been wildly inaccurate-that's just a quirk of the instrument and definitely not the operator's fault.
And if at the end of a flight lesson you see the Hobbs time being rounded to the next highest tenth, just remember that rounding is rounding-and that over time you should see it rounded down as often as you see it rounded up.
Budd Davisson is an aviation writer/photographer and magazine editor who has written approximately 2,200 articles and has flown more than 300 different types of aircraft. A CFI for more than 36 years, he teaches about 30 hours a month in his Pitts S-2A Special. Visit his Web site.
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