I was going around local airports to post something on the bulletin-boards (aircraft related stuff I wanted to sell locally). I noticed an interesting Trend: there are no airplane “for sale” nor any “looking for co-owners/partners” ads at my local airports. Last time I was looking to buy a plane (around 2018) you would see a large cork-board all filled with airplane ads, CFI’s advertising training, etc. I know “most things are online now” but Nowadays it’s only a few airport notice and a lot of blank/empty space on the cork/peg boards. my home airport FBO (Signature) doesn’t even have a cork-board anymore, no place to post anything to local pilots or nearby hangars.
I can think of one airport near me (KFLX, Fallon, NV) that has a board like this. Most are going away unfortunately.
I still see them. Usually outdated airplane accessories at retail price, overpriced planes with 30 yr old engines, or ownership shares for a plane well past TBO.
My airport has one. Some idiot realtor put his business card on it. Someone found keys in the gravel road leading up to the airport and put them up. And the cfi that was flying a students plane back after dropping the student off at his daughters house, then ran it out of fuel on the return flight because he never fueled up. Landed on a road and clipped a sign totalling the plane....his card is up there as well. But that's it. I suspect Facebook killed it. Wouldn't know for sure, never had one.
I still see small ones, mostly with aircraft sale and partnership offerings and ads for a local flight school or club, along with the odd notice. Definitely not what it once was. Social media has pretty much taken that niche.
Both of the airports I fly out of have them, but they almost never have anything useful on them. Usually very "stale."
I visit a lot of GA airports in WY, CO, and NE. I still see bulletin boards, but they're mostly covered in business cards.
I think that is why those have died off. Stuff gets put up and no one ever takes it down. And honestly if you are looking for a service or product, do you drive or fly to the airport to look or do you just Google it these days? The airport bulletin board is extremely poor marketing in today's world.
Last time I used an airport bulletin board was to get phone numbers for the local taxi service(s) where Uber wasn't available.
I've been flying for 30 years, and though I've seen lots of those bulletin boards at lots of airports over the years, I can't think of one time where I actually called a number I saw on any of them for any reason. So I'd suggest that even before FB and Craigslist, etc., they were of limited utility. As a CFI, I did leave some business cards on a local airport bulletin board one time years ago. Didn't receive a single call based on it. For marketing, FB/etc have been far more effective, so why would I do anything else?
I saw an ad on one when I flew up to visit a friend in NH many years ago. It lead to me taking a trip and doing an ASES in Maine. Airplanes for sale seem to be word of mouth or online now. Most FBOs have flight schools so don't allow instructors to advertise. My field does have some worthwhile info on their board.
