Do many retired pilots maintain their membership to charitably support the sport, keep in touch with something they used to participate in, and keep the magazine coming every month?

How many SSA members are purely armchair pilots?

On Jul 7, 12:45*pm, son_of_flubber > wrote:
> Do many retired pilots maintain their membership to charitably support the sport, keep in touch with something they used to participate in, and keep the magazine coming every month?
>
> How many SSA members are purely armchair pilots?

Excellent question but difficult to answer. What exactly constitutes
a retired pilot?

Some of the wiser old pilots restrict their flying to two-seaters with
a younger, qualified pilot in the other seat. They are no longer PIC
but they still fly.

Then there are young pilots who, in the Great Recession, can no longer
afford to fly. Are they "retired"?

On Saturday, July 7, 2012 12:45:08 PM UTC-6, son_of_flubber wrote:
> Do many retired pilots maintain their membership to charitably support the sport, keep in touch with something they used to participate in, and keep the magazine coming every month?
>
> How many SSA members are purely armchair pilots?

I would suggest a good percentage of the 6000 club/chapter members fly, even if irregularly. There are also some number of small private clubs/groups on the periphery of the SSA. I visited a commercial operation today and there was a steady level of activity. The owner still finds the numbers down in total operations. That may be indicative of the economic climate. The CAP was operating as was the local club. There has been another month of positive growth in SSA membership. At least some number are returning, having been away from soaring for a while and others are new members.

Frank Whiteley

>50% no longer fly, are not current and are essentially retired. My guess. This is typical of large recreational organizations (sailing or flying clubs for example). They stay involved just encase or for the social fun of it but are not active. It is important to be aware of this segment. No need to be afraid of this number, but I suspect it is larger than many here are willing to admit.