On Fri, 26 Oct 2007 12:22:32 -0700, xxx wrote
in .com:

The New York Times today has a feature article on general aviation and
the
quest for burgers:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/26/tr.../26burger.html

It sure paints personal aviation pilots as elites who clog the NAS to
feed their whims:

That probably explains why most people who fly small planes are
middle-age to elderly men who have money to burn. Planes can cost
anywhere from $20,000 for a decades-old Cessna to well over $1
million for a speedy turboprop. And jets? Forget about it.

BUT the hamburger hunt has changed since the 1970s. The number of
student pilots is less than half the level of 1980, Mr. Dancy
said, and starting in the 1990s about two small airports have
closed each month, mostly because of encroaching real estate
development.

Even so, there is still a sense of romance and freedom in flying
small planes, concepts long divorced from commercial travel.

You might sense it while sitting at the softly lighted bar at
Jonesy’s at Napa County Airport, where Judy Padis, who splits her
time among the California towns of Napa, Danville and Palm
Springs, and her party were boarding a Pilatus turboprop after a
day out in the wine country.

“We all have all the homes we want,” Ms. Padis said. “So we
decided to get a plane.”

Jonesy’s is no greasy spoon. On any weekend many millions of
dollars’ worth of Bombardiers, Gulfstreams and other private jets
are parked wing to wing outside the restaurant.


I doubt the piece will garner admiration of GA from airline passengers
suffering through delays.