On Tue, 25 Mar 2008 10:20:05 -0700 (PDT), Dan
wrote:

On Mar 25, 1:08 pm, Larry Dighera wrote:

I believe it takes someone with the burning desire to overcome the
obstacles to his/her achieving their dream of flight to make a
competent airman, not someone who needs to be coddled into it. There
is so much to MASTER (physics, motor skills, navigation, meteorology,
regulations, command, communications, procedures, ...), that mere
coaxing and prodding isn't going to be a sufficient motivational force
for someone who lacks the inate desire, and yes love, of flight. Of
course this is just my subjective opinion.

I disagree -- not everyone ENTERS aviation with the "burning desire"
because they don't even know what it is!


It's safe to say, that not EVERYONE does anything for a single reason.

But in my opinion, those who lack the visceral component of
appreciation of flight, will not be sufficiently motivated to become
airmen worthy of the title. It's like the physician who pursue's that
profession solely for the monetary compensation; he'll never be as
competent as the one who possesses a sincere desire to help his fellow
man.

I heard this same uninformed and somewhat tendentious argument
regarding Infantrymen by Old Sergeants who forgot how clueless they
were when they started out "These kids are so soft! They have no idea
what it takes! Blah blah blah..."

My answer to them was consistent -- "That's YOUR job -- make them
soldiers, just as you were made, because you sure as *$#@ weren't born
one."


I believe your analogy is flawed, because an infantryman needn't
possess the same depth of knowledge and skill in such a diverse range
of disciplines as an airman, but I have no personal knowledge of their
training.

The entry rate has declined, period. You can say whatever about
ability, etc but there are fewer GA pilots today than 20 years ago,
and the population has grown.

Did the GI Bill still subsidize flight instruction twenty years ago?
Has the cost and complexity of piloting risen disproportionately
against inflation? Have the DHS imposed hurdles impacted new starts?
Are public schools failing to give students the confidence they can
successfully accomplish their dreams, the same way they have failed to
educate the current generations? (Tangent: Our Republican governor
wants to cut our state's education budget by $4.8 billion:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...&type=politics
)

Walk around most GA airports on a Saturday and you'll see mostly grey
haired old guys. The few young guys are usually the CFIs working for
hours. The rare woman is a an anomaly.


I agree with that, but what of those young foreigners crowding the
Part 141 schools? There's still plenty of young new starts.

My job title is Senior Systems Engineer -- I've been in engineering a
few decades and I can tell you if you think you need engineering
knowledge or ability to fly safely you're simply mistaken.


It would seem you are qualified to make that judgement. I wonder why
we see it differently. Perhaps our definition of 'engineering
knowledge.'

Take for example a woman I know. She's been the manager of law
offices with scores of attorneys for decades, but she'll NEVER be able
to understand, let alone use, the arcane weight and balance graphs in
the PA28 POH. She's intelligent, but here aptitudes lie elsewhere
mostly in the social arena. She knows this, and self-selects against
becoming an airman. No amount of marketing or coercion will change
her, nor would it be appropriate.

There's nothing all that complicated that can't be explained and
therefore retained and applied by the average ability adult.

But we're losing a large fraction of potential new pilots every year
because the [sic] come to the airport, walk around and look at airplanes,
yet never get greeted, never get someone's interest, and never get
"sold."

I don't believe that it is appropriate nor desirable to "sell"
becoming an airman, anymore than it is appropriate for a clergyman to
sell religion. One is either smitten or not. Further, I don't
believe those potential flight students who are lost through
intimidation by less than optimal flight schools are the sort of folks
that make good pilots. The last thing I would desire to see foisted
on would be aviators is the deceit and duplicity of marketeers.

Not the point. Someone in your life "sold" you on aviation -- who was
it, and what did he/she do to get you hooked?

I was sold on aviation by two things.

1. Laying on my back as a child on the lawn gazing up into the
vivid blue sky and contemplating the cottony cumulus turrets, and
mentally cavorting among them.

2. Obsessive dreams of flight without the benefit of appliances.

I was sold, but it took my college roommate to drag me down to the
local airport one Saturday morning for an introductory flight to get
me on the path toward an airmans certificate. The instructor took me
around the patch a few times. I enjoyed it, and perceived (however
inaccurately) that it was no more difficult than riding my motorcycle
in the third dimension.

Because I had been employed in construction during the summer
operating a 30 foot forklift for months positioning workmen up against
the ceiling of the warehouses we were building, so they could install
the high-bay lighting, I felt confident in my motor skills and
abilities to think in three dimensions. I became ever increasingly
more adept at simultaneously moving the work platform smoothly in
three dimensions, and was proud of my new skills and the
responsibility placed on me. Obviously the foreman and those workman
who depended on me for their life safety were comfortable with my
skills, thus affirming my view. So it was, not only my inate love of
ascending into the heavens that prepared me for pursuing an airmans
certificate, but my recent experience and the confidence it brought,
and the suggestion of a former soldier who wanted to take advantage of
his GI benefits.



No one drops into this without contact with a person or people who
help pave the way.


I hadn't thought about that, but it is true in my case.

A similar thing happened shortly after I earned my certificate. A
customer mentioned that soaring was a fun and challenging pursuit. He
was in the process of reinvigorating the Southern California Soaring
Association, and trying to drum up new members. He put a lot of
effort into lining up instructors who donated their services to
members, providing the equipment and training for auto-towing off El
Mirage Dry Lake out in the Mojave Desert, and possessed an appealing
mix of hearty fellow well met contraire and sincere love of the sport.
It was contagious. This experience, near Edwards AFB, afforded me an
opportunity to mingle with some first rate test pilot types and
other's like Peter Lert, and resulted in my earning a glider rating as
well as many enjoyable hours of silent flight, and a much more
profound comprehension of weather phenomena.

So reflecting back on my personal experiences that lead me to earning
a certificate, I would have to say, that it was a combination of my
inate love of the freedom of flying, becoming exposed to aviation by
someone who I respected, being mentally and phallically prepared,
finding flight challenging and enjoyable, and most importantly,
affordable.