writes:

Bug Dout wrote:
And aside from the spammers chasing people away...is there anything new
under the sun? If you have sun in the winter. There's little new
happening with certificated aircraft, the action--what there is of
it--is in experimentals. Well, there is the initiative by AOPA and EAA
to sort of extend the Sport Pilot concept to heavier aircraft.

You must not read http://aero-news.net/ or http://www.avweb.com/ if you
think there is nothing going on.
I subscribe to avweb, it shows up a few times a week and is usually
ignored...here's why. A copy-paste from their website:

BORDER PATROL: PLANES USED TO SMUGGLE IMMIGRANTS
CARRIERS DIVERT FOR SOLAR STORM
ELECTRIC AIRCRAFT SYMPOSIUM SET FOR APRIL
INDY PREPARES FOR SUPER BOWL FLY-IN
BAREFOOT BANDIT: "ANYONE ELSE WOULD HAVE DIED"
UPS PILOTS TAKE ON FAA
FAA FUNDING RESOLUTION IN SIGHT
BOMBARDIER NUMBERS UP
WING-CRACK CHECKS ORDERED FOR A380S
TAILHOOK TROUBLESOME FOR STEALTH FIGHTER
NTSB REPORTS ON HOMEBUILT STUDY
The NTSB said this week it has completed the data-collection phase for a
study on the safety of Experimental-Amateur Built aircraft.

All of these are devoid of interest for the recreational (GA) pilot,
except the last; but since the only thing that's happened is the *data
collection* has been accomplished (not the analysis), that's of little
interest too.

Actually something caught my attention the other day: Craig Fuller,
Pres. of AOPA, says 80%-90% of people who start to learn to fly never
get a license. Seems a very high rate of dropouts and I'm skeptical of
how that is measured. Supposedly AOPA is going to do something about it
but I'm skeptical of that too, and fully expect another useless
marketing effort. Nevertheless I'm interested in the reasons for
student pilots dropping out. Wanna discuss it?

--
It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed.
Theodore Roosevelt