Real Pilots

WRT to Usenet itself, the migration to web-based groups (Pilots of
America; AOPA's board, etc.) proved less than satisfactory, thanks to
well-meaning but overbearing, over-aggressive moderators who have the
habit of shutting down a conversation right when it's about to get
interesting. The end result is a plain-vanilla, cordial-yet-boring re-
hashing of the same ten topics, over and over. After the first few
months, it became a good cure for insomnia.

I told you so.

Our grandkids will one day marvel at the fact that "grandpa
and grandma used to fly their own plane!" I am sorry to see this
happen, beyond words.

I fear this future as well.

As it is, there are many people today who don't seem to realize that one can
legally fly one's own airplane.

On Jan 25, 6:05*am, - wrote:

So....GA is splintered into smaller and smaller groups, and those few
of us who are left have fewer ways to voice our thoughts and
opinions. *Our grandkids will one day marvel at the fact that "grandpa
and grandma used to fly their own plane!" *I am sorry to see this
happen, beyond words.

C'mon Jim. be positive. It's going to get better.
My grandmother used to talk about Old Mother Shipton who used to tell
about a future in which men would fly.
So when I started flying all that old English legend came true for
her.
And there's only room for two up the sharp end nowadays.
Its getting more select by the year

"george" wrote

C'mon Jim. be positive. It's going to get better.

I hope, but I won't hold my breath.

Perhaps the best thing to happen is to have almost 0 posts per day for a few
months. Then, if we start coming back, perhaps everyone else will have
forgotten about this place. Then, people need to respond only to real
posts, and shun the irrelevant and obnoxious.

No, there I go dreaming, again.
--
Jim in NC

On Jan 25, 1:02*am, "Morgans" wrote:
"george" wrote



C'mon Jim. be positive. It's going to get better.

I hope, but I won't hold my breath.

Perhaps the best thing to happen is to have almost 0 posts per day for a few
months. *Then, if we start coming back, perhaps everyone else will have
forgotten about this place. *Then, people need to respond only to real
posts, and shun the irrelevant and obnoxious.

No, there I go dreaming, again.
--
Jim in NC

The days of hanger flying here are most likely past, and has been
noted elsewhere there is very limited useful controlled cyberspace in
these newsgroups. When Jay ran a virtual hanger some time ago most
posters knew each other and that led to a mutual respect and civility.
Because social-skills deficient writers use these groups anonymously
the kinds of crap that overwhelms RAP will continue: it's become their
forum. They've succeeded. Or did they? Their audience has become
pretty small.

Maybe they haven't played this so well after all.

See you in a couple of weeks.

Maybe.

- writes:

The end result is a plain-vanilla, cordial-yet-boring re-
hashing of the same ten topics, over and over. After the first few
months, it became a good cure for insomnia.

Isn't this true of GA in general? With the exception of Experimental
aircraft. For certified GA aicraft it's the same old stuff. In the
flying mags, the same articles: engine heat and deicing in the
winter. Thunderstorm avoidance and high density altitude flying in
summer. Test flight of some multi-million dollar twin turbine no hobby
flyer would ever consider.

I find the builders' world the most interesting. Not EAA, because that
includes too many observers, antique stuff, frivilous side shows. No,
people who are creating new airplanes, trying new gadgets, that's where
the excitement still is.

A friend said GA is like an onion. On the outside you have people who
drive by the small airport and wonder what millionaires fly those
things. Then you have the people who have taken a few lessons and
dropped out. Then the pilots who fly rented spam-cans. Then the airplane
owners. Then the kit-builders. Then the plans builders. Deeper to the
core is the action.

--
While the word is yet unspoken, you are master of it; when once it is
spoken, it is master of you.
~ Arab proverb

You make several good points. I agree 100%, although the whole pie --
not just some parts of it -- is shrinking.

That's sad. I see so many multi-million dollar boats down here in
Texas, I know it's not a shortage of rich people. It's...something
else. I wish I could identify it, and fix it.
--
Jay Honeck
Port Aransas, TX
Pathfinder N56993
www.HarborInnPortA.com

On Jan 25, 11:36*am, Bug Dout wrote:
- writes:
The end result is a plain-vanilla, cordial-yet-boring re-
hashing of the same ten topics, over and over. *After the first few
months, it became a good cure for insomnia.

Isn't this true of GA in general? With the exception of Experimental
aircraft. For certified GA aicraft it's the same old stuff. In the
flying mags, the same articles: engine heat and deicing in the
winter. Thunderstorm avoidance and high density altitude flying in
summer. Test flight of some multi-million dollar twin turbine no hobby
flyer would ever consider.

I find the builders' world the most interesting. Not EAA, because that
includes too many observers, antique stuff, frivilous side shows. No,
people who are creating new airplanes, trying new gadgets, that's where
the excitement still is.

A friend said GA is like an onion. On the outside you have people who
drive by the small airport and wonder what millionaires fly those
things. Then you have the people who have taken a few lessons and
dropped out. Then the pilots who fly rented spam-cans. Then the airplane
owners. Then the kit-builders. Then the plans builders. *Deeper to the
core is the action.

--
While the word is yet unspoken, you are master of it; when once it is
spoken, it is master of you.
*~ Arab proverb

In article ,
Jay Honeck wrote:

That's sad. I see so many multi-million dollar boats down here in
Texas, I know it's not a shortage of rich people. It's...something
else. I wish I could identify it, and fix it.

Any yahoo that can open a beer can drive a boat, and can take all
their friends on their boat. Entry level boats can be purchased
for around the price of a new car. Planes priced in the same range
are 40 years old and not nearly as pretty as a boat and can only
take 1-2 friends. LSA was supposed to save GA, but the planes are
all over $100k. To really sell in volume, they need to be in the
$40k range.

I think it is a combination of the level of training required to
fly, and the value for the money. What looks better, a 40yo burnt
orange and lime green plane, or a brand new ski boat? Even new
planes look pretty shabby after the first few annual inspections
with loose screws and loose side panels/etc.

To stick with aviation, you really need to have the flying bug.

John
--
John Clear - http://www.clear-prop.org/

In article
,
says...


You make several good points. I agree 100%, although the whole pie --
not just some parts of it -- is shrinking.

That's sad. I see so many multi-million dollar boats down here in
Texas, I know it's not a shortage of rich people. It's...something
else. I wish I could identify it, and fix it.
--


To be sure, flying one’s own airplane to get somewhere does not appear to
be a very up-to-date passion. Though not a wholly sufficient answer, the
morass of the commercial flying experience today has certainly done its
share in taking the shine off of air travel. When I was 15, my first flight
was in a DC-8, and my second, later the same year, was in a Grumman Tiger.
I was one of the only ones in my high school class to have done either.
Though aviation was of course far from new, the experience of flight was
new and exciting to almost any individual. Today most people in developed
countries have flown by the time they are 15 - months! And they cried and
yelled the whole way. The way we are treated today adults too are crying
and yelling the whole way! Have we managed to regulate out of existence
man’s age-old dream of flying?

But wait a minute! If we are treated so badly on airline flights, shouldn’t
that spark an even greater desire for people to fly their own planes? To
some degree it has, and the bizjet market, while hardly booming, is opening
up to a broader demographic. You no longer need to be a billionaire to get
an occasional ride in a Falcon or Challenger. But the passion is no longer
there. Not for most anyway. And even in this context you are still just a
passenger.

A few contemporary social concerns come into play. Flying an airplane is
not a very "green" activity. This may mean little to many contributors
here, but we should not underestimate the effect the "green revolution" is
having on every aspect of our lives, and ultimately on our thinking.
Secondly, I cannot prove it, but I believe the post-911 security craze has
heightened the general public’s feeling that airplanes and flying are
dangerous. We take safety concerns more seriously every day, and the
intense scrutiny on safety of air travel has probably played its part.
Another issue is the cost. Flying has always been expensive, but many
people have less spare cash today for a passion like aviation, particularly
in light of the two preceding considerations. And those who do have the
cash are wary of spending it on anything that could be construed as an
ostentatious display of wealth. There’s a lot of "rich-bashing" going
around these days, and flying your own plane is a great way to feel
yourself in the crosshairs.

Then there’s a self-sufficiency issue, which may be the most important.
People of my generation take pride in doing something for themselves. If
you are not satisfied by the services you are being offered, do it
yourself. I laugh to myself flying over congested roads, thinking of people
sleeping for days on their suitcases in airport waiting areas while their
airline tries to come to grips with the bureaucratic mess of resuming
service after it snowed four inches - somewhere in another state! My
15-year-old nephew by contrast, far from flying in a Grumman Tiger, spends
his days and nights on X-Box, on line with his friends, playing tough war
games, shooting each others’ helicopters down. In real life, however, he
would not have a clue where to look if the car didn’t start, would not be
able to find a circuit breaker in his own house (and doesn’t know what this
item is) and refuses to fly even commercial flights because he feels it is
dangerous.

I’m sure I’ve only touched on the issue, and I may be mistaken on parts of
it, but I believe our society today is not at all conducive to the
interest, passion and overall satisfaction in an activity like flying. Do
children today still have dreams they are flying? Can society really wear
us down to where this age-old yearning no longer has meaning, and ceases to
exist?

On Jan 28, 7:40*am, VOR-DME wrote:
In article
,

I m sure I ve only touched on the issue, and I may be mistaken on parts of
it, but I believe our society today is not at all conducive to the
interest, passion and overall satisfaction in an activity like flying. *Do
children today still have dreams they are flying? Can society really wear
us down to where this age-old yearning no longer has meaning, and ceases to
exist?

Oh it exists and in many people who quietly in the background get on
with their flying.
But for the majority flying yourself is an uncomfortable thought with
papers filled with accidents sensationalised to the N'th degree.
The local Aero Club has a full and expanding membership. The
Commercial Pilot School is running almost full classes.

Positive mental attitude as Harry would say, people are still wanting
to learn to fly :-)

On Thu, 27 Jan 2011 11:54:51 -0800 (PST), george wrote:

Positive mental attitude as Harry would say, people are still wanting
to learn to fly :-)

Harry Potter? For casting the Patronus maybe, not flying.
--
http://www.flickr.com/photos/skaran/23299720/ Platform 9 3/4 today
http://www.evilwizardrock.com/
http://www.myspace.com/dracoandthemalfoysusa