GA in decline since 1968 .. or .. 1979.

Your probalby right.

Priorities and sacrifice.

People probably just gotta have all the crap instead.
Dreams of flight? what does that mattter when you have to have a hip
car, cool flip phone, home enterntainment system,
gotta have a computer, gaming system, eat out a lot, see all the
movies, etc etc.

And none of that challenges you, it is all instantly gratifying.
Jeez, I mean even model airplanes can be purchased pre-built these
days.

I built models of nearly everything that ever flew as a kid.

I dont know. Maybe it is indeed too many things now to spend money on
instead.

the population is growing, yet pilots are not.

I mean kids still are drawn to it, I was at an airshow last weekend
and this teen was prattling off things he knew about warbirds to his
Dad, who seemed to not know. So I think it was all the kids deal to be
at the airshow which is great.


It still is a special thing no matter what, Ill mention something or
people see stuff in my office and I always get that look and question
"your a pilot?" and lots of questions, some even I have taken up.
But none of those folks have wanted to learn themselves.




On Tue, 19 Jun 2007 11:05:14 +0000 (UTC), Dylan Smith
wrote:

On 2007-06-19, Mutts wrote:


Article about this very thing........

Up, Up and ... Never Mind
http://www.flyingaggies.org/flightli...585&mode=print

I now its popular to blame cost for the decline. Yes, it is a factor I
know.

If you correct the costs from the 1960s to today's with inflation,
you'll find the cost in real terms hasn't changed.

What has changed is as noted risk aversion, but also there's lots more
things people want to spend money on (such as more than $1500 year on
television, probably $2000 a year on a cell phone plan or two, servicing
the car loan and the consequential full insurance cover you need with a
loan, people choosing to buy McMansions with the consequent high
heating/AC costs etc). So at the end of the day there's less left over
for flying.

"Mutts" wrote in message
...

I now its popular to blame cost for the decline. Yes, it is a factor I
know.

Perhaps it is the growth of our overly risk aversioned culture too.

Or the fascination with aviation most of us have had since kids is
failing to connect with younger folks today.

It's the cost and the bureaucracy. My wife and I are college graduate
thirtysomethings making above the national income average and the cost of an
airplane, maintenance, storage, insurance are simply prohibitive.

Bottom line: Can't afford it. Or maybe I can, but with the cost of homes
blowing through the roof we can't afford both, and I discovered that I had
as much fun with my wife and friends out on the Columbia River on my $4,000
boat for $25 in fuel than I had flying, and I don't have to worry about some
bureaucracy crawling up my ass about whether the friends contributed to
fuel, what the "intent" of the boating trip was, etc.

Less GA airports is not a big help either!

Wasn't a factor for me at all. Each time I've hung up the jacket and quit
flying for a couple of years at a time, it was directly related to the cost.

-c