Gloom

EridanMan wrote:

I Bought my bird/passed my check ride at 24, I'm now 25. Being a
pilot in my generation (The "boomerang generation"... how's that for a
distinction) has been a weird experience. Let me put it this way -
when I told my highschool friends that I had just purchased an
aircraft, the reaction I received was... well, frankly, about akin to
that I would I have expected if I had told them I had just been
selected as an astronaut. Its not that they didn't respect it. It
was just that, for this generation, so sheltered by parents who never
wished for them to feel rough ground on their feet, the concept of any
one of their peers taking on a roll with so much risk and
responsibility attached was _literally_ beyond their capacity to
comprehend. "You WHAT?!" "Isn't that dangerous?" "Don't you get
scared?" "That's so cool... I wish I could do that..." The response
ranges from horror to disbelief to jealousy... the only attitude sadly
missing is "cool, how can I get into that?" The idea that flying an
aircraft is an option available to them simply does not exist.


This is the kind of mentality public education likes to breed...
easily intimidated, little creativity, lemming-like acceptance,
intolerant of individualism. That makes for a mere easily controlled
population... who won't tend to develop any aspirations. No
child left behind... no child allowed to get ahead.

Jay:

Strange as it sounds, the LSA designation could be a door through
which future pilots can join the ranks. Younger crowds simply can't
juggle the expense of raising families, paying mortgages and flying,
while the older crowd has already paid off most of those bills and can
funnel cash to their flying pursuits.

The unfortunate thing is this: Pilot groups spend more time paying
lobbyists and fighting the Government than marketing flying to the
general public. the result is that the forces that wat to tax us out
of existence are the ones that define us to the public, and when we
die out, nobody will care. Our numbers will get older and die off,
and that will be that.

We must make the general public know that the little airport in town
is necessary to them (not to us -- we know how important it is), and
how becoming a pilot can be within their reach. If we define
ourselves as necessary, and not just an old folks' vanity group, we
will have allies to help fight to lower or eliminate user fees, bring
the overall cost of general aviation down, and swell our ranks with
people who still have their prostate.

Unless we get off our collective butts, the "writing on the wall" will
be carved on GA's tombstone.

AJ Harris

Jay Honeck wrote:
So why the gloom?

Like most people, I think this has been in the works a long time.
Aviation has traditionally been the province of the wealthy. We're just
seeing the owner population decline more rapidly due primarily to the
doubling of gas prices and maintenance costs over the past 5 years. The
FUD regarding user-fees hasn't helped either.

As far as the LSAs go, they may be the future for the $100-hamburger
guys, but for anyone that really wants to get anywhere and carry
anything, they are by design woefully inadequate. If they keep the
"average guy" (defined apparently by someone who has the means and
desire to spend $85K+ on a flying grocery cart) at the airport, then
great -- I welcome them. At the current prices, however, LSAs only
delay the inevitable for the same reason that traditionally-certified GA
aircraft are no longer an option for joe average -- price. LSAs would
be a good deal only if priced less than 50K, since then literally anyone
with a job other than cleaning toilets could afford them.

Regarding the Piper problem, this is clearly spoken by a CEO that has
been dealt a stacked deck and is trying to run the numbers on aviation
-- something we all know won't end well The problem with Piper is that
it lacks the financial clout to fight lawsuits because they failed to
diversify. Years ago they killed the Cheyenne line -- the very aircraft
that could have kept them awash in money and helped fund the development
of small jets. The Piper VLJ is a good idea for Piper's financial
future, but it's about 30 years too late to the party. Cessna is the
model here. Build piston aircraft more or less at a loss, but make it
up on the aircraft targeted at the commercial markets that can support
higher margins (i.e. turboprops & jets). Make no mistake...this is not
a failing of GA in particular but that of Piper's inept management over
the years.

In spite of GARA, liability is still the single biggest threat to the
success of GA. The only thing that will save aviation is further,
drastic Tort reform. We need to limit lawsuits of ANY kind in aviation
to 7 years, strictly limit who can sue (e.g. one plaintiff per action)
and limit the maximum award to something reasonable like $250K per
incident. Once the money supply dries up, so will the ambulance-chasing
attorneys. The ripple effect will ultimately reduce the cost of flying.

-Doug

--
--------------------
Doug Vetter, ATP/CFI

http://www.dvatp.com
--------------------

"Mxsmanic" wrote in message
...

nobody plans for the long term.

Why are you applying your habits to all of mankind?

I've always heard this about Piper - giving pilots interested in the
company the cold shoulder

Actually, Bass made a point of mentioning that he tries to meet each
and every Piper customer on the factory floor.

He is *very* focused on employee and customer relations -- he's just
taking the company in a direction that I won't be able to follow.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

In spite of GARA, liability is still the single biggest threat to the
success of GA. The only thing that will save aviation is further,
drastic Tort reform.

I didn't mention it, but Bass spent a large portion of his speech
discussing precisely this.

He says it's gotten so crazy that lawsuits are now being pressed for
more and more bizarre reasons, like the passenger didn't "feel right",
or they were "scared" -- and Piper must defend itself against each and
every one of them, at great expense.

The older I get, the more convinced I am that we MUST go to a "loser
pays" system, or we will never regain any sanity in our legal system.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

EVERYTHING
stops in about ten years.

For GA pilots flying for pleasure, maybe. But a lot of people care only about
aviation as transportation, and that will still be alive and well in ten
years, I suspect.

Perhaps -- but the majority of professional pilots are still trained
-- and hired by -- your local airport.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

AJ wrote:
We must make the general public know that the little airport in town
is necessary to them (not to us -- we know how important it is), and
how becoming a pilot can be within their reach. If we define
ourselves as necessary, and not just an old folks' vanity group, we
will have allies to help fight to lower or eliminate user fees, bring
the overall cost of general aviation down, and swell our ranks with
people who still have their prostate.



I love to fly. I love the fact that I have achieved something that was a
lifelong dream of mine. I started at 40 yrs old. Now I'm 43. I'm as
passionate about this as anybody however...

I do not get this argument. I would like to understand it. But why is
the little podunk airport important? 3B3 Sterling, Mass, offers very
little to the local economy, if anything. KFIT, my home base, offers
very little to the local economy, a couple of shops, a restaurant, a few
commercial flights (Part 135) per week. Are they that big a deal? KORH
is vastly underutilized, it is 30 minutes away by car. So seriously, I
do not understand the argument about saving every airport.

KC

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
ps.com...
I've always heard this about Piper - giving pilots interested in the
company the cold shoulder

Actually, Bass made a point of mentioning that he tries to meet each
and every Piper customer on the factory floor.

He is *very* focused on employee and customer relations -- he's just
taking the company in a direction that I won't be able to follow.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

The problem is that he is taking his company in a direction that very few
existing customers, and still fewer new customers can follow.

It's not a Cessna vs Piper debate, it's Cessna vs All-Those-Schmucks!

There really is a lot more to the entry level through executive jet concept
than brand loyalty. There is also service center loyalty, which I suspect
is much stronger.

I really think that it's a shame, since I prefer low wing aircraft

Peter

"kontiki" wrote in message
...
EridanMan wrote:

I Bought my bird/passed my check ride at 24, I'm now 25. Being a
pilot in my generation (The "boomerang generation"... how's that for a
distinction) has been a weird experience. Let me put it this way -
when I told my highschool friends that I had just purchased an
aircraft, the reaction I received was... well, frankly, about akin to
that I would I have expected if I had told them I had just been
selected as an astronaut. Its not that they didn't respect it. It
was just that, for this generation, so sheltered by parents who never
wished for them to feel rough ground on their feet, the concept of any
one of their peers taking on a roll with so much risk and
responsibility attached was _literally_ beyond their capacity to
comprehend. "You WHAT?!" "Isn't that dangerous?" "Don't you get
scared?" "That's so cool... I wish I could do that..." The response
ranges from horror to disbelief to jealousy... the only attitude sadly
missing is "cool, how can I get into that?" The idea that flying an
aircraft is an option available to them simply does not exist.


This is the kind of mentality public education likes to breed...
easily intimidated, little creativity, lemming-like acceptance,
intolerant of individualism. That makes for a mere easily controlled
population... who won't tend to develop any aspirations. No
child left behind... no child allowed to get ahead.

Precisely!

And phrased much better that the diatribe that I was tempted to write.

Peter