The French foreign affairs minister is expected to step down tomorrow,
over a matter of complicity and insensitivity related to her close
relations with now discredited Tunisian leaders. At the heart of the
matter however, is not the fact that she accepted courtesy favors from
the President, at a time when he was not in political turmoil and when
his leadership was considered central to stability in the region, but
the fact that she accepted, on two occasions, flights on his private
aircraft.

http://tinyurl.com/4fyvkxt

No one accuses her for her cloudy crystal ball concerning the way things
were to shake out in the region, because no one can honestly claim to
have foreseen it, but the toxic element is definitely the plane. That
symbol of privilege and luxury. Europe is now scrambling to find leaders
who have never been on a private plane and who have never known better
than coach-class on Lufthansa or KLM.The President of France is equally
criticized because he recently purchased a new plane (and sold the old
one).


Why post this to RAP? Because it’s one of the reasons why no one wants
to become a pilot any more. Polluter, CO2 contributor, noise-maker,
insensitive favor accepter, rich exploiter, wanting to get involved in
aviation today is akin to wanting to be Zyklon-B loader at Birkenau.
What a change, from a time where few had ridden on any airplane, and
aviation was a bright new field to look up to. A time when businessmen
who had their own aircraft were seen as shrewd and resourceful, to a
point where even an admission of having taken a ride on someone else’s
airplane sounds the end of a public career, and CEO’s of giant
corporations are forced to resign because they use airplanes.

It appears that orders are up and the future looks bright again for
business aviation, but I wouldn’t brush it off so quickly. Political
correctness, environmental Nazism and socialist homogenization are among
the forces driving our society today, and will signal the death knell
for private aviation other than light, recreational. Tomorrow’s airline
pilot is today’s bus driver, and more enticing venues will be shutting
down.

Greg Faris > wrote:
> No one accuses her for her cloudy crystal ball concerning the way things
> were to shake out in the region, because no one can honestly claim to
> have foreseen it, but the toxic element is definitely the plane.

Baloney. The outrage is about who the plane belonged to:

"French Foreign Minister Michele Alliot-Marie was accused Tuesday of taking
a flight in the private jet of a Tunisian businessman allegedly close to
ousted strongman Zine El Abidine Ben Ali."

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5j439eZPrH_lf07_zpoLCbNA_pf9Q?docId=CNG.ea3e1 87d1bbc13e421c711626f05d89b.f81

> Why post this to RAP?

To stir the pot.

On Sat, 26 Feb 2011 22:50:26 +0100, Greg Faris wrote:

> The French foreign affairs minister is expected to step down
> tomorrow, over a matter of complicity and insensitivity related to
> her close relations with now discredited Tunisian leaders. At the
> heart of the matter is the fact that she accepted, on two
> occasions, flights on France's President's private aircraft.
>
> http://cc.st/France-To-Cancel-General-Aviation

Greg, do you think she made the Mile High Club?

> Why post this to RAP? Because it's one of the reasons why no one wants
> to become a pilot any more. Polluter, CO2 contributor, noise-maker,
> insensitive favor accepter, rich exploiter, wanting to get involved in
> aviation today is akin to wanting to be Zyklon-B loader at Birkenau.

> Or me, Greg Faris, Usenet k0oK and unsecured, butt-****ed by Doug
> Trumbell, Showscan creditor.

> http://cc.st/France-To-Cancel-General-Aviation

That puts things in a different light.

On Sat, 26 Feb 2011 16:34:32 -0600, Jim Logajan wrote:

> Greg Faris > wrote:

>> Why post this to RAP?

> To stir the pot.

Jim, take the ladle out of your hand. ;0)
--
hierophant

http://heremypants.weebly.com/

In article >,
says...
he plane.
>
>Baloney. The outrage is about who the plane belonged to:
>

Facts are against you, Jim. It’s all about the plane.
Nobody’s talking about political or financial favors, dinners and parties,
contracts and influence, gowns and robes, pools and jewels, artwork and real
estate. It’s all about the plane. Nothing but the plane, symbol of evil and
corruption. She says so herself (in the link you didn’t read) "I will never
board a private plane again". The plane brought her up and the plane brought
her down. Many more will follow, with "private plane" becoming a popular
search string for discrediting unworthy public and private servants.

Greg Faris > wrote:
> Facts are against you, Jim. It’s all about the plane.
> Nobody’s talking about political or financial favors, dinners and
> parties, contracts and influence, gowns and robes, pools and jewels,
> artwork and real estate. It’s all about the plane. Nothing but the
> plane, symbol of evil and corruption.

So if she had gotten a ride on, oh gee, maybe a yacht, there would be no
controversy? We wouldn't read the following anywhere?:

"Sarkozy himself came under fire after his election in 2007 for taking a
post-campaign getaway on a yacht belonging to French magnate Vincent
Bollore."

> She says so herself (in the link
> you didn’t read) "I will never board a private plane again". The plane
> brought her up and the plane brought her down. Many more will follow,
> with "private plane" becoming a popular search string for discrediting
> unworthy public and private servants.

Um, if you say so. Think it would help any if we went on the political
attack by altering some old slogans, say:

"I Will Give Up My C-172 When They Peel My Cold Dead Fingers From Around
The Controls."

"If small planes are outlawed, only outlaws will have small planes."

"Cessna 152s and Pipers, Too"

"Airplanes We Can Believe In"

"Pilots of the world, unite!"

"Fliegen Macht Frei"

"Every Man a Pilot"

;-)

In article >,
says...

>Um, if you say so. Think it would help any if we went on the political
>attack by altering some old slogans, say:
>
>"I Will Give Up My C-172 When They Peel My Cold Dead Fingers From Around
>The Controls."
>
>"If small planes are outlawed, only outlaws will have small planes."
>
>"Cessna 152s and Pipers, Too"
>
>"Airplanes We Can Believe In"
>
>"Pilots of the world, unite!"
>
>"Fliegen Macht Frei"
>
>"Every Man a Pilot"
>
>;-)



I like"Fliegen Macht Frei" but that brings us back to Zyklon B!

Honestly, I feel small, private planes are not targeted by this whole
thing, but I would not want to be CEO of Gulfstream right now, even though
they are predicting a bright future in the immediate and short-term.
Things could always turn around, but with so much focus on wealth
disparities, the private jet is just an easy target.

Though those of us with smaller planes may not be intentionally targeted,
neglect and incomprehension mean we will be hit more by environmental,
insurance and just "plane old" spiraling costs. Skymaster owners today are
looking at a new AD requiring a $60k "inspection" of the wing root. That
is equal to current resale value for many of these planes. Cessna says
this is just a start, and the directive will spread to other models
progressively. We could expect to see the cantilever-winged Centurions
next up. If NextGen regs add $60K worth of CPDLC datalink to the $60k
inspection costs, a lot of the older, high-performance planes we use for
business travel today could be squeezed out. Cessna may be pleased to
close down their strongest competitor, which is their own older fleet, but
if we whittle it down to newer Skyhawks and LSA’s, these do not fill the
bill for travel, and all are overpriced for the markets they target.

When I tell people I like to travel, insofar as possible, by private
plane, I usually get a long stare of incredulity as they try to process
that incongruous piece of data. It’s somewhere between "Are you rich?" and
"Are you out of your mind?" I do manage to elicit a glimmer of envy when
I say I can fly wherever I want without having to take my shoes off, no
TSA agents barking at me, throw whatever I want into the plane and not
have to wait for baggage claim at the other end, and soar over clogged
roads thinking of people slugging it out with the road-ragers beneath, but
this quickly reverts to questions of reason and responsibility, "Are you
sure that’s safe?" and "What about the environment?". Fortunately, most in
the non-flying public have no idea that piston airplanes still use leaded
gasoline, else the pressure would be even stronger to close smaller
airports to build wood pellet factories, because wood smoke is good for
the environment.

Greg Faris > wrote:
> Honestly, I feel small, private planes are not targeted by this whole
> thing, but I would not want to be CEO of Gulfstream right now, even
> though they are predicting a bright future in the immediate and
> short-term. Things could always turn around, but with so much focus on
> wealth disparities, the private jet is just an easy target.

Can't disagree with that sentiment at all.

> Though those of us with smaller planes may not be intentionally
> targeted, neglect and incomprehension mean we will be hit more by
> environmental, insurance and just "plane old" spiraling costs.

No argument.

> When I tell people I like to travel, insofar as possible, by private
> plane, I usually get a long stare of incredulity as they try to
> process that incongruous piece of data. It’s somewhere between "Are
> you rich?" and "Are you out of your mind?"

I haven't run into that as such, but have run into mild variants.

I have a sister-in-law who seems to have a mild fear of flying. She'll fly,
but would rather avoid it. But - she met my brother while they were both in
the navy. He had a PPL and took her up on one flight in a small plane while
they were stationed in Spain. That was the first and last small plane
flight she took with him. They ended up married anyway. :-)

Even odder, her mother learned to fly on her own in the 1930s and later
became a member of the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP). I jokingly
asked her once whether she was really her mother's daughter. She was proud,
though, to go to Washington D.C. in March of 2010 to witness a belated
recognition (her mother deceased) of the WASPs service to their country.

> I do manage to elicit a
> glimmer of envy when I say I can fly wherever I want without having to
> take my shoes off, no TSA agents barking at me, throw whatever I want
> into the plane and not have to wait for baggage claim at the other
> end, and soar over clogged roads thinking of people slugging it out
> with the road-ragers beneath, but this quickly reverts to questions of
> reason and responsibility, "Are you sure that’s safe?" and "What about
> the environment?". Fortunately, most in the non-flying public have no
> idea that piston airplanes still use leaded gasoline, else the
> pressure would be even stronger to close smaller airports to build
> wood pellet factories, because wood smoke is good for the environment.

Seems many people who I've talked to in the past about flying have said
they had toyed with the idea in varying measure. I think there is a latent
interest there that needs to be touched on anytime burdens are proposed.
People will likely oppose those things which may inhibit future dreams.