On Sat, 29 Nov 2003 22:24:11 GMT, "James Blakely"
wrote in Message-Id:
:

I guess what got me thinking about this was that I was wondering how many
(what percentage) of people get into aviation only to leave it. I think it
happens more than most think. (And, no, I'm not talking about the
percentage who fly until they cannot pass the medical due to advanced age.
I'm talking about the people who start flying and then, months or years
later, quit.) If all these people who have stopped posting are any
indication, then the number must be quite large.


I suspect that you are correct in intuiting that the GA pilot dropout
rate is quite high, especially among student pilots. IMO there are
four main contributors.

1. The fear of physical harm and/or fear of inadequate personal
mastery of aviation piloting that may result in physical harm. There
are those individuals whose lack of confidence and/or posession of a
chronically marginal piloting skill level causes them to perceive,
that actively practicing their airman's skills (flight) will lead to
their demise.

2. The necessity to continuously practice one's piloting skills
to stay current and safe. Aeronautical piloting shares a common
hidden cost with high performance car ownership often not considered
before purchase. The new owner of a Farrari who saved for years to be
able to own it soon discovers that the astronomical financial cost of
insurance and repairs prohibit one of his income level from
comfortably possessing one. The amount of time required to stay
current also may not be available. Often these pilots return to
aviation after retirement when they possess the time and means for it.

3. The relatively high financial cost of civil aviation
operation. The pilot's means/motivation to travel in the third
dimension must exceed his sense of frugality.

4. The perceived lack of benefit received for effort/cost/time
expended. If aviation fails to adequately fulfill the pilot's needs
and wants (which are highly subjective), s/he will drift toward other
activities which do.


With regard to the dropout rate of usenet participants, I suspect that
exposure to the onslaught of hostile personal attacks (flames) one
must endure during the argument of heated debate takes it toll among
those who choose not to suffer fools, or are unaccustomed to such
discourse. There is also the proposition of outgrowing usenet.

A study of what causes people to participate in usenet/flying would
probably reveal a lot of insight into why they leave.