"John Harlow" wrote in message
...
Yep. My concern is this kind of attitude is going to lead us to even more
flight restrictions.

Well, you and I can agree, I'm sure, that there are at least two
philosophies when it comes to stuff like this. We saw the same division
with respect to post-9/11 flight restrictions. There are those who feel
that if we negotiate, even with fools, we'll wind up with the worst-case
outcome. Then there are those who feel that if we don't resist as
aggressively as possible at every step, we'll wind up with the worst-case
outcome.

I personally like to feel that I fall somewhere in the middle. I don't
think it makes sense to just dig in our heels and pretend we should be
permitted to just keep on as we've always done. But at the same time, why
waste effort pretending that people like the STN idiots even come close to
having a point?

I haven't been following AOPA's involvement, but personally it seems to me
that AOPA ought to take this up as an example case, defend the pilots
vigorously, and countersue for all legal fees and other associated costs.
When AOPA wins, it will make other similar groups think twice before making
unreasonable demands.

Like I said, I do my best to fly quietly. But only inasmuch as it doesn't
affect my safety and my right to exercise my legal privileges as a pilot.
I'm more than happy to discuss with someone else their concerns if they feel
there's room for improvement, but I will not tolerate someone who has made
it clear from the outset that they don't understand aviation, and want it
destroyed altogether.

I believe most other pilots are similarly interested in neighborly flying.
One thing I don't understand is some otherwise careful and considerate
pilots' hesitance to get involved when they see another pilot flying in an
illegal or unneighborly fashion. Frankly, it's those handful of
irresponsible pilots that are going to do us all in, and if we don't clean
house, I'm sure someone else (like STN) will be happy to do it for us. We
could make some progress in not encouraging groups like STN to be created in
the first place if we'd just do a better job of policing our own.

In another thread discussing someone building an airstrip next to a
possibly
contentious neighbor, pilots overwhelmingly suggested negotiation. I'm
just puzzled as to why it's different here.

IMHO, it's different because of the degree of hostility expressed by the
neighbor. We've actually had at least two "neighbor to an airstrip under
construction" threads here, and I wouldn't say that in either case, the
person posting exhibited a strong pro-aviation attitude. In the Idaho case,
the guy was downright stubborn, and I don't think he ever really understood
what we were trying to tell him. But even in that case, he wasn't calling
for an end to aviation, or even to block his neighbor's right to an airstrip
(though, I admit he may take that tack later...he wasn't doing it here
though).

Pete