"Andrew Sarangan" wrote in message
ups.com...
Check http://www.aopa.org/whatsnew/trend.html for a quantitative
summary of trends. Private, commercial and instrument issuances are
down 12% since 2000. New aircraft shipments are down 10% since 2000.

On the other hand, there were more new private, commercial and (especially)
instrument pilots in 2004 than in 1997, and far more GA shipments in 2004
than in 1997. Yes, there was a spike in 2000 (just before the tech bubble
burst), but the overall trend seems more up than down.

Avgas sale is down almost 25% since 1999.

Maybe more pilots have learned how to lean the mixture.

--Gary