Everyone here understands that learning to fly is a huge endeavor that
takes money, commitment, time, energy, and the support of whoever you
live with. It also requires access to a CFI that you work well with that
is available when you are, and reliable, well-maintained equipment. The
absence of any *ONE* of those elements is enough to make it impossible
to complete the training ... or even to continue after the rating is
achieved (except the presence of the CFI). That said, not everyone who
*has* all those elements sees it through to completion, either. Without
meaning to sound arrogant, I'm not sure there is, or should be, a way to
fix that.

This is, of course, all true. Heck, I know perfectly intelligent adults
that can't ride a bicycle -- so there's even a "drop-out rate" for that
seemingly universal endeavor.

That said, it is incumbent upon those of us who *have* made it through to
help those who haven't -- whether we want to or not. Why? Because at the
current rate of pilot population decline, it will be impossible to convince
municipalities (like Iowa City) to maintain an airport that is used by fewer
and fewer people.

We NEED to get every possible body into the cockpit, no matter what our
personal feelings about aviation may be, purely through enlightened
self-interest.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"