On 2005-08-24, Jay Honeck wrote:
It doesn't matter how desirable something is to someone who can't afford
it or how affordable something is to someone who doesn't want it, desire
and resources have to match. Aviation doesn't appeal to many of those who
can afford it.

WHY?

Aviation doesn't appeal, period.

Being in the air is NOT our natural habitat. I'm coming more to the
conclusion that myself and my fellow pilots, aviators, skydivers
(particularly skydivers), hang glider pilots, glider pilots - any sort
of aviator at all, aren't really wired quite the same way as everyone
else.

Everyone else instincively knows that being more than a few feet AGL is
not natural and rather dumb, and only tolerate airline travel because
it's the only way to get some places and you are so insulated fand
distracted from the actual going up in the air bit, they can ignore for
a few hours that they are not firmly attached to the ground. Anything
that reminds them of this (the tiniest bit of turbulence, for example)
makes them anxious (and makes some of them whimper). We didn't evolve as
an airborne species. It is totally alien. To subject yourself to this
voluntarily is, in the subconscious lizard-mind totally insane. So they
don't do it.

There is only a tiny proportion of the population who doesn't
subconsicously find the idea of flying around many thousands of feet
from their natural habitat deeply disturbing. When an aviator stands on
top of a large hill, at least part of them is thinking "Wouldn't it be
cool to run down here with a hang-glider...". When a normal person
stands on top of a big hill, they think "It'd really suck to trip right
now". At least subconsicously.

--
Dylan Smith, Castletown, Isle of Man
Flying: http://www.dylansmith.net
Frontier Elite Universe: http://www.alioth.net
"Maintain thine airspeed, lest the ground come up and smite thee"