In article l7vuf.457213$084.371904@attbi_s22,
"Jay Honeck" wrote:


It's not just for pilots. I've often thought that the bike manufacturers
have under-estimated the size of the folding bike market.

As with LED spotlights, battery powered air compressors, and those
"instant-jump-start" thingies, when a product becomes affordable, it
suddenly becomes a "necessity" -- and the market simply explodes.

Every one of the items I mentioned above were unaffordable -- or
unavailable -- just a few years ago. Now, they have become "standard
equipment" in each of my cars.

If marketed as a convenience, or even as a safety device ("Never get
stranded again!") I believe that an affordable folding bike could become the
next "gotta have" thing for the general population -- not just pilots.

It's a romantic notion, but I don't think it's true. Most of us are
pretty lazy. I've got a friend who's 6' 5" of solid muscle, and he calls
AAA when he gets a flat tire. People don't want to put a bicycle
together and ride it down the freeway to get home. That's what cell
phones are for.

There was an article in a flying rag several years back (might have been
AOPA Pilot) that was about being prepared to spend a few days in the
wilderness in the event of an off-airport forced landing. It said "The
Southern California pilot's idea of an emergency kit is two dimes for a
pay phone."

Your self-reliant attitude is commendable, but, IMO, it's one that isn't
widely shared, unfortunately.

(I hope your cars are also stocked with food and water, clothing,
blankets, a tire patch kit, at least a couple of hundred dollars in
cash, a good knife, maybe a small caliber rifle, matches, a Boy Scout
Handbook, and a full tank of gas. You never know where you'll be when
the next natural or man-made disaster will come along.)

Other than the folding bike, I'm planning to start getting prepared
tomorrow, or Friday at the latest.