In article ,
LWG wrote:
I have nothing against the LSA or the SP, I just don't think they have
enough practicality to catch on.

Okay ... what exactly is not practical about them? They are by far the
cheapest new airplanes out there, most of them run on mogas (of course,
who knows what's happening with ethanol, but still), they have low
operating costs, it seems like most of them cruise in the 90-110 knot
range. Maybe it doesn't carry as much load as quickly as your
Sundowner ... but they're still airplanes, and people can fly in them.
Most of the ones I've seen have a more useful load than a 152.

I would really like to see more people
flying, I just don't think that this will affect the decline in GA. It
looks like we are the last of a generation. I remember my intense
preoccupation with flying when I was a teenager, and compare it to what I
see, even with my own kids. They couldn't care less about aviation, unless
it says Lear or Gulfstream, and that't not for the flying, it's just for the
bling.

I don't think that much has changed, really. When I was growing up,
relatively few of my friends were interested in aviation. The ones that
are interested as adults are turned off by the cost; I know a large number
of people that investigated flying and realized they couldn't afford it;
a smaller but sigificant number that started their license but ran out
of money. I actually got my license, but the costs made it so I don't
fly anymore.

There is nothing I would like to see more than a resurgence in the interest
in GA. I don't see any new investment in anything related to general
aviation, except from government. Private airports are now housing
developments. Businesses depending upon GA are folding up. The only "new"
buildings or improvements I see in my area have been put up by state or
local government. That's better than nothing, but I'd rather see the engine
of private enterprise doing these things.

The reason I believe that happened was that there is very little money
to be made in aviation; it seems like most people do it as a labor of
love. Maybe more planes will help that out; I guess we'll have to see.

--Ken