Larry Dighera wrote:



To the general public, that is probably true, but to one who
appreciates and understands the physics of either of the examples you
cite, the magic will always be there.

Well, my pointis that there are a lot less young people today that
are interested in the 'physics' of either technology. We hire
part time students alot and I know what they think.


The difference between them is, that cell phones and the Internet now
so dominate communications, that armature radio and short wave
broadcasting have little useful utility today, unlike personal
aviation. The ability to quickly travel to distant destinations
without enduring the airlines' abominably intrusive security policies,
uncontrollable delays, and risk of inhaling TB germs or
tricresylphosphate* renders personal aviation more attractive than
ever.

I hope you're right... that the abomination that is commercial
airline travel will eventually make some people so angry that
they will try general aviation. I submit, however, that these
people will most likely be business owners not really interested
in the 'physics' of it all... just want relief from the hassel.

I've held an Extra Class Ham Radio license since college (too
many years ago to admit) and hold a CFI rating so I've seen a
lot of this stuff up close.