I remember feeling more than a bit anxious about whether GA and private
aircraft ownership would ever be something I could pursue when I grew
up. Seemed like the golden age of flight was behind me.

That was back in the late 60s and I was an early teen flying models.

Then came the gas crisis and things looked even bleaker.

Since then, all I've done is fly. With GPS, composites, kit-builts,
personal jets, LSA, globalization, responsible regulation, and
increasing national wealth, it seems the golden age is now. And
probably will be tomorrow.

If you want to fly, you may have to make some adjustments. Living in
the southeast lowers the cost - living in NYC makes flying a challenge.
You have to train more, there are more aircraft, and more regs but
there are LSAs too. You can still fly across the country with or
without engaging our outstanding ATC system - but you can't show
passengers the White House, soar over Camp David or gawk at one of
Cheney's bunkers. Airports are closing everyday and new homes are being
built, especially in NJ. But airports are being built, expanded, and
replaced here in NC. The FBOs may all be turning into jetports for
kero crowd, but the coffee is better, the rental cars more available,
and security sure beats the other side of the airport. New aircraft are
more expensive than ever but there are more homebuilt kits than ever
before and they can perform as well or better than the factory jobs.

Options abound. It's not getting cheaper but it is getting better.

My dream now is to fly my 200mph kitbuilt into Cuba, legally. I bet
I'll do it.


Google Madness wrote:
Twenty years ago I almost got into flying, I'd even taken my Discovery
Flight and was all set to dive in. Then my wife-to-be put the kabosh on it
saying it was too much money.
Now money isn't so much an issue anymore and I'm all set once again to
follow my dream of having my PPL.
But, I've heard so many depressing things about the state of ( and future
of ) GA I'm wondering if the era of GA has passed me by.

Here's one article, like many others that I've read, that expresses many of
the issues that sounds so dismal for GA. I'm now seriously considering
scrapping the idea of a PPL once again but I'd like to hear from some people
out there if the situation is not really as bad as this sounds.

http://www.megginson.com/blogs/lahso...eral-aviation/

Thanks