What GA needs

On Sep 12, 1:06 pm, Mxsmanic wrote:
Jeff Dougherty writes:
Eh? All I had to do to get in to flight school was show up with a
check in my hand.

Getting in is just the beginning.

The third class medical doesn't do much more than make sure you
won't have a heart attack or seizure at 5,000 feet ...

The medicals are excessively restrictive--reminiscent of military
requirements--and archaic, disqualifying some conditions that are generally
harmless while accepting others that can often be dangerous. They are also
unnecessarily repetitive.

Red tape is abundant in certification as well, with special procedures just
for having retractable gear, excessive currency requirements, heavy
regulation, and so on.

It's easier to become a lawyer than it is to become a pilot, and in some
respects it's easier to become a doctor as well.

I agree that medicals are excessively restrictive, but that has been
slowly changing. Also, based on accident records, having a special
rating for retract makes perfect sense. If the FAA does not, the
insurance companies will (and do) impose extra conditions for flying a
retract. No, it is not easier to become a physician or a lawyer.
Anyone without a serious physical handicap, about $5k of cash and
average or even below average intelligence can become a pilot in a few
months. Even if you are talking about becoming a professional pilot,
there are places that will train you from zero for about $50k.

"Bob Noel" wrote in message
...
In article , "Maxwell"

wrote:

But if people will pay $1000 for headsets, what would they pay for an
aircraft that doesn't require them?

nothing.

But they WILL pay $$$ hundreds of thousands to have pressurization so they
don't have to have a cannula shoved up their nose, or a face mask. :~)

"Ron Lee" wrote in message
...
Bottom line is that flying, like skiing, scuba diving, skydiving,
motocross, etc is not for everyone.

Well., you have to wear a FACE MASK OR GOGGLES for all those hobbies.

Gotta be more annoying than headphones.

Of course, how many people wander around with a Walkman blasting in their
ears?

On Sep 12, 1:37 pm, "Jon Woellhaf" wrote:
Jeff Dougherty wrote

... The third class medical doesn't do much more than
make sure you won't have a heart attack or seizure at 5,000 feet ...

I believe the third class medical -- or even the first class medical --
provide no assurance whatsoever that you won't have a heart attack on the
way from the doctor's office to your car.

Someone posted their story here a while ago about having to get a
special psychiatric evaluation just because he happened to mention to
the FAA that he had a psychological evaluation when he was an 5-year
old (or something close to that age). There is no doubt that the FAA
medical process is unnecessarily bureaucratic and has grounded too
many perfectly fine pilots. A fairer system would be to do away with
medicals except for those who fly for a living. Just like we do for
driving. To my knowledge, it has never been proven that medical
incapacitation is a leading cause of aviation accidents.

Gig 601XL Builder writes:

Agreed but now we have LSA so that doesn't have to be an issue for the
average recreational pilot.

LSA is so restrictive that it's uninteresting to many potential pilots. And
the existence of LSA demonstrates that the normal PPL is too draconian in its
requirements. Flying an LSA doesn't make you any more fit to fly.

Please give us an example of the excessive requirements? And the average
recreational pilot (which is what this thread is about) isn't going to be
flying retracts.

Why not?

Well, now you are getting into the professional side of things but you are
once again wrong. I'm sure some of the doctors and lawyers around here will
jump in on this one.

I'm not talking about professional pilots, even private pilots have this
problem.

Andrew Sarangan wrote:

To my knowledge, it has never been proven that medical
incapacitation is a leading cause of aviation accidents.

Well, that could also be interpreted as supporting the medicals: After all,
medical incapacitation isn't a leading cause of aviation accidents, so the
medicals must be doing a good job of preventing
medical-incapacitation-caused accidents.

We need data on the frequency of medical incapacitation accidents in the
absence of medicals in order to really be able to make a point either way.

Ad.

--
The mail address works, but please notify me via usenet of any mail you send
to it, as it has a retention period of just a few hours.

In article ,
"Matt Barrow" wrote:

But they WILL pay $$$ hundreds of thousands to have pressurization so they
don't have to have a cannula shoved up their nose, or a face mask. :~)

A better reason is to fly over rather than through mountains and some weather.

--
Bob Noel
(goodness, please trim replies!!!)

Maxwell wrote:
"Gig 601XL Builder" wrDOTgiaconaATsuddenlink.net wrote in message
...

Which is cheaper? A $1000 pair of headsets or the multi hundred
pounds it will take to make aircraft quieter in the cockpit. And
before you answer we aren't just talking insullation here we are
talking a bigger engine to carry the weight of the insullation, more
fuel and fuel burn because of the bigger engine and probably 100
other things I haven't even thought of.
You might not have to add weight. The auto industry seems to have
avoided it.

My last car was a Honda S2000. 2 Seats, good performance and a trunk about
the size of the cargo area in a 150.

Curb Weight 2,835 lbs.

And since you mention Lexus below.

Lexus GS450h Hybrid.

Curb Weight 4,134 lbs.




You are right that there are probably some folks out there that
don't fly for that reason. But motorcycles are loud, jetskis are
loud, ski and bass boats are loud. Being loud isn't the problem. The
same goes for vibration.

Perhaps not to you, but there are a lot of people out there that can
easily afford any small plane they choose. But they don't fly
airplanes, ride jet skis, motorcycles or bass boats. Most do however
seem to drive a Lexus, or something a whole lot like one.

I'm not really sure of your point on this. You seem to be comparing GA as
recreation to a auto for transportation.

Mxsmanic wrote:
Gig 601XL Builder writes:

Agreed but now we have LSA so that doesn't have to be an issue for
the average recreational pilot.

LSA is so restrictive that it's uninteresting to many potential
pilots. And the existence of LSA demonstrates that the normal PPL is
too draconian in its requirements. Flying an LSA doesn't make you
any more fit to fly.


Tell me what is so restrictive about it. The type of flight it authorizes
would cover 90% of the recreational GA flight in the US.



Please give us an example of the excessive requirements? And the
average recreational pilot (which is what this thread is about)
isn't going to be flying retracts.

Why not?



Because of the additional cost of the aircraft and the general lack of need
for it in recreational GA flying.


Well, now you are getting into the professional side of things but
you are once again wrong. I'm sure some of the doctors and lawyers
around here will jump in on this one.

I'm not talking about professional pilots, even private pilots have
this problem.

So it is your stance that the requirements for a private pilot ticket are on
par with the requirements to be a lawyer or doctor?

"Gig 601XL Builder" wrDOTgiaconaATsuddenlink.net wrote in message
...
Maxwell wrote:
"Gig 601XL Builder" wrDOTgiaconaATsuddenlink.net wrote in message
...

Which is cheaper? A $1000 pair of headsets or the multi hundred
pounds it will take to make aircraft quieter in the cockpit. And
before you answer we aren't just talking insullation here we are
talking a bigger engine to carry the weight of the insullation, more
fuel and fuel burn because of the bigger engine and probably 100
other things I haven't even thought of.
You might not have to add weight. The auto industry seems to have
avoided it.

My last car was a Honda S2000. 2 Seats, good performance and a trunk about
the size of the cargo area in a 150.

Curb Weight 2,835 lbs.

And since you mention Lexus below.

Lexus GS450h Hybrid.

Curb Weight 4,134 lbs.


You're right. Most hybrids do weigh more.




You are right that there are probably some folks out there that
don't fly for that reason. But motorcycles are loud, jetskis are
loud, ski and bass boats are loud. Being loud isn't the problem. The
same goes for vibration.

Perhaps not to you, but there are a lot of people out there that can
easily afford any small plane they choose. But they don't fly
airplanes, ride jet skis, motorcycles or bass boats. Most do however
seem to drive a Lexus, or something a whole lot like one.

I'm not really sure of your point on this. You seem to be comparing GA as
recreation to a auto for transportation.

Not at all. Just than in the last 30 years automobiles have gotten "A LOT"
quieter and GA aircraft haven't kept pace.