Almost saw someone crash

Good for you, Jay! I get so tired of hearing folks whine about my
airplanes
when they drive up in their $40,000 SUVs whose insurance is more each year
than our two taildraggers combined. I don't work and my husband doesn't
make
a six figure salary, but we manage to fly about 300 hours a year together.

I wish there was a better way to communicate this fact.

One main impediment is that pilots seem to *want* everyone to think that
they are rich, powerful, exclusive fly-boys. I suppose this is only human
nature, but it really is counter-productive when we're trying to keep a
dying breed alive.

G.A. will not survive without young people getting involved. All you have
to do is look at the pictures from Pinckneyville (and Oshkosh, and Sun N
Fun) to see a whole lot of gray (and, ahem, balding) heads in the photos.
Where are the young folks?

Spread the Word -- flying is cheap! :-)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:eqVtc.16324$n_6.1632@attbi_s53...

Spread the Word -- flying is cheap! :-)

Depends where you are. Here it is $270 a month just for tie down.

The entry fee is steep. I heard the average lately around here is 100 TT to
a private. I believe the least expensive 172 is $105 an hour (plus 8.75%
tax) and the instructors are $45 an hour (too bad they don't get most of
that). Plus the time involvement, rescheduling incessantly for poor
weather, and unavailability of planes (the $130 an hour ones are more
available).

Around here is *not* the ideal place to learn to fly.

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:eqVtc.16324$n_6.1632@attbi_s53...

G.A. will not survive without young people getting involved. All you
have
to do is look at the pictures from Pinckneyville (and Oshkosh, and Sun N
Fun) to see a whole lot of gray (and, ahem, balding) heads in the photos.
Where are the young folks?

Probably working two jobs to pay the Social Security benefits of those old
gray, balding types...

Jay Honeck wrote:

Where are the young folks?

They've figured out that boats are cheaper, you can throw parties on them, and you
can attract bikini-clad young ladies. For what a C-152 costs, you can buy one big
enough to sleep on. If nothing else, you can go fishing. Best of all, the FAA is not
involved.

A much better deal if you're single and in your 20s. Or maybe if you're just single.
:-)

George Patterson
None of us is as dumb as all of us.

G.R. Patterson III wrote:

They've figured out that boats are cheaper, you can throw parties on them, and you
can attract bikini-clad young ladies. For what a C-152 costs, you can buy one big
enough to sleep on. If nothing else, you can go fishing. Best of all, the FAA is not
involved.

A much better deal if you're single and in your 20s. Or maybe if you're just single.
:-)

If you live in the south, maybe. If you live in the northern states or
Canada, a boat spends most of the year in drydock or the driveway.


All the best,


David

If you live in the south, maybe. If you live in the northern states or
Canada, a boat spends most of the year in drydock or the driveway.

Yep. I'm from a city with a strong maritime tradition (Racine, WI), and
boating is a huge part of the local economy...

....for about 15 weeks per year. The other 37 weeks, these giant
party-barges are shrink-wrapped in giant blue cocoons, and stacked on shore
like toys.

We've got friends with a 42 foot, ocean-going yacht, docked in Racine. It's
gorgeous, cost as much as a new Bonanza, burns an incredible amount of gas,
and goes no where. To me, it's the dumbest possible purchase.

Of course, they think our plane is absurd... ;-)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

David Megginson wrote:

If you live in the south, maybe. If you live in the northern states or
Canada, a boat spends most of the year in drydock or the driveway.

And I think it was Jay who was recently complaining about the aircraft owners who
treat their aircraft the same way.

George Patterson
None of us is as dumb as all of us.

If you live in the south, maybe. If you live in the northern states or
Canada, a boat spends most of the year in drydock or the driveway.

And I think it was Jay who was recently complaining about the aircraft
owners who
treat their aircraft the same way.

Yep, there is a subset of aircraft owners who simply hang up the keys after
Thanksgiving, and don't pick them up again until Easter.

To me, this is totally absurd, bad for the planes, and probably unsafe.
Flying ain't like driving a boat, and IMHO they are missing the very best
flying by avoiding the cold weather months.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

In article , G.R. Patterson III wrote:
[boats]
A much better deal if you're single and in your 20s. Or maybe if you're
just single.

I started to learn to fly aged 24, in the late 1990s (and still single).

The main difficulty with boats, when it boils down to it, is that they
just don't fly very well.

Light aircraft might be the wrong venue to start younger people off as
it's too expensive. A glider site with a winch might be better (although
you have to be pretty keen on flying). We've got 3 under 18s at our
glider club right now, and our club's total membership is under 20
members. Winch launched gliders are a pretty economical way to start
flying.

--
Dylan Smith, Castletown, Isle of Man
Flying: http://www.dylansmith.net
Frontier Elite Universe: http://www.alioth.net
"Maintain thine airspeed, lest the ground come up and smite thee"

"G.R. Patterson III" wrote in message
...
They've figured out that boats are cheaper, you can throw parties on them,
and you
can attract bikini-clad young ladies. For what a C-152 costs, you can buy
one big
enough to sleep on. If nothing else, you can go fishing. Best of all, the
FAA is not
involved.

A much better deal if you're single and in your 20s. Or maybe if you're
just single.
:-)

Hmm. Sell my plane and get a boat? Nah. I'll stay single and fly!

Paul