At last, the truth...

GA is under pressure because of the misguided focus of anti-terror issues,
regulatory issues, (resulting in economic issues), etc. It will continue
to change, in some cases for the better (see the recent success of Cirrus
and the development of the GA glass cockpit), in some cases for the worse.
But the very small incremental change in pilot population that results
from "Be a pilot" programs really won't have much effect. Pilots have a
small and decreasing voice. That's just part of the landscape. But it is a
vast overstatement to say that GA is dying.

The pressure exerted on GA by anti-terror or regulatory issues is
insignificant compared to the damage being done to it by Father Time.

The pilot community is very old, and getting older by the minute. Already
most of the WWII generation has hung it up, and the Korean War generation
ain't far behind. Why do you think formerly busy little airports all over
the country are now nearly deserted? The guys who used to fly there are
"flying" walkers and wheel chairs nowadays.

Take a look at the "Gone West" page in EAA's Sport Aviation magazine every
month. It's astounding the number of members EAA is losing each month due
to natural attrition -- and there simply are not enough student pilot
start-ups to make up for the tens of thousands of post-war pilots who are
pushing up daisies.

GA is dying -- literally -- right before our eyes. And we are going to have
to get a whole bunch of young people interested in flying to keep this ball
rolling.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"