Student Drop-Out Rates...why?

"David Dyer-Bennet" wrote in message
...
"Jay Honeck" writes:

You'll notice I've not mentioned the Number One reason people mention for
quitting: Money. We've beaten the relative cost of flying to death, and
(for
the purposes of this thread) I will just leave it at this: Learning to
fly
is about as expensive as a semester of college, and less expensive than
buying a Harley-Davidson motorcycle. Let's leave "cost" out of this, for
now, as I think it's safe to say that there a millions of Americans who
could easily afford to learn to fly, if the urge were to strike.

I don't really mean to try to drag the discussion back to the cost,
because that's something individuals can't do much about. However,
your comparison to a Harley is interesting.

Nevertheless, a Harley (or a Hondo or a Suzuki, for that matter) has way
more utility than an airplane. I can use it to go to work every day, and it
will cost me LESS than other modes of transport. I can use it to go on an
extended trip, alone or with 3 other Harleys, and if I only drive for 2
hours, it won't cost me 4 hours of minimum per-day airtime. If I see
something interesting, I can stop on a dime and go back to see it in detail.

*Most* of our big toys have way more utility than an airplane. A Porsche or
a Corvette can get the groceries for about the same price as a Chevy (once
it is paid for). With a brand new 300,000 dollar boat, I can entertain two
small families for a weekend without leaving the dock. With a brand new
300,000 airplane, I can get one or maybe 3 other persons to sit very still
for a couple of hours, have lunch at a nice restaurant, then sit very still
for another couple of hours on the way back.


So flying is relegated to the truly dedicated, or the rich, or the business
flyer (more correctly: the business tax write-off.... Hey, Jay, what
percentage of the OSH trip is a personal "taxable benefit" and what
percentage is a "business expense"? :-) but I digress
:-) ).

Unfortunately, flying can have no lasting appeal for the casual pilot
masses, until it DOES have some reasonably economic utility, and right now
it simply does not.

Unfortunately, flying can have no lasting appeal for the casual pilot
masses, until it DOES have some reasonably economic utility, and right now
it simply does not

I think it is essentially true that flying has limited economic
utility. Pilots love to argue this point, but I think most of us know
this to be true. I can't tell you the countless hours I have spent
trying to plan flights that "show" how convenient and useful an
airplane is. It's work!

However, you can go two ways with this:
1. fix the economics, show how the family plane can be like the family
car
2. pitch flying as an avocation, something done for entertainment.

In the latter scenario, flying doesn't need to make economic sense,
just not be overly burdensome. However, I'm not sure how many people
you can recruit with 2.

I like the former scenario, but the economics, as near as I can tell,
are getting worse, not better.

-- dave j