At last, the truth...

Andrew Gideon wrote:
It's a small sample, true, but I'd not go so far as to say that "wives don't
like flying". If nothing else, we should be asking what the husbands think
of their aviating spouses.

I have only ever met one woman who flew when her husband/boyfriend didn't.
And she was having an affair with a guy with a Pitts.

Tina Marie
--
http://www.tripacerdriver.com "...One of the main causes
of the fall of the Roman Empire was that, lacking zero, they had no way
to indicate successful termination of their C programs." (Robert Firth)

"Andrew Sarangan" wrote in message
ups.com...
Check http://www.aopa.org/whatsnew/trend.html for a quantitative
summary of trends. Private, commercial and instrument issuances are
down 12% since 2000. New aircraft shipments are down 10% since 2000.

On the other hand, there were more new private, commercial and (especially)
instrument pilots in 2004 than in 1997, and far more GA shipments in 2004
than in 1997. Yes, there was a spike in 2000 (just before the tech bubble
burst), but the overall trend seems more up than down.

Avgas sale is down almost 25% since 1999.

Maybe more pilots have learned how to lean the mixture.

--Gary

Jay Honeck wrote:

You have it backwards. Motorcycling is *not* golf, nor flying, nor

boating... but I bet you just don't "get it" when it comes to
two-wheelers.


What, you're saying *motorcycling* is the be-all and end-all activity?

I've ridden for 20 years, and (IMHO) it is VERY similar to flying. I love
it dearly, but it is essentially just 2/3s of what flying is -- minus the
third dimension.

Until you can pull back on the handlebars and have the cycle go up, there
will be no comparison.

I agree that flying is a greater pure thrill than motorcycling and I
have more than 30 years of motorcycling and approaching 30 years of
flying. However, since I live 40 minutes from the nearest airport, it
is much easier to walk down to my garage and take a spin on the bike
when I have a spare couple of hours, than it is to spend 1.5 of those
hours driving to and from the airport for a 30 minute hop.

And a motorcycle provides, as you say, maybe 2/3 rds of the thrill for
about 1/10 the money so it is a pretty good deal! :-)


Matt

Jay Honeck wrote:

It's funny -- you described my life almost perfectly (I.E.: Kids,
business, wife, billion-hour work-weeks, no time) -- yet we fly a couple
of times per week.

How much would you have flown if your wife didn't go up with you?


Which begs the question: How can you be married to someone with whom you
can't share the passion for flight?

Fortunately, I was motorcycling, flying and shooting before I was
married. Some folks get married before getting hooked on flying. I
don't think that you would seriously suggest that someone get divorced
simply because their spouse doesn't share their newly acquired thrill.


Matt

Tina Marie wrote:
I have only ever met one woman who flew when her husband/boyfriend didn't.
And she was having an affair with a guy with a Pitts.

See, it just goes to show you that you don't have to have a lot of money
to fly a Pitts.
All you need is something of value to trade for stick time. ;-))

Gary Drescher wrote:

Avgas sale is down almost 25% since 1999.

Maybe more pilots have learned how to lean the mixture.

Maybe GAMI sales are up?

George Patterson
Give a person a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a person to
use the Internet and he won't bother you for weeks.

Jay Honeck wrote:

It did, however, stick in my craw, since
he was the first guy who has ever admitted to me that he was scared out of
the cockpit.

And you should really take that as an indication that very few people are
actually scared out of the cockpit, instead of assuming (as the title of this
thread indicates) that the rest are simply lying about it.

George Patterson
Give a person a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a person to
use the Internet and he won't bother you for weeks.

Matt Whiting wrote:

I agree that flying is a greater pure thrill than motorcycling and I
have more than 30 years of motorcycling and approaching 30 years of
flying. However, since I live 40 minutes from the nearest airport, it
is much easier to walk down to my garage and take a spin on the bike
when I have a spare couple of hours, than it is to spend 1.5 of those
hours driving to and from the airport for a 30 minute hop.

You put your finger on one reason I sold the Maule. It took me 45 minutes on a
good day to drive to the airport. Over fairly heavily traveled 2-lane roads that
could easily add half an hour to the trip. Add in 20 minutes to untie and
pre-flight and 15 minutes to put her to bed and the entire afternoon is gone for
even a short flight.

George Patterson
Give a person a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a person to
use the Internet and he won't bother you for weeks.

Jay Honeck wrote:

Which begs the question: How can you be married to someone with whom you
can't share the passion for flight?

Very easily.

George Patterson
Give a person a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a person to
use the Internet and he won't bother you for weeks.

Jay Honeck wrote:

If we
can figure out why so many people start -- and quit -- pilot training,
perhaps we can counter the downward trend somehow?

Well, that's not going to be possible for you. You have said yourself several
times that you just can't understand how people can fail to feel the magic in
aviation. Until you *can* understand that, you will never figure out why people
quit.

George Patterson
Give a person a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a person to
use the Internet and he won't bother you for weeks.