The Airport Fence

EridanMan writes:

For the past five years, my strata has been obsessed with real
estate. All spare resources dedicated to latching on to every-
increasing property values.

Sounds like a stratum of gamblers, eager to get something for nothing.

The best reason for buying land is to have it, not to resell it.

This past year, that has utterly died...
Those of us who still have not bought have realized we will not be
buying for a few years until housing prices return to some semblance
of sanity (fundamentals), and even those who did buy are cashing out
now while they're still above water.

Land speculation, like the stock market, is legalized gambling.

The result has been more funds available for something other than real-
estate among my local upper-middle-class peers. For many of them,
this is the first time in their life they've had any income
'surplus,', having been dragged by the real estate boom from basically
the start of their professional careers. Take a surplus of money, add
an engineer mentality that _adores_ its toys and loves 'out there'
hobbies and experiences, and I think the resurgence of aviation in
Silicon Valley is hardly surprising.

That's the key: a surplus of money. Something that most people in the U.S. no
longer have. The vast middle class that once existed and had enough extra
cash to do interesting things is being driven out of existence, and what
remains are the very wealthy and those living at subsistence levels--very
similar to the late 19th century, in fact.

I'm in NO WAY saying that this particular region is indicative of the
rest of the country, nor do I believe that the growth in bay area
Aviation can in any way offset losses throughout 'bread and butter'
America. I'm just saying that the picture isn't _ALL_ bleak.

There will always be someplace where GA is healthy. But unless those areas
don't plan to ever undertake flights anywhere else, you do need a certain
critical mass of GA in order to justify and/or pay for infrastructure.

On Thu, 23 Aug 2007 03:52:52 GMT, Ron Lee wrote:

What is the general status of GA activity around the country?

Down.

According to statistics kept by the FAA, the number of private pilots is
down from 299,000 to 236,000 and the average age of the pilots is rising.

The number of student pilots is down by about a third since 1990, from
129,000 to 88,000.

--
Dallas

Cubdriver usenet AT danford DOT net wrote in
news


I suspect the main reason folks can't afford flying is that they're
spending so much on swimming pools, whole house air conditioning, and
trips with the kids to Disney World, none of which existed for us in
1954.


Lot's of other "must have" things we now spend money on which add up.
Cable TV, Starbucks, DSL, cell phones, HD TV's, home theater systems,
iPods, Blackberries, lawn service, etc.





--
Marty Shapiro
Silicon Rallye Inc.

(remove SPAMNOT to email me)

Airbus writes:

It's not the purported "disappearance" of the middle class that has
affected GA. People have more reay cash than ever for luxury items. The
insurance companies have killed off the flight schools and rentals in all
but the most prosperous locations. The general liabilityconsciosness of
our society has affected mentalities, and the fuel crunch has done the
rest.

People who seem to have ready cash in what remains of the middle class are
living on credit. Eventually their lines of credit will run out, especially
if they find that their homes and real estate are no longer worth as much as
the outstanding debt they've secured with them.

It may also be a question of bang for the buck. Perhaps general aviation is
only a cost-effective hobby for those with a fanatical interest in aviation.
For others, the prospect of overcoming a long line of admininstrative and
regulatory obstacles and then paying $200 an hour just to fly around the
neighborhood may simply not be worth it.

It's not the purported "disappearance" of the middle class that has
affected GA. People have more reay cash than ever for luxury items. The
insurance companies have killed off the flight schools and rentals in all
but the most prosperous locations. The general liabilityconsciosness of
our society has affected mentalities, and the fuel crunch has done the
rest.

I wish I could believe otherwise, but I think it is an unrcoverable flat
spin. . .

Cubdriver wrote:

My other expensive hobby is opera.

One of my favorite Opera stories; you might have heard it; others might
get a kick out of it.

La Scala is the premier opera house in the world. Located in Milan
Italy, the audiences there are the most critical in the world.
A new tenor was about to make his debut at La Scala and was extremely
nervous singing to the La Scala audience for the first time.

He sang his heart out that night in Puccini's Turandot, finishing Nessun
Dorma to the audience rising as one to their feet screaming
at the top of their collective lungs........"AGAIN!!!! AGAIN!!!!

Tears filling his eyes, the young tenor begged for silence and faced the
standing crowd saying,
"Please.....please!!! I'm overwhelmed. You are so kind. .Thank you!!
Thank you so very much, from the bottom of my heart I THANK YOU!!!!"
The audience screamed once more;
"Again!!!! AGAIN!!!! And this time you stupid tone deaf son-of-a bitch-
DO IT RIGHT!!!!"

--
Dudley Henriques

On Sat, 25 Aug 2007 22:53:07 GMT, Marty Shapiro
wrote:

Cubdriver usenet AT danford DOT net wrote in
news


I suspect the main reason folks can't afford flying is that they're
spending so much on swimming pools, whole house air conditioning, and
trips with the kids to Disney World, none of which existed for us in
1954.


Lot's of other "must have" things we now spend money on which add up.
Cable TV, Starbucks, DSL, cell phones, HD TV's, home theater systems,
iPods, Blackberries, lawn service, etc.



One other "must have" thing today is ..... an attorney.



Kirk
PPL-ASEL

On Sat, 25 Aug 2007 22:53:07 GMT, Marty Shapiro
wrote:

Cubdriver usenet AT danford DOT net wrote in
news


I suspect the main reason folks can't afford flying is that they're
spending so much on swimming pools, whole house air conditioning, and
trips with the kids to Disney World, none of which existed for us in
1954.


Lot's of other "must have" things we now spend money on which add up.
Cable TV, Starbucks, DSL, cell phones, HD TV's, home theater systems,
iPods, Blackberries, lawn service, etc.



And let's not forget about insurance.....



Kirk
PPL-ASEL

In rec.aviation.piloting, on Sun 26 Aug 2007 08:41:56p, Kirk Ellis
wrote:

One other "must have" thing today is ..... an attorney.

Remington, Smith & Wesson, attorneys at law.

"Mxsmanic" wrote in message
...

People who seem to have ready cash in what remains of the middle class are
living on credit.

By not qualifying the word people, you are stating that ALL People who seem
to have ready cash in what remains of the middle class are living on credit.

I seem to have ready cash in hand, but I am not living on credit. I guess
that means I'm not middle classs.

TRUE and TRUE cannot imply FALSE.

TRUE: I have ready cash in hand.

FALSE: I am living on credit.

FALSE: I am 'in what remains of middle class'

I wonder if you consider yourself middle class.