Student Drop-Out Rates...why?

Imagine being a young person today faced with the high cost of
automobiles, ever increasing cost of insurance and gasoline, and the
astronomical cost of a home, and then you'll realize why adding the
cost of aviation instruction and operation is totally out of the
question for the vast majority.

Let's see, in 1994 I was a working father (at a small, local newspaper) with
a 4-year old and a new-born baby. Mary had reduced her hours to part-time
after our first child was born, so we were living on 1.3 very modest
incomes.

THAT was the time that aviation thrust itself upon me (my boss was a pilot,
and gave me the kick start I needed to get off my butt and do it!) -- when I
could least afford it. I had just enough money saved to get my ticket --
and not one nickel left over to fly on when all was said and done. But I
did it.

If I could do it, anyone can do it. It just took eating at home, forgoing
new cars, concerts, and movies, and an understanding wife (who, unbeknownst
to me at the time, was soon to become as hopelessly hooked on flying as I
was!).
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Now that I think about it, THAT is the part that I truly don't "get".
How anyone can take the controls of an airplane and not feel that magic
is simply beyond me -- and how anyone can simply choose to never
experience it again (by quitting flying) is proof that they never felt
the magic in the first place.

An airplane is truly a magic carpet. I say that to my wife sometimes
after a flight.

I would disagree that it is impossible for somebody to feel the "magic"
(of any endeavor) and then subsequently have the magic die. I do agree
that to go as far as solo and quit tells me they didn't find it magical.

Can you name anything that others think is 'magical', but that you just
don't get anything out of?

Jose
--
Quantum Mechanics is like this: God =does= play dice with the universe,
except there's no God, and there's no dice. And maybe there's no universe.
for Email, make the obvious change in the address.

"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.

Side note from a person who came from a Harley family: Harley people
generally keep their bikes at home in their garages where they can go
tinker, check and correct things whenever they feel like it ... so
things are usually ready-to-go when they have a ride planned. If you
added up all the time it takes to put on all the gear, stow away
whatever you're bringing (like you do when you fly), and the few minutes
the checking oil and making sure you have fuel the night before, it
would add up to around 10 or 15 minutes, too.

It's worse than that. I've got several acquaintances who "rode" their
Harleys to Sturgis this year -- except, they didn't really "ride."

Rather, these pansies trucked their bikes half-way (or, in one case, 99% of
the way) and then "rode into Sturgis" as if they had just survived a 1000
mile IronButt ordeal.

As a long-time cyclist, I find this approach laughable -- but, hey, they had
fun. (Several of these guys are pilots, BTW.)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

The important element is passion. Only a small proportion of the
population possesses passion for anything, but where it lives you can't
hold it back.

Well said.

So many people I meet have no spark, no life -- seemingly no soul. There
simply is no light in their eyes, and there may never be...

It's terribly sad, but that's life, I guess.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Can you name anything that others think is 'magical', but that you just
don't get anything out of?

From the standpoint of an endeavor that requires personal commitment,
aptitude, and effort, no. I think it would be magical to play a concert
piano, or scuba dive.

Now if you start talking about listening to opera, or ice fishing, I'll
argue with you. Those are two things I simply don't understand, yet I
know people who love them dearly.

But those are entirely passive exercises...a whole different line of
conversation from something like piloting.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Larry Dighera wrote:
Larry Dighera wrote:


I have no idea if the cost of flight training is still covered by the
GI Bill, but it was a strong motivating factor in the past. The
problem was, as I recall, that only those instruction costs beyond the
Private Pilot certificate were covered.


On Fri, 19 Aug 2005 13:20:15 -0600, RomeoMike
wrote in ::


I know of two WW II vets who got their private certificates under the GI
Bill.



I wonder if that's possible now. If so, it would seem that pitching
GA to veterans might be productive.


I don't know if it still works, these two got theirs in the late '40s.

Now if you start talking about listening to opera, or ice fishing, I'll
argue with you. Those are two things I simply don't understand, yet I
know people who love them dearly.

But those are entirely passive exercises...a whole different line of
conversation from something like piloting.

I would disagree that these are passive activities. True, in ice
fishing you sit around a lot while the fish nose your bait in the flag
trap. However, in piloting, you sit and wiggle the yoke every now and
then, and some people just sit back and let the autopilot fly the thing.

I don't know what goes into ice fishing (or any other kind of fishing
for that matter) but I bet it takes some study of the fish and their
feeding habits and such in order to be successful. There are legitimate
parallels.

Pretend somebody is extolling the "magic" of ice fishing to you. I can
intellectually understand how some people might feel this way, but I
don't "get it". By your admission, neither do you. What should they do
to help you see the light?

Because that is what you are asking w/r/t flying.

Jose
--
Quantum Mechanics is like this: God =does= play dice with the universe,
except there's no God, and there's no dice. And maybe there's no universe.
for Email, make the obvious change in the address.

On Sat, 20 Aug 2005 03:43:29 GMT, "Jay Honeck"
wrote in
BFxNe.266694$_o.53979@attbi_s71::

It just took eating at home, forgoing new cars, concerts, and movies, and ...

Enough money in a savings account to fund your flight training.

Jose wrote:


Can you name anything that others think is 'magical', but that you just
don't get anything out of?

Jose

Scuba Diving. I got certified about 8 years ago but have only gone twice.
As a kid I thought it would be "magical". I didn't find it so as an adult.
But I know people who craft all their vacations around diving.


--
Saville

Replicas of 15th-19th century nautical navigational instruments:

http://home.comcast.net/~saville/backstaffhome.html

Restoration of my 82 year old Herreshoff S-Boat sailboat:

http://home.comcast.net/~saville/SBOATrestore.htm

Steambending FAQ with photos:

http://home.comcast.net/~saville/Steambend.htm