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Pilots Bailing Out
I have received a lot of emails from my customer base since I announced
the shutdown of my flight planning software business. In addition to a lot of nice supportive emails, I have seen a significant number from pilots who have informed me that they stopped renewing their update subscription because they stopped flying, and/or sold their airplane. The main reason given was the higher cost of fuel and the liability risk/airspace restrictions imposed since 9/11. Losing a medical certificate was a much smaller number than those that simply quit due to costs/hassle factor. How many of you are know pilots that have given up flying as a result of the increasing cost of flying and the new restrictions? Is the total active pilot headcount shrinking? By how much? Even if the total pilot population holds at its current level, the % of the U.S. population that is pilot rated is declining since the overall population is growing. If this trend is real, then it would appear that indeed single piston engine GA is slowly dying in the U.S. Growth in the VLJ market respresents a different kind of GA, and tells me that aviation is going to become the domain of the wealthy individual, corporations, and the airlines... Dean Wilkinson Razor's Edge Software |
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Pilots Bailing Out
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#3
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Pilots Bailing Out
LSA to the rescue? Don LSA seems suited more for local flying, not cross country. I am still witholding judgment on what impact LSA will really have... Dean |
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Pilots Bailing Out
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#6
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Pilots Bailing Out
In article .com,
"Robert M. Gary" wrote: What do they mean by "restrictions imposed since 9/11"? Unless you live in D.C. I don't think you will notice a difference, at least I have not. There are some non-DC airports that have imposed stupid rules. For example, Massachusetts has a rule where every airplane is supposed to be locked/secured (e.g., proplock and/or chained to a tie-down). At KBED, the entire airport is a stupid SIDA where everyone has to be badged or escorted by a badged person (and it costs money to get the badge and renew the badge). -- Bob Noel Looking for a sig the lawyers will hate |
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Pilots Bailing Out
"Robert M. Gary" wrote in message
oups.com... What do they mean by "restrictions imposed since 9/11"? Unless you live in D.C. I don't think you will notice a difference Let's see, just as a small sampling of other issues... Anyone who flies near a naval installation. Anyone who flies near a sporting event. Anyone who flies when the President or Vice President is in town. Anyone who crosses the US border. Anyone who wants to instruct. Anyone who wants a new rating. There are a number of new restrictions post-9/11, and most of them affect everyone in the US, or a large portion of the flying population in the US. [...] If anything post-9/11 makes private air travel more benefitial vs. airlines. I don't think the VLJ market would be what it pre-9/11 when execs would easily travel by airline. The people paying for air charters do not have to concern themselves with the additional restrictions. For them, all they notice is the less-restrictive atmosphere for passengers. Conversely, if you're an airline pilot the rules basically didn't change at all, while air charter pilots have to suffer the same rule changes we all do. So whether things got easier or harder really depends on who you're looking at. But for pilots not flying for the airlines, the answer is things are harder and more restrictive. Pete |
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Pilots Bailing Out
Bob Noel wrote: There are some non-DC airports that have imposed stupid rules. For example, Massachusetts has a rule where every airplane is supposed to be locked/secured (e.g., proplock and/or chained to a tie-down). At KBED, the entire airport is a stupid SIDA where everyone has to be badged or escorted by a badged person (and it costs money to get the badge and renew the badge). That is enough to get you to give up flying!! Having to put a lock on your airplane! I suspect that if that's all it takes, you were never much into aviation to start with. -Robert |
#9
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Pilots Bailing Out
In article . com,
"Robert M. Gary" wrote: Bob Noel wrote: There are some non-DC airports that have imposed stupid rules. For example, Massachusetts has a rule where every airplane is supposed to be locked/secured (e.g., proplock and/or chained to a tie-down). At KBED, the entire airport is a stupid SIDA where everyone has to be badged or escorted by a badged person (and it costs money to get the badge and renew the badge). That is enough to get you to give up flying!! Having to put a lock on your airplane! I suspect that if that's all it takes, you were never much into aviation to start with. 1) I haven't given up flying 2) There are more rules than just that useless proplock rule -- Bob Noel Looking for a sig the lawyers will hate |
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Pilots Bailing Out
I am still flying actively... While I can afford the gas it doesn't
mean I enjoy the bill... But sicne 9/11 there are airports I no longer go to because of the 'new rulz'... Used to go into Flint, Michigan KFNT, with friends and go to the coffee shop for breakfast... But they are determined to become a big jetport... Now there are all kinds of ramp hassles as you walk from GA parking to the terminal and back... Rent-a-cops who think they own the world... At one point the line boys had to come and escort the rent-a-cop off the GA ramp after he followed me out to my plane, yelling that I was under arrest... He was going to arrest everyone in sight until one the line boys pulled out a cell phone and called the police for an 'crazy man on the GA ramp making threats'... Anyway, it got old and I haven't been there since... At KMBS where I get my radio work done it is similar... You have to have someone buzz you through the door... You are supposed to be escorted everywhere out on the ramp... I was picking up an Aztec after radio work and was confronted by a fella with an authority complex... Demanded to see my badge... I politely told him I didn't have one... He said that I had to come with him for a security check... At that point I lost my patience, and while I am old and non confrontational, occasionally the hard nosed 18 year old I used to be, surfaces - he backed away in a hurry... I finished my preflight and taxied out... I still go there but only if I have to... It isn't any one rule that is killing GA, it is death by ten thousand nicks... denny |
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