Thoughts on a beautiful spring evening...

I was sitting on a Mississippi River levee this evening, eating a big piece
of home-made pecan pie, watching a tugboat struggle against the current, and
pondering life.

We had flown here in Atlas, our Cherokee Pathfinder -- a flight that took a
whopping twenty minutes. We'd made the flight a hundred times, over the
last eleven years -- it's out default
"rather-go-somewhere-than-fly-the-pattern" flight -- but every now and then
something made it different.

Tonight was different.

We had flown there as a flight of two, with close friends. They had brought
their baby and toddler with them, while we had flown with our daughter, who
has been flying with us since birth. The evening was sublime, with the sun
a low, glowing orb in the sky. The flight had been wondrous.

Instead of eating dinner, we had decided to pick up homemade pies from a
favorite restaurant, milk from a convenience store, and take everything down
to a riverside park. It was decadent and unhealthy, and the kids loved it.

So, I sat, eating pecan pie, watching the river flow by, watching the kids
play...and my thoughts turned strangely to the folks on this newsgroup.
Memories of all the great folks who have taught me so much, all the people
who have shared their flying experiences here...and all the folks who have
so recently brought this great group to its knees.

As I watched the great river roll by, at the end of gorgeous, late-spring
flight, eating home-made pecan pie with family and friends, I thought of the
trolls who have done such damage here, and was overwhelmed with sadness for
them. I realized that these folks would never, ever, feel the joy of flying
over a late spring landscape, of watching the sun low over the Mississippi
River. They would never know what it's like to push the throttle forward
and feel the acceleration pushing you back in your seat, of the wheels
getting light right before the wings take over and the plane arks strongly
into a crystal clear sky.

Later, as I banked over that big river, so different looking from up here,
the water fowl scattering far below, thoughts of this group faded to
insignificance, as they should. Touching down lightly back in Iowa City,
however, taxiing past the Ercoupe that we've offered to buy, pushing the
plane back into the hangar, I realized that these trolls, these wannabe
pilots and former pilots, are quite simply pathetic. They spend endless
hours here, talking about things they'll never know, asking questions they
don't want answered, sniping, hating, filling their days with pointless
personal attacks, and -- worst of all -- drowning out and discouraging all
the good people here.

Something's got to change. Aviation is a tiny, ever-shrinking group, with
diminishing political clout and threats on all sides. This group has, in
the past, represented the best of the piloting community, and we simply
can't waste any more of our time tussling with trolls and malcontents.
Ignore 'em, kill file 'em, do what you gotta do -- but do NOT engage them.

Take the high road, please -- we've simply got to fix this!
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Oh what the heck, I'll take the bait...
Had this conversation recently with a patient who is a pilot but not
flying due to money issues... I floated the thought that we are headed
back to the 30's where airplanes (real airplanes, not self loading
cattle haulers) will be an unusual sight... Then only a tiny fraction
of the population was a pilot... Today (up till now) about the same
percentage of the population are pilots as are physicians, as are ham
radio operators, and some others - in other words a small
percentage... Dunno about the docs, but pilots are a shrinking
percentage...

Now we can all rattle off the likely causes - Draconian FAA
enforcement of even minor infractions of those invisible walls in the
sky, nonsensical but dangerous and intrusive HSA security regulations
that seem to multiply daily, rapidly rising cost of insurance, of
hangars, of parts, of maintenance, and of course - of gasoline...
I looked at the cost of gas at Washington National, they didn't have
any but the jet fuel was nearly $8 a gallon!

Chatted with a CFI at my home field yesterday... He has two regular
planes for rental and instruction... He also has an LSA (don't know
the model)... I asked how the LSA was going... He said it was bad...
When I asked why, he commented that the many prospective students for
trianing, and especially for the LSA, can't pass a medical and/or
security check for the instruction phase... That the biggest reasons
are DUI and drug convictions... He says that the vast majority of
younger people out there do not understand that a drug bust
permanently ends their chances of getting any kind of a security
clearance, including an airmans medical certificate... That was a new
thought for me... Even though I deal with drug and alcohol issues
daily I didn't realize how pervasive the criminal record for those
offenses is...

denny

On Thu, 22 May 2008 04:29:53 -0700 (PDT), Denny
wrote:




are DUI and drug convictions... He says that the vast majority of
younger people out there do not understand that a drug bust
permanently ends their chances of getting any kind of a security
clearance, including an airmans medical certificate... That was a new
thought for me... Even though I deal with drug and alcohol issues
daily I didn't realize how pervasive the criminal record for those
offenses is...

denny

denny is that a bad thing?
drugs damage brains, often permanently.
do you really want that in the air with you?
I dont.

I'm never in favour of an exclusive environment in aviation but it is
an environment where death stalks the stupid. there are levels of
knowledge and skill that must be met by participants in the
environment if they are to live to retirement.
they have to reach competence.

Stealth Pilot

I think Denny's point was... not wanting to put words into the OP mouth, but
to take a different reading.
The youth destroy their life with drugs.. before they realize what they have
done to their future.
BT

"Stealth Pilot" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 22 May 2008 04:29:53 -0700 (PDT), Denny
wrote:




are DUI and drug convictions... He says that the vast majority of
younger people out there do not understand that a drug bust
permanently ends their chances of getting any kind of a security
clearance, including an airmans medical certificate... That was a new
thought for me... Even though I deal with drug and alcohol issues
daily I didn't realize how pervasive the criminal record for those
offenses is...

denny

denny is that a bad thing?
drugs damage brains, often permanently.
do you really want that in the air with you?
I dont.

I'm never in favour of an exclusive environment in aviation but it is
an environment where death stalks the stupid. there are levels of
knowledge and skill that must be met by participants in the
environment if they are to live to retirement.
they have to reach competence.

Stealth Pilot

BT wrote:

The youth destroy their life with drugs.. before they realize what they have
done to their future.
Stealth Pilot

As did we....well, some of us.

The thing I find is that the stuff we played with (weed, alcohol) didn't have
the effects like the stuff the kids are killing themselves with now.
I am astounded with what some of our young people are willing to ingest,
inject, inhale without any thought about the potential consequence.
I saw a lovely young girl 'bout 19 years old, community college student, good
girl looking forward to journalism school, inhaled something at a picnic,
fell down, convulsed for a little while, arrived in the ER a little blue,
spent some time in ICU, now will wear a diaper the rest of her life in
nursing facilities, half her brain turned to goo.

It breaks my heart.

I mean, in my time we were a little stupid and drunk or got the munchies for
a while but a few milligrams didn't melt our noodles.

--
Message posted via http://www.aviationkb.com

On May 22, 9:56*am, "Kloudy via AviationKB.com" u33403@uwe wrote:
BT wrote:
The youth destroy their life with drugs.. before they realize what they have
done to their future.
Stealth Pilot

As did we....well, some of us.

The thing I find is that the stuff we played with (weed, alcohol) didn't have
the effects like the stuff the kids are killing themselves with now.
I am astounded with what some of our young people are willing to ingest,
inject, inhale without any thought about the potential consequence.
I saw a lovely young girl 'bout 19 years old, community college student, good
girl looking forward to journalism school, inhaled something at a picnic,
fell down, convulsed for a little while, arrived in the ER a little blue,
spent some time in ICU, now will wear a diaper the rest of her life in
nursing facilities, half her brain turned to goo.

It breaks my heart.

I mean, in my time we were a little stupid and drunk or got the munchies for
a while but a few milligrams didn't melt our noodles.

--
Message posted viahttp://www.aviationkb.com

perctri

I counsel all young folks who will listen of the consequences of their
actions. They are followed virtually forever. With so many laws, so
zealously enforced, they can't live down small crimes. I mean, in the
forties, when a felon was released from the Pen, they gave him 20
bucks, a suit, and a bus ride somewhere. Today, they want keep track
of you forever. well, some government employee will have a job doing
it, but many of us will pay the taxes for his/her salary. Hell, if you
pee behind a pole and get caught, you're a sex offender, with
attendent registry and following......paid for by the taxpayers, of
which there are fewer, 'cuz of the aforementioned drug use, etc.
When I was growing up, reading Alley Oop, he'd hit a woman over the
head with a club and drag her back to his cave. Today, you have to
choose your listeners carefully to even remind them of this accepted
conditioning. Sure, we know it's a joke, but not all take it that way.
How 'bout when my neighbor got within three blocks of home before
smashing his new Olds into a light pole; Officer O'Reilly showed up
and dragged the drunk home by his ear. The missus administered
justice, for a long time. No DUI, sr22, classes, etc. All the
rigamerole today makes alot of jobs, but I'm not sure if we're better
off. Freedoms sure are diminished. While I'm at it, I remember a kid
that brought a GASP, GUNSTOCK, to school for refinishing in a shop
class. SHUDDER.... how could we even think such a thing
today?
I'd like to meet Jay and his family someday. I've got more than a
feeling he's doin' it right. anersI thank him for his postings.

On May 22, 10:56 am, "Kloudy via AviationKB.com" u33403@uwe wrote:
BT wrote:
The youth destroy their life with drugs.. before they realize what they have
done to their future.
Stealth Pilot

As did we....well, some of us.

The thing I find is that the stuff we played with (weed, alcohol) didn't have
the effects like the stuff the kids are killing themselves with now.
I am astounded with what some of our young people are willing to ingest,
inject, inhale without any thought about the potential consequence.
I saw a lovely young girl 'bout 19 years old, community college student, good
girl looking forward to journalism school, inhaled something at a picnic,
fell down, convulsed for a little while, arrived in the ER a little blue,
spent some time in ICU, now will wear a diaper the rest of her life in
nursing facilities, half her brain turned to goo.

It breaks my heart.

I mean, in my time we were a little stupid and drunk or got the munchies for
a while but a few milligrams didn't melt our noodles.

--
Message posted viahttp://www.aviationkb.com

Some of us (me) didn't mess with drugs or alcohol or tobacco or
other such dumb stuff, but we, being of sound mind and body, did other
things that were almost as stupid. I sold heavy truck and earthmover
parts for nine years when I was young, and would lift 200 or more
pounds without any pain whatever. And stack it higher than my head.
Would do that all day. The older guys said "you're gonna wreck your
back doing that" but I did it anyway. "Doesn't hurt," I said. "Don't
feel a thing." But I wore my joints out and now I have arthritis, have
had it for almost ten years. I'm 55. Sold myself cheap.
Youth is like that. It will live forever, it's invulnerable,
it can do anything and can keep doing it into old age. Or so it
thinks. Youth doesn't listen to the old fuddy-duddies who usually turn
out to have known a lot more than we gave them credit for. Now my
young students look at me funny when I tell them that "you're gonna
wish you hadn't done that." We were all young and did stupid things.
Some are still paying for it.

Dan

Kloudy wrote:


I mean, in my time we were a little stupid and drunk or got the munchies for
a while but a few milligrams didn't melt our noodles.


to be clearer.
" a few milligrams of whatever would not melt our noodles like the stuff kids
are taking these days."

Told one of my patients, " ya know that stuff is made by a loser with a 6th
grade education in his trailer out of stuff ya get from Home Depot. Ya still
wanna smoke it?"

Got one or two to think about it.

--
Message posted via AviationKB.com
http://www.aviationkb.com/Uwe/Forums...ation/200805/1

The youth destroy their life with drugs.. before they realize what
they have
done to their future.
BT


Well said BT... Somehow I managed to not communicate well in my
post...

denny