Do we, as a group, just suck?

Hi,

OK, you have to be pretty brain dead to live in Florida, fly near Pad 39B
and not know something is going to, or even may happen.

Shaw Pilots Intercept Plane Before Shuttle Launch:
http://www.wltx.com/news/news19.aspx?storyid=29178

I really don't want our airspace to be consumed by restrictions, but when
the Shuttle incident and the DC incidents seem to happen regularly... I'm
not even going to start about planes buzzing beaches and nearly hitting
people (Santa Cruz) and all the other 'bad for GA' stuff that happens. I
think that as a group, we need to take more responsibility for our actions
and I'm not sure if I see that happening.

Oh well, off to Oshkosh... If any fellow NGs are there, look for the guy in
the WingX for the Pocket PC shirt. Well, there might be a few of us, but
I'm the ugly one.

Hilton

OK, you have to be pretty brain dead to live in Florida, fly near Pad
39B and not know something is going to, or even may happen.

Every incursion - every clearing of the white house - every expensive
"intercept" - brings us one step closer to permanent grounding.

I give GA as we know it 1... maybe 2 years tops.

It's not Bush.

it's not stopthenoise.

It's not even Bin Laden.

It's all courtesy our "fellow" pilots.

Yes, we do, on the whole. We're going to lose our privileges in the U.S. if
we keep this up, and we'll have nobody to blame but ourselves. For those
that 'get it', its up to you to help and mentor the weaker GA pilots, to set
the right example.

Hilton wrote:

the Shuttle incident and the DC incidents seem to happen regularly... I'm
not even going to start about planes buzzing beaches and nearly hitting
people (Santa Cruz) and all the other 'bad for GA' stuff that happens. I
think that as a group, we need to take more responsibility for our actions
and I'm not sure if I see that happening.

another way to look at it though, is that there is very few incidents,
albeit all receiving a disproportionate amount of media attention for
the number of pilots overall. Try to think of any other group that does
as well... that said, yeah, we could improve things a bit by educating
ourselves and the journalists (hey, here is an idea, trying to convert
more journalists to flying, a bit like the Young Eagles program :-)

--Sylvain

So it's true then - you're not Paris?

Well, there might be a few of us, but
I'm the ugly one.

Hilton


Tony

--

Tony Roberts
PP-ASEL
VFR OTT
Night
Cessna 172H C-GICE

Sylvain,

the Shuttle incident and the DC incidents seem to happen regularly...
I'm
not even going to start about planes buzzing beaches and nearly hitting
people (Santa Cruz) and all the other 'bad for GA' stuff that happens.
I
think that as a group, we need to take more responsibility for our
actions
and I'm not sure if I see that happening.

another way to look at it though, is that there is very few incidents,
albeit all receiving a disproportionate amount of media attention for
the number of pilots overall.

I can understand pilots clipping the edge of a 'hot' area, or flying through
an area that just became 'hot', and things like that. But buzzing the Santa
Cruz beach (the wheel reportedly nearly hit a young boy), having to evacuted
the DC buildings several times, flying near Pad 39B on launch day... I just
don't get it.

You know what, I think some of these incidents should receive a
disproportionate amount of media - like the ones mentioned above. Some guy
with no radio who has jets 'force' him down and potentially halts a shuttle
countdown should receive its fair share of media - that's a big deal.

It just frustrates me that most of us try hard to do the right thing (e.g.
noise abatement), then others make the news.

Hilton

having to evacuted
the DC buildings several times

1: The evacuation was not caused by the pilots. It was caused by the
officials.

2: The evaucation is dumb to begin with, given what a small airplane
could even do.

Jose
--
Nothing takes longer than a shortcut.
for Email, make the obvious change in the address.

Tony wrote:
So it's true then - you're not Paris?

Well, there might be a few of us, but
I'm the ugly one.

My Dad calls my two little girls the Hilton Sisters. I don't think I like
that.

Hilton

Hilton,

The answer to your question is "Yes".

I guess it didn't make the news in the US, but we have a flight
prohibition for VFR aircraft coming for our capital, Berlin. Also for
big events and the upcoming soccer world championship next year. The
reason:

On Friday, an ultralight pilot who had killed his wife over her having
a lover decided that he didn't like the police catching up with him and
committed suicide. He did that by flying his Kiebitz ultralight into
the Berlin CTR without clearance or radio contact and crash it (and
himself) on a lawn between the "Reichstag" (our parliament building)
and the "Kanzleramt" (our Whitehouse). I am NOT making this up.

Politicos and the public went bananas over this, of course. Cynic that
I am, I can only be glad for the bombings in Egypt taking away a lot of
the attention from this.

Coming back to your original question: I think the GA watch thing has
to be expanded. We as pilots need to get after the Hayden Sheaffers
among us. We all know who they are, who the local top bozos are - and
we have to stop them before they stop us.


--
Thomas Borchert (EDDH)

Jose,

Ah, so you're still one of the many not getting it. (Sorry, no offense
meant)

1: The evacuation was not caused by the pilots. It was caused by the
officials.

Repeat after me: It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter, it doesn't
matter.


2: The evaucation is dumb to begin with, given what a small airplane
could even do.


Repeat after me: It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter, it doesn't
matter.

What matters is public perception. And in that, we pilots look real bad
and dangerous.

--
Thomas Borchert (EDDH)