"Ken Finney" wrote in message
...

First of all, GA needs to reach out. I had never been in anything smaller
than a 737 until just a few years ago, and didn't even know what GA was.


Thoughtful post, Ken. Thinking about this stuff is a great way to propel me
through a non-flying day.

In terms of reaching out, I wholeheartedly agree. In Troutdale the EAA used
to do a small airshow. Nothing fancy except for the occasional P-51 or
search and rescue demonstration, but the FBOs all gave reduced-rate
introductory rides. People lined up in front of the FBO for discovery
flights right along the show line and there would be two or three Cessnas
ready to go as soon as the performance aircraft stopped and the field
reopened. The CFIs worked their tail off that day flying people who'd just
seen the other edge of general aviation. The FBO had the barbeque fired up
and it didn't seem like a 100,000 person event where people were pretty much
treated like cattle. Good fun every year--you didn't watch a bunch of
multimillion-dollar military jets screeching around; you saw experimentals,
gyrocopters and things that seemed accessible to the average person. One
summer it just stopped happening.

Maybe it's time to polish the brass and bring back the mystique and glory of
simply flying a Cessna around the pattern instead of filling giant airshows
with Truckasaurus, drag-racing semis and Blue Angels.

-c