Did I miss the Era of GA?

Larry Dighera writes:

While I can understand your desire to get some feedback from those
currently enjoying the joy of flight before committing the not
insubstantial time and resources required to obtain your airmans
certificate, if you would let their input, or indeed that of your
wife, stand in the path to your dream, you may not have the requisite
'fire in your belly' to make a good airman.

Why must one have "fire in the belly" in order to be entitled to fly? Is it a
hazing ritual, or is it a hobby?

There may be some justification for certain qualifications to be required when
one is doing something that directly affects others, such as flying a
commercial airliner. It's difficult to see any justification for this when
one is doing something as a hobby that affects essentially no one else.

Suggesting that someone needs arbitrary qualifications or must overcome
arbitrary hurdles in the latter case is simple elitism.

The path to an airmans
certificate is expensive, and donning the responsibilities of becoming
a 'pilot in command' is, or should be, a life-changing event.

What responsibilities? If you are flying on your own, they are practically
nil, not any greater than riding your own motorcycle.

Becoming a responsible airman is not really at all akin to becoming a
licensed motorist.

Sure it is, fundamentally. But many artificial barriers exist in order to
ensure that only certain people are allowed to join the club. A lot of
aviators do _not_ want other people to fly, as this would lessen the ego trip
they get themselves out of flying. The idea of anyone being able to do it
bothers them. And just about anyone _could_ do it, if the artificial barriers
were removed. It's not that difficult.

And it's not possible to be a dilettante airman; it requires constant
exercise of your right to fly, almost weekly ...

See above. More of the treehouse-club effect.

You will have to MASTER several disciplines to achieve the status of
pilot.

No, you won't. All you have to do is pass the tests. If pilots _mastered_
the skills that are supposedly represented by the tests, they would have no
accidents due to pilot error.

You will not only need the motor skills necessary to control
the aircraft ...

Which anyone who can ride a bicycle or roller-skate already has.

... you'll need to acquire mastery of the fundamentals of
meteorology to read mother nature's ever churning skies ...

Fundamentals is an overstatement. I'm sure many meteorologists would agree.
And many pilots barely manage that, as accidents regularly prove.

mastery pilotage, dead reckoning and several types of radio navigation,
mastery of voluminous aviation regulation details, mastery of radio
communication techniques and operation, mastery of a myriad of
aircraft systems, how to effectively employ cockpit resource
management, and most importantly, you'll need to learn how to be a
CAPTAIN capable of abandoning your pride when safety demands that you
make a socially unpopular decision and sticking to it in the face of
what will feel like overwhelming social pressure.

Pride seems to be the predominant characteristic under discussion here.

Maybe some people should become doctors instead of pilots. From the way you
write about it, becoming a doctor sounds a lot easier.

In addition, you'll need reasonably good health over the entire time
you exercise your right to ply the skies.

More like robust health (far in excess of what would actually be required to
fly), thanks to archaic rules and more of the treehouse-club mentality.

If you have what it takes, do it. If you lack TOTAL commitment, don't
waste your time.

In other words, if someone isn't as fanatic as you think they should be, you
want them to stay out of the club.

--
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