Comments on: Malaise and Mencken

By: William M Morse

William M Morse — Sat, 15 Sep 2012 15:26:35 +0000

As a reader of yours and pilot and Menckener, I was delighted to see H L appear in an aviation context. By you.

By: mf

mf — Fri, 14 Sep 2012 16:31:51 +0000

you can not change basic economic facts. The plebs is not making enough money to afford flying. I make good money for a working stiff, but even for me continuing to fly seems like a real frivolity. I keep going why I still can because I have been flying for almost forty years now, but if I had to start now I probably would not. Costs also make GA completely non-competitive as a mode of transportation, except for people who do not have to ask about the cost. I appreciate what you are trying to do, and you are surely doing more than me, but GA will simply continue to shrink as long as a simplest new airplane costs 5 x a luxury automobile while incomes are dropping. The LSA segment completely missed the mark. These airplanes are just as expensive, and significantly more dangerous to fly. A good speech can go a long way, but it can not change economic reality. Unfortunately, to start helping GA, we need to address income inequality. It kind of all flows from there.

By: TMB

TMB — Fri, 14 Sep 2012 12:28:44 +0000

PS — Bruce, this is a great article. Kudos to you, sir. Keep it up!

By: TMB

TMB — Fri, 14 Sep 2012 12:27:19 +0000

I voted for “weak pulse, but it’s there”. I do believe that we can rebuild it and that some, perhaps most, of us have the commitment — I’ve never met anyone involved in GA who has a “who cares?” attitude. At the same time, my 15-year-old daughter has never been up in a GA aircraft (even though we’ve flown commercial numerous times, she refuses to take that first GA ride with anyone but her father), and I’m being held back by inability to pay $1K-plus for an annual waiver on my bypass. That’s the new generation, and the clock is ticking . . .