...how you can take someone flying for their first time ever in a small airplane, and they aren't inspired enough to pursue their certificate.

I have taken a fair number of people for rides in the 13 years I've had my certificate, and not one has shown any interest in becoming a pilot themselves. Several of these were co-workers, younger guys with good-paying jobs who could easily do it both from a brains and money perspective.

I've never even asked for compensation, it's always on me (though Crzyivan did share the expensive of our flying time together, but he doesn't count, he was already addicted.) I figure "the first hit is free."

The number of 2nd rides I've given is a VERY short list. I may not be the best pilot, but I usually take people out in the smooth buttery air of the morning and keep my turns mellow, allowing them to fly as much of the flight as they like, aside from landings and takeoffs.

I doubt I'm scaring people-- I think that for some reason, these people aren't falling in love like I did. What gives?? I want to see more people becoming pilots. The places I take people around here would make you all swoon.

It's either in your blood, or it's not. From the time you first heard a plane fly over, did your eyes go skyward? That's the best I can explain.

I've been consumed by flying my entire life, so I've never been able to understand the excuses. The one I hear the most is, "I just don't have the time." It's a whole lot easier to sleep in on a Saturday and spend the afternoon bbq'ing and drinking beer with friends and family after a long week at work, compared to getting up and spending half a day at the airport for an hour in the logbook during training. I've taken 2 guys flying recently that love flying and want to get their license, but both use the same excuse of not having the time to devote to it. One I work with on an almost daily basis, and there's definitely time to train as evidenced by my own logbook. The other works in the oilfield 2 weeks on/off and just plays xbox during the offs. You've just gotta pay your dues and get the training knocked out before the real fun of flying begins.

Yep. I have some friends that have each flown with me many times. They keep bugging me to go fly again, which I take as a great compliment, but they aren't necessarily interested in flying themselves.

I think may have played a part in at least two people getting their pilots licenses, though, which isn't too shabby I guess. One of them just bought a 180!

nefj40 said it - "It's either in your blood, or it's not. From the time you first heard a plane fly over, did your eyes go skyward? That's the best I can explain."

It's been in me since I was a kid on a farm in Kansas - looking up at the airplanes flying over and thank goodness, it has not left me!

I am after the folks in my office who used to be pilots to get back into it & have met with very little success. I won't give up!

Debbie decided she wanted to get her license. She's 3+ weeks into it and really enjoying herself (stomach issues are just now starting to be overcome). And i see a few others around here that I've given rides too getting ready to go after their ticket.
So some activity going on. (Floats and skis appeal to the local population)

What's almost worse is a situation I'm involved in here in Alaska. I rented out my spare room to a guy flying for a local 121 operator. I've taken him out to fly mountains and glaciers and he isn't the least bit interested. All he can talk about is upgrading, making more money, and how much he loves glass cockpits. I offer a ride every time I go out with an empty seat, and he couldn't care less. More interested in video games and Netflix...

"Isn't it dangerous?" F'ing media neglects the 40k plus people who die in cars each year. Put even a minor "crash" like a no damage landing on the freeway in an emergency, and it gets played to death on the tube. Oh, the drama.

or "I hear it is really, really, expensive and I just can't afford it"

Those seem to be the two most common excuses I hear.

nefj40 wrote:It's either in your blood, or it's not. From the time you first heard a plane fly over, did your eyes go skyward? That's the best I can explain.

It is just as simple as that. Been the same since I can remember in Kindergarten in 1960. Two of us had a huge passion for airplanes, no one else cared one wit. In junior high, riding my bike to/from school (yep, ten miles in the snow, up hill both ways) every day I'd stop at the end of the runway and watch planes takeoff and land. I was all alone. 55 years later it's just the same.

Probably a good thing, I mean do you really want those same assholes you see every day on the road up in the air with you?

blackrock wrote:"Isn't it dangerous?" F'ing media neglects the 40k plus people who die in cars each year. Put even a minor "crash" like a no damage landing on the freeway in an emergency, and it gets played to death on the tube. Oh, the drama.

or "I hear it is really, really, expensive and I just can't afford it"

Those seem to be the two most common excuses I hear.

Well articulated.

We have a political issue (too) in my home town:
A former Governor of Hawaii wanted to shutdown GA at Honolulu (his heartwarming quote ..."it's for rich haulis, only"). Luckily the Federal Government stepped in, mostly the FAA, and rejected his bid.

The firece competition for food, water and shelter precludes any interest in learning to fly here on this small rock called Oahu. Serious people get their ratings on the mainland. Not in Hawaii.

nefj40 wrote:It's either in your blood, or it's not. From the time you first heard a plane fly over, did your eyes go skyward? That's the best I can explain.

Man, I have been hooked for as long as I can remember. Our house growing up was within eyesight of the Parkersburg VOR (JPU). We were right under the flight path of all traffic setting up for the VOR to 21 approach. I can still remember Allegheny Airlines (I think it was US Air at the time but every local still called it Allegheny) flying the Shorts 330 & 360 (Sherpa?) over the house daily.


Then the WV National Guard C-130's rattling shit off the walls of the house right over the treetops.

They also had a fleet of Hueys based at Parkersburg. That WHUMP, WHUMP, WHUMP that the Huey's make is unmistakable.

Then the guys trimming the trees with the MD500 and buzzsaw took me for a ride when they landed in the field at my parents house.




My grandpa was a fighter pilot in WW2 and I was obsessed with WW2 birds for a long time. (Oh wait, I still am!)



I got my first airplane ride in a Mooney on a trip with a friend up north when I was about 12 yrs old. I thought the backwards tail was so cool! (Still do). I stayed with him for a week in northern Ohio. His stepdad's friend had the Mooney. His stepdad had a Pietenpol that he had built. Open cockpit, and then he let me take the stick in the front seat. It was over from that point on!!! Sitting in the front, on the controls, with nothing but the blue sky above and the rest of the world below! I felt like I was the only one in the plane. I will never forget that.

I dreamed about it for a long time and then became a teenager and other stuff became more important. Lost focus for about 15 years. (A lot of it was literally a blur!) I thought that it was always too expensive and beyond me. I had a much different mindset not too long ago.


But now I'm back on track and living the dream.

It is a fair question and my results are similar. Very few folks I have ever taken for a ride, take it on themselves to get there ticket, let alone purchase an airplane. Lot's of my friends think nothing of dropping $50k+ on a new truck, SUV or boat. It boggles my mind..... The things that I have seen, the places I have gone and the people of I have met w/ GA can probably never be fully explained and likely never repeated.

Last Saturday I flew to Upper Loon Creek by myself, hiked around and took in the splendor of the place and the flight over the Frank Church was unbelievable, I humbly offer the following photo from one flight as an example. Yes, it boggles the mind.......

Younger pilots seem far more interested in glass and nice interiors than they are about flying. So many with extra cash spend it all on the fancy new WAAS GPS unit they'll never get a rating to shoot an approach with, and a dozen other gizmos they'll have prominently displayed and never use. People in my plane are far more interested in why I have funny round dials and a carbeurator or a 50+ year old anr they forget to look out the window.

To sell more planes, they should build in permanent selfie sticks and twitter feeds.

nefj40 wrote:It's either in your blood, or it's not. From the time you first heard a plane fly over, did your eyes go skyward? That's the best I can explain.

Yup, this.

Look at the number of people watching sports versus the number of people playing sports and you'll probably see a similar ratio. Or people who think it's interesting to learn about other nations versus the number of people who go explore.

Different strokes for different folks, but, yeah, I don't get it either. In my darkest hours when I think "well, hell, think of what else I could do with that money" I go on one flight in smooth skies with the light just right and I'm cured for a long time.

Hell Zane, I gave up on wondering why others don't "get" flying long ago, screw 'em, it leaves more airspace for those of us who do get it.

The ex wife and I check in with each other every few decades, the last go round happened last week. In giving her a condensed update of what I've been up to, I mentioned that I hadn't flown for some time. Like 5 hrs. She really got a kick of me naming the current plane "Honey", and never had to ask if I gotten hitched again. I've been obsessed since 1972, hang gliders, then ultralights, then real (almost, LSA types anyway) airplanes. Nowadays, I often think as I fly, for instance, to Afton for breakfast for the third time in a month and probably the 300 th time in 30 years (who's counting) why am I not getting bored yet? If anything it keeps getting MORE fun.

I think the same observation can be carried over to any number of activities. The common denominator(s) would be a commitment of time and money. For example in Canada where I live you have to take a small straight forward test to get a gun license, I take lots of people shooting, everyone has a good time but very few go on to get the license and buy a gun and we're talking a teeny tiny fraction of the time and money of getting a pilots license and plane. In all sorts of different activities everyone is gung-ho until it's time to pony up the cash or seriously commit the time. It's why I wind up doing all sorts of fun stuff by myself, don't want to wait around for everyone else to take the plunge.
That said I've held off on getting my license until recently for a few reasons but among them were my lack of time and wanting to have the cash on hand to buy a plane once I got the license. One of my brothers swore he was going to go in with me on the plane and we'd train together... didn't happen. I do love flying though.

Hate to say but I see this even with the Young Eagles program. I've flown 112 to date and all but a few had a no big deal attitude about it. Had one kid who said 'yeah I've done this lots of time on XBox' and went back to his Iphone. The first ride I took as a kid changed my life. I've got a big family and a large church community with access to probably 75 kids under 18 years old and exactly ONE has taken my offers to go for a ride. I'm not a parent but if I were I'd want my kid exposed to as many possibilities as available - weird.

Bearhawk Builder wrote:Had one kid who said 'yeah I've done this lots of time on XBox' and went back to his Iphone. .

That's about the time when a casual snap roll or 2 turn spin seems appropriate.

What's the old saying....

You can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink.

If a kid has a passion for flying, or whatever, they will move heaven and earth to get there. And like some of us, prioritize it to the point of excluding a whole lot of the rest of mainstream life.

My two girls were in small airplanes literally from the day they were born, and spent probably a thousand hours sitting next to me. Both are actually good sticks, as I had them drive, navigate, and work radios. But neither had that spark, and even though it was there for the taking, they had no desire to take flying any further than being an active passenger.

Gump

Flying is a big commitment, both time and money. Anyone with the $dough can roll into a dealership and roll out with a Ferrari or Corvette and drive it wherever they want to. Can't really do that with a plane.

Driving cars is ingrained in our society since the early 1900s - onward. Most people know how to drive, and don't consider it something they need to go out and specifically learn to be able to do after 16. Very few people have that access to planes.

Cars and other things in our lives are becoming more and more like disposable consumer goods. You don't know what goes on under the plastic covers, it just works. When it doesn't, you replace it. Planes require a knowledge of how things work, how air moving over a wing works, learning airspace rules and restrictions, how to read weather forecasts, how look up in the sky and see if its OK to fly that day, etc...

My plane is a 1972 C172M. I'm pretty happy with it and the upgrades it has. I've shown it to friends that don't fly and the first things out of their mouth is "holy shit, you fly that thing? It looks 50 years old!" Well, I don't have the $300K sitting around for a Cirrus.
Then they all worry about safety, because all they ever hear about with small planes is when they crash.

Training? I considered it fun, but it was a pain to get to the airfield when the weather/rental plane/CFI/me were all aligned to get up in the air frequently enough to actually learn and retain some knowledge.

And for most of us the plane is a toy that we can occasionally use for transportation when the weather/airfield location/ground transportation works out. Heck, the wife and I just got back from a trip to Lubec, ME with bicycles and camping gear and did a few nights in Canada. I can think of very few of our friends that would do that. Most people just buy a boat.