One option???
Unfortunately all aspects of GA are viewed as a minority sport / recreation, so our influence on the ‘political scene’ appears very small both in politicians, media and public mindsets.
Whereas if one takes in contrast the ‘Caravan Club’ they always underscore any statements with comments like ‘ representing 1 million members’ (some of this number do not own caravans and family members are counted in as well!!). For those who may not know, The Caravan Club happens to be made up from all caravanning aspects, from trailer tents to huge motor homes and every type of caravan in between.
Sadly until GA has a mouthpiece that speaks uniformly and speaks out for all aspects of GA, from the Parachutist to the chap in is own Private Jet and including ‘plane spotters’. Such a GA Group could underline / backup any statement to the public, meda, or politician with 'representing the interests of ****** members' or some other appropriate tagline signifying participant numbers involved. Sadly in today’s world it’s all about numbers, because numbers mean votes and votes mean political clout.
To paraphrase something from last century,
When they came for the Parachutists I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Parachutists,
When they came for the Gliders I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Glider Pilot,
When they came for the Para Gliders I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Para Glider,
When they came for the Farmstrips I didn’t speak up because I didn’t fly from a Farmstrip,
When they came for the Microlights I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Microlight Pilot,
When they came for the Spotters I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Spotter,
When they came for the Single Engine Aircraft I didn’t speak up because I didn’t fly Single Engine,
Etc, etc, etc
So when they came for ME there was no one left to speak up for ME!!!