Our small aviation museum in regional Australia which operates a couple of military trainers, is literally next door to a TAFE college. With the aircraft in their bright air force training colours operating or parked in the sun outside, the number of kids who have come up to the fence, let alone walked through the always-open gate, to have a look, ask questions or talk to the pilot has been...ZERO.
The post-WW 2 generation were probably the most 'air minded' (to use a wonderful description from the 1930's) ever, it seemed every second kid wanted to be a pilot. However, the aging of immediate relations who could tell the young ones stories of navigating Lancasters and flying Beaufighters, the decline in popularity of the Airfix kit coinciding with the rise of computers and their associated games, the loss of 'glamour' associated with being an airline pilot (QANTAS pilots are 'tech crew' and
VB pilots wear ghastly brown uniforms), I think will lead to an unprecedented shortage of pilots.
Until fuel gets very very expensive...