Adam,
don't spread the gospel
Yep and then wonder why we are running out of youngsters who want to fly?
Pace,
Europe? Sorry but we hate success and cannot wait for those who are successful to fall.
Remember the old repeated story of the 2 pairs of father and son at the airshow? An American dad with his son stands on one side of a nice airplane on display, a European to the other. Sais the US father: "Son, if you work hard and never loose your goal out of sight, one day you can proudly own one of these!" Sais the European: "Would you just look at this decadence! That is what the Mafiosi buy to impress their mistresses!"
Told often, probably never happened but very true nevertheless.
But really Europe is all about state control! Aircraft for the masses and GA doesnt fit well in that political aim.
Funny you should say that. I did watch one of the movies released by the German paper "Pilot und Flugzeug" about their readers trips, I believe this one to far east. One statement I never forgot goes about like that: You can determine the degree of personal freedom a country allows it's people by whether they allow private aviation on a broad basis.....
@contacttower
I don't think GA is really a hot political issue in the UK though...
Well, maybe it should become one. What do you think will be next after GA is anihilated? The same people see us all riding bicycles as in Bejing. GA is just their training ground.
I don't think UK GA has too much to fear from politics, and when it does there are better arguments to be made for it than trying to explain to people who don't know about aviation why owning a light aircraft is not "posh". Most of the time it is not an envy thing as such more just a straightforward lack of understanding...for example most of the people who complain about noise in rural areas near airfields are certainly not poor by any stretch of the imagination.
It has a lot to fear from European politics and if your MP's want to differentiate from that, they should take a look at France, who now will introduce a NATIONAL IR rating and b*gger EASA.
If it's straight lack of understanding then that is why I believe we need to get the message out, loud and clear. No, we are not posh stupid playboys with too much money in our pocket, we are normal people like everyone else who want to do nothing else than pursue our vision of happiness. Like the guys with the Harleys, like people who do anything sensible with their time. We take pride in our ambition and the will to get where we want. ANYONE can, but it takes getting out of your comfort zone from time to time and do something. Or else, stay there and shut up.
Like Adam sais, it takes HARD WORK to get someplace, hard work to be able to afford maybe a tad more than others. Any country who measures its society by the homeless or unemployed will soon end up having more and more of them.
@gasax
But do not imagine for one second that you can convince my butcher that you are not 'rich' or 'well off' or whatever phase you want to describe it with. Setting scenarios where a return home is little more than a convenience or whim is not going to convince many people of the necessity.
And what authority has a butcher got to question if I should be allowed to fly? Don't know about UK butchers but those I know here do well (and I know a few as besides flying I do a pretty decend BBQ or so I am told and good relations to that trade contribute to that particular success
) and I know some who fly themselfs. Those who usually throw tantrums are intellectual figures, not butchers who actually know what WORK means. No, the people who really are a pita are usually university trained troublemakers who proclaim socialism with their glass of champaign and caviar amuse bouche in both hands. The worst anti GA crowd comes out of that hole, political control freaks, green with environmentalism and envy (note how the two go together colourwise) and generally just
. Those who will tax the
out of us in an effort to subdue any freedom? Who would love to cash in all our wages and maybe pay us an allowance so they can finance all their garbage programs and what else?
That is the folks to be wary of, not butchers or other honest trades.
@katamarino
I can only view the kind of people who look upon others success as being somehow "wrong" in one way; pathetic. Sadly, they form a large part of the vote, and are destroying Europe by trying to drag everyone down to their pitiful little level. I fear the US is going to go the same way; these people really should not be allowed to get involved in the democratic process!
You say exactly what the problem is in Europe. And yes, since a while the same tendency shows in the US, very true but I think they will not subdue the will for freedom in that country so easily as they do it here. Europeans of many countries are used to regimes who will tell them what to do or else. I am not that sure if they are such a large part of the voting people, but certainly they form a large part of the political leadership of today.
@Poeli
Some people buy audi's others buy an airplane, nothing wroing with it. It's your money. You decide, and no one else!
Exactly. And that is what Adam's original question amounts to. The other day I did exactly that: I pointed one of the most vocal critics of my flying to planecheck and ran a "All airplanes" search sorted by ascending asking prices. The other tab had a car sales website. Let's say that the first several pages of planecheck were airplanes with much lower prices than most cars on the other screen.... made some people think.
Don't ask - don't tell is not for aviators, people.