Well, boys and girls, this is your Original Poster. Highly amused by the ruffled feathers of some of our macho machine drivers. And thankful for the good sense of others.
Radgirl of the Antipodes gets quite ruffled at "anecdotal comments about older people being somehow less safe".... She supports her argument by saying we shouldn't retire older doctors just because they find it difficult to cope with night work. O dear. There is a difference between doctoring and being a commercial pilot with 360 trusting bodies sitting in the back. Doctors usually only kill one patient at a time....
I had my wake up call on April 2, 2010, a stroke that knocked out part of the peripheral vision. Up to then I had still been instructing in gliders and flying the tow plane. I was only 77 years old at the time. Bummer. Absolute bummer. So no less of a macho oldie than our friend Pace, bet he's younger than me, too.
But I havn't quit flying altogether. I lecture, I act as launchpoint coordinator, and serve on various committees, and recruit new members for the gliding club. And whenever I can snaffle a qualified instructor willing to suffer in the student's front seat, I still mess around in a K13....locally, to be sure, and only in weather that does not exceed my personal limits!
There you go. Just remember to keep taking the pills.....