Why do people give up?
 

This topic has cropped up on another thread so it seemed worthy of discussion.

As we all know the number of pilots who let their newly won PPL lapse after only a few years is enormous. Why? After all they have spent a lot of time and money gaining their PPL in the first place.

Now the problem with the question is that the target audience that can really answer the question is no longer reading this forum!

However, for those of us that have thought about it, or even done so, or know friends that have given up we might have an insight.

Obvious thoughts come to mind:

Just did it in the first place for the sense of achievement,

Cost,

Fed up with going around in circles,

Disillusioned.

I wonder.

Personally I dont think it is economic. This may be a factor at the moment but the fact is even in the boom years the drop out rate was huge unless it is more generally that people dont appreciate the ongoing "investment" required whatever the economic enviroment.

Well, I suspect I am one of your target audience, but still Pprune because my interests and past connections extend beyond Private Flying.

The one and only reason I gave up, hopefully not forever, with approx 270hrs, is cost!

When I got my PPL in the mid-90's, I was still single (just), didn't have a big mortgage, or kids....you get the picture.

At the end of the day, flying was a hobby for me, and with lots of other more important demands on the family cash, a halt had to be called....although I hasten to add, it was my own decision and not at all forced upon me.

A couple of weeks ago, I found myself in the Clubhouse at the airfield where I gained by PPL (actually not Wycombe!), eyeing up the "shares for sale" etc. on the noticeboard.....will be a while, but am determined to "get back in the saddle" one day.

VFR flying.... too many controlled airspace restrictions leading to fear of making mistakes?

I think most of us have been close at times especially the ones who dont have an aviation career in mind.

A lot of motivation is the goal. Like anything in life we have an expectation!
to succeed is an achievement to not succeed is a failure. Succeeding makes us feel good failure makes us feel bad.

We are all driven by wanting more.

I remember the story of the pilot flying a piper cub low level.

He looked up and saw the guy flying a retractable fast single. "If Only I could have that I would be satisfied"
The retractable single guy looked up and saw a turbine twin. "If Only I could have that I would be satisfied".
The twin guy looked up and saw a jet. "If Only I could have that I would be satisfied".
The jet guy looked up and saw Concorde."If Only I could have that I would be satisfied".
The Concorde guy looked down and saw the Piper cub. "If Only I could have that I would be satisfied". :)

So I think many have that goal of reaching being a PPL which is a costly business. Having achieved that and gone through the Glory stage of puffing out their chests taking friends and girlfriends for a ride the costs and what to do next hit hard.

Also there is the deflated period, we save like mad to get a car, once we get that car and have achieved the goal the whole thing goes flat and we look for another goal.

In aviation that can be an IMC rating a Multi rating a better faster aircraft or a new direction ie into the commercial world.

Aircraft are like any other forms of transport TRANSPORT. They have to be useable, reliable and competative compared to the train, boat, car.

Ie they have to have a purpose. Those who are not mega wealthy I believe loose that purpose, loose that motivation. When they get to the point of thinking "what am I doing here! can I afford this self indulgence a lot drop out.

They drop out because as another poster said life events change or they cannot do enough flying to keep that interest going.

Even in the commercial world there are many times when you think "what am I doing here" ? A load of Hassle, not being paid, more expense, keeping type ratings and licences /medicals going, Bad flights, having to fly when you dont want to, Grumpy customers, lack of new goals! Friends who get killed in aviation.

Then you have a flight which kindles the passions you once had and leaves you with that great buzz at the end of the day.

Then you know why you fly! The more you put in the more you get out is true in anything including aviation.

Pace

I think that the strain of trying to keep current on a limited budget in UK weather starts to make one wonder if its all worth the effort. If you can only afford to rent for about an hour a month, you won't go anywhere and it only takes a blip in the weather and you need a check flight which eats into that limited budget.

I eventually gave up after about 7 years but was fortunate to take it up again twenty years later. Once again I started to run into the same problems but was in a position to start sharing my flying with other PPL's to expand my horizons. Then it became a problem trying to ensure that I had the three landings in 90 days. Now I'm in a group I fly a lot more and am enjoying it much more too. Now I just dread the day when anno dominae dictates that I stop, or I just run out of money.

For me, vanHorck's fear of making mistakes in our crowded skies was also a factor back in the 70's and this fear has been greatly reduced with the increase in experience and the introduction of the GPS.

Rises in the base rate:uhoh:

Join a group
 

:ok:
I fly around 35 hrs per year,if I had to hire it would cost around £4500-5000/year.
As a retired person I doubt I could justify these hours/costs in a hired plane, so would gradually reduce flying until I became out of currency,unsafe etc or just stopped flying.

Flying with my group it costs around £1500/year all in,which makes flying affordable whenever I wish to go.
Unless you are able to earn and spend a lots of money, I can't see how you can better group flying.
The other bonus is that there are a number of co-owners to discuss any problems etc and a sort of camaraderie within the members.
Lister:)

I've never thought about giving up so I can only speak of what others tell me, and the main thread there is lack of confidence. This is only to be expected, looking at the PPL syllabus.

Obviously there are many other factors, and we could all go and make a list.

I think the most interesting ones are those which are preventable.

Lack of money is hardly preventable, and there will always be loads of people that do a PPL but who haven't got the funding for subsequent flying.

Lack of support from one's family is likely not preventable - short of getting a divorce and getting a new girlfriend who likes flying (a very tall order IMHO!! and I am talking about the new GF, not about the divorce...).

Getting back to lack of confidence, this is preventable but is a very hard nut to crack within the present PPL syllabus and the present "airfield/school political" climate. I've done all I can for a lot of pilots by writing up detailed trip reports with tips etc, and I know from feedback these have helped hundreds of pilots. But what is really needed is mentoring and modernisation.

On the 2nd one, the syllabus will never change because any expansion would be unwelcome by most, especially the schools. So forget this one.

A suitable mentoring scheme would I am certain help a lot (I gather AOPA is looking at some sort of post-qualification scheme) but this is politically hard to get past the flight training industry because schools generally dislike ex students hanging around because they are seen as usurping the instructors' authority which "must" be total and unquestioned. I was pushed out pretty fast myself after I got the PPL and stopped renting and bought my plane, though I did get used for a couple of fly-outs, to ferry the pilots' wives ;) The actual pilots would always be in the LHS with an instructor in the RHS (in the school's planes, not mine) so that each leg of the "club flyout" was a fully chargeable training flight.

As for "messing around" with the school's existing or past customers, that is out of the question and would have to be done off the airfield. And the "post qualification" line is a tough one to stick to because let's say you meet up with 3 pilots, and one of them hasn't yet got his PPL. Do you tell him to leave the room? You would just have to hope he keeps his mouth shut. Tricky! Anyway I very much hope something changes on this because it would make a huge difference to dropout rates.

Money is not the biggest issue, in general.

The best thing for a new PPL is to buy a plane, or buy into a group. ASAP.

The main reason i feel most people give up is because most flying clubs wont let you take there planes away for a day even if you plan to fly more than a couple of hours which leads to many people (or me at least) getting bored of flying the same hour from the same airport which can get quite expensive:bored: as it is at the moment im caught in the middle wanting to fly more yet im unable to buy a share in a group or even have enough cash to take a club aircraft away for the day:ooh: but im only a student so hopefully with time ill earn more and be able to fly more as well:}
JACK

I've seen that claim being made here before but I wonder how real that is. My club has no problems with people taking planes for a full day or even couple of days, as long as they fly a rather reasonable 3.5 hours on weekend days and 2.5 hours on weekdays.

And if you're known at the club, fly reasonably often and don't make a habit of pushing these limits, I have found that the numbers above are negotiable anyway.

Jack

It might be worth talking to your club and seeing if there are quieter times in the week where you can take the aircraft off.

The second option is to get together with another pilot/s so that you can cost share and leg share. This allows you to go further afield rather than boring yourself by doing the same route around the local area in the time you can afford.

Talk to private owners as they might like some hours taking up and then you dont get such a problem with taking the aircraft away for a day.
Your main problem here might be their reluctance to take on a very low time PPL re insurance and experience levels.

The other way you may consider is buying a share in a VLA in a fairly large group. The share might not cost a lot and especially wth those aircraft the fuel is low in cost as should be the hourly rates.

Otherwise if your situation is not good at present keep your PPL going by flting when you can in quality flights and keeping in mind your goal that OK you may not fly many hours this year but next year who knows.

This might sound stupid but if you have a reasonable computer run flight sim.
It can be fun and keep up your currency although only a game.
I was well into that a few years ago and used to duplicate a flight I was intending to do on the sim first. when I came to the flight itself I had practiced the route and was already familiar with the approaches. With some of the detailed scenery it was amazing how simular the two experiences were although the handling and realism of the air and interaction was lacking.

Pace

I tend to be "cyclical" in my interests but flying has always been in there since first soloing in 1975... must have "given up" (left it all alone) 4 or 5 times.

I think I'm about to "give up" again soon unless I can actually find something to fly... I'm currently thinking of buying a sailing boat as it'll be more aaccessible.

Economics have never really been the problem (within the usual hobby budget), just my enthusiasm and the availability of suitable aeroplanes... both seem rather thin on the ground at the moment but maybe in a couple of years time I'll be selling the boat....

Think the most important aspects have already been mentioned... I think money is more important that has been acknowledged, for a simple reason: If flying had not cost what for most people is a great deal of money, the other reasons mentioned would net be enough to stop flying.

Another thing is that flying is probably a good deal different from what most people would have thought before they started their training. I think many find it is a lot more work, a lot more effort in preparation, a lot less flexible than people generally believe. A PPL probably does not give quite the freedom they might have expected.

I don't think any of this is a problem though. If a lot of people get their license, fly for a couple years and then stop; so what? If they are happy with that, so much the better for them! :)

That is a LOT of flying, for most PPLs. Let's face it, most training/rental types cannot even fly for 3.5 hours (with any safety margin taking into account the crude fuel management practices) so if you were to meet this requirement you would be doing two flights per day - a gruelling regime for most people.

The school I used to rent from had a rule like that; about 3hrs billed per day. One customer did actually do that - took the plane for a 2 week flying holiday once a year, clocking up loads of hours. But the typical PPL renter would like to fly to say France or whatever, say 1.5hrs, do 2 nights there (so they have a full clear day) and fly back. The takeaway rules make that expensive - he will get a 6hr bill i.e. some £600.

I agree, and this could be addressed with post-PPL mentoring. The PPL gives you the privilege to do it legally. To get use out of the piece of paper, you need to learn a lot of small operational details, but the school doesn't teach that.

Take just one little example: flight planning. There is a huge difference between doing it using the circular slide rule, to be flown with a stopwatch on dead reckoning, etc, and doing it on a laptop with say Navbox, to be flown with a GPS.

Of course money does matter (to most) but what really matters is the ratio of enjoyment/utility/whatever-you-like-about-it, and the hassle.

Years ago, I gave up water-skiing because it was a 1hr and very unpleasant drive (the Worthing/Arundel A27 route) through heavy weekend traffic, to be followed by mostly hanging around the lake waiting for my turn behind a boat.

Same with flying. If one can organise the stuff so as to minimise the hassle, one is a lot more likely to carry on.

Whilst not wanting to disagree with much of what's already been said, I think a lot depends on the manner in which the pilot evolves.

For those who start in what may be the typical school nowadays, the thoughts in previous posts seem pertinent.

My experience is that for those who grew up with (take your pick) gliding, microlights, non-radio aircraft, non-radio environments, relaxed air-ground radio airfields, farm strips and especially in the company of those who did/do haunt those elements, there is every reason to fly and continue flying. There is community on tap, which answers the mentoring question. What all those elements can provide is fun. Of course other situations can do this too, but it seems to me that there are many vanilla PPLs who have had little or no contact with these aspects of recreational flying and may be missing out on what would keep them flying when the challenge of getting the licence has been achieved and the gloss has dulled a bit.

Some people like a challenge and afterwards move onto something else. Nothing wrong with that, although it seems a waste. A few drift in and drift out, never finding that one thing that leads to the addiction many of us suffer (happily). A few may think that flying will be as useful as driving and discover otherwise. We can't answer that one: it isn't as useful, full stop. My unscientifically substantiated opinion is that the majority who drop out don't intend to do so but eventually realise they've flown very little, can't justify the rental/renewals/hangarage/share of aircraft/aeroplane ownership and cut their losses. Some could be salvaged by being introduced to the LAA/BMAA/BGA world; some are already in it and still drop out.

It's not my most eloquently worded opinion, but if you get the drift, I've communicated.

I don't smoke but if I did it would cost me £12 a day. That's when the weather is good or bad. I would like to smoke every day regardless. So it costs me £5k a year. It costs the taxpayers a lot more to fix my 60 years of smoking, ha , ha.

got bored with it and it cost too much
 

So I gave up - especially as a series of redundancies from a collapsing UK manufacturing industry cut my income. But I continued to look up at aircraft flying overhead for the next few years.

Now I can afford it, I revalidated my licence and now fly a taildragger from a grass strip - it's been (and still is!) challenging but great fun - and costs a fraction of spam can hire. The taildragger rating also allows me to fly much cheaper aircraft.

I think that no matter how one looks at this, the majority will always give up fast no matter what you do - it's the nature of the customer intake and of the overall situation.

But if one could reduce say the 2-year point attrition rate (the license/medical renewal point is where the first "big decision" is made) from whatever it is, say 90%, to 80%, which doesn't seem a hard target, that would double the # of people flying, which is a massive increase which would completely transform the finances of the GA scene.

Especially as, I strongly suspect, a disproportionate % of those who give up are in fact people who can well afford it. Or put it another way, a disproportionate % of those who remain are people who can barely afford it. I feel this is the case because what drives people towards some activity is the total return on it (versus the hassle), and those with more dosh have more options on where to spend it.

Today's lifestyle - especially for the "younger executive type" - is usually quite strategically planned, and with most worthwhile activities costing significant money or time, they will spend their money and their time where they get the most fun.

Who wouldn't want to double the # of people flying? I am sure GA airfields would like it. Schools probably wouldn't unless these pilots remained in the hire scene, which is highly unlikely. But if the airfield the school is based on is decrepit, with runways covered in weeks and stones... ??

I see part of problem is the demise of the real club with several enthusiastic "organisers" on hand to sell the ideas of flyouts or even just spur of the moment fun execises to keep members on their toes. I was once a member of such a club and the atmosphere was infectious.
First and foremost the owner was a born salesman!
DO.

Agree with the above about getting a share instead of the hassle and expense of hiring. That's what I'd like to do, unfortunately, it's finding a suitable share (pref. permit on grass strip) reasonably locally that is often a problem! I'm in this situation now and long to able to stop renting and start flying more for similar money - guess I'll have to be patient.