I know I won’t get any pushback about this statement. Flying is the best thing ever. In thinking about the great luck I’ve had in being able to fly so much and in so many different planes, I’ve been reminded of a number of truths about flying. Granted, some of these are things that aren’t very surprising, though others really are.
1. It’s a great time to become an airline pilot.
We all figured that airline flying would come back!eventually, but that timetable was anybody’s guess. As it turned out, people don’t just want to fly again; they want to fly more than they ever did before the pandemic! So those flight academies and mom-and-pop shops buying planes got it right. Let’s go flying.
What Do You Tell Non-Aviation Friends Who Are Interested In Becoming a Pilot?
2. Community matters, a lot.
Flying small planes is by definition a solo or very small group activity, but community is core to its existence and future. We’ve seen this in the way that groups of pilots have been banding together online and in person at informal fly-ins and fly-outs. At a time of great upheaval, other people matter, and when you’re passionate about something that not a lot of other people understand, it’s only natural to seek out others who get it.
3. Future propulsion.
New propulsion is coming more slowly than I’d hoped, but it will get here, and it will change everything. I always suspected that electric motors powering propellers powered by batteries would be how things would shake out, but that might not be the case. It could be hydrogen, hybrid power or some third thing that’s not yet on the radar. It’s hard to say. But the high cost of propulsion has created a nearly insurmountable barrier to entry to flying, so something has got to give. When there’s a need, smart scientists usually figure out a solution.
“Rolls-Royce Electric Speed Record-Seeking Plane Flies!”
4. EAA is in good hands.
I have never before felt so confident that EAA, a member organization that oversees a huge variety of segments and initiatives, is nonetheless on the right track, managing its resources smartly, leveraging its partnerships and legacy in such smart ways that it sure seems to me that the organization is on a future pathway that its founder, the late, great Paul Poberezny, would surely be proud to see.
Big Stories From The Week Of Oshkosh AirVenture 2021
5. Our airplanes are getting really old.
It’s a complete coincidence, but during the last 16 months, there have been some serious and concerning airworthiness directives coming down the pike. And these aren’t nickel-and-dime overreactions, either. They are more like, “do this soon, or your wings or tail might fall off” kinds of actions. This puts us in tricky territory, in a place where new airplanes are far more expensive than most people who fly can afford at the same time that many older airplanes are aging out or going up in value at an unprecedented rate. I know this doesn’t sound like a good thing in any way, but it is. Whenever in our history we’ve had our backs against the wall economically or otherwise, we’ve seen new pathways open themselves to us. New LSA-styled rules allowing bigger and faster, less-regulated airplanes are a great idea. It’s time to shake things up, and fast.
6. Risk is relative.
If there’s anything positive to come out of the horrible toll of death and disease that COVID-19 has wrought, it’s the realization that so many of us have come face to face with the fact that we are mortal, and we ought to get on with living in ways that celebrate the joy that drives us. Awareness of risk is still of the utmost importance. But maximizing joy is right up there, too.
What Pilots Get About Risk That The Rest Of The World Doesn’t
7. Economics defines light aviation.
Flying is about dollars and cents. If we want more people to fly and buy stuff, like headsets, airplanes and magazines, we need to make it easier for them to get into flying. The No. 1 way we can do that is to make flying cheaper. Again, this leads back to propulsion.
8. There’s little ceiling to the number of pilots.
Last year, enthusiasts purchased more than 300,000 touring motorcycles in the United States. Last year, U.S. light plane makers sold far fewer than 1,000 airplanes, or about 300 times as many new highway-ready bikes were sold as airplanes of any description. Riding bikes on the highway is good fun. About 1/300th as much fun as flying. The hunger for what we do is out there.
9. Keeping airports open is a patriotic duty.
I’ve been reflecting on the link between America’s unique brand of open skies freedom and the need to maintain our access to the airways. Without airports, where would we be? So don’t forget to renew your AOPA, EAA and RAF memberships, pilots!
10. Pilots are a special breed, but they weren’t born that way.
Many folks, me included, say that pilots are a special breed. The more I think about that, the less true I think it is. In fact, I think we’ve got it backward. Flying attracts cool peeps, no doubt. But it makes us special by insisting on a kind of passionate engagement with what we do that has intellectual, physical and emotional elements, all of which demand much of us and all of which give us rewards commensurate with our investment, and then some.
