Portrayal of General Aviation

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bigblockz8

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Gore
We were discussing this on another thread that I wrote and I wanted to hear more about it. I personally am sick of the media's lies, misinformation, and the public's lack of understanding. I understand that they're misinformed but when we try to educate them they reject it and refuse to change their views.

I find these are very common, sensitive subjects among the public:


  • "Small" airplanes crash, if you fly in one you die.


  • Only rich people fly


  • Turbulence is what happens because the airplane is bouncing on its wings


  • Airline pilots learn in jets


  • "Small" airplanes takeoff at 100mph


  • "Small" airplanes are dangerous and if you live near an airport with them they will crash into your house for sure


  • General aviation ("small airplanes") is useless and dangerous


  • Rich fatcats use private jets


  • "Small" airplanes cost 1 million dollars


  • Airplanes dump fuel and thats what those long white lines in the sky are


  • Pilots (all of them) make hundreds of thousands of dollars


  • You have to be a Top Gun fighter pilot or math wiz to be a pilot


  • Airplane engines stall and then the airplanes fall like bricks


  • "Small" airplanes aren't strong


  • Small airports are useless and I want a new shopping center instead

These are just some things that I have been told, asked, or argued about.

Here's my qoute from my original thread that inspired this one

I saw a newscast a year or so ago and it was about a plane crash from a stall. I JUST got into aviation and had done stalls myself about a month earlier. The reporter said a stall is when the engine dies and that it's practiced by pilots all the time. :mad: The airplane then falls at a rapid rate until the stall is fixed...NOT AT ALL CORRECT!
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My mom thought a stall was the same thing although I explained it to her. She has just recently grasped the concept.

My grandfather believed that Cessnas had to go 100mph or so to take off and was surprised to see us take off so slow.

My brilliant friend who is just an all around genius argued with me about contrails. She insists that its fuel! I told her that yes, they do dump fuel but that if she watches, the thin lines become thick, wide clouds in an hour or two. Its condensation and fuel is dumped primarily over the Midwest while en-route with a better picture and because it isn't as populated. She finally got it when I showed her a video I took of a 737 landing when the wing vortexes were visible and when a Blue Angels jet went above the speed of sound creating that familiar condensation cloud.

My US Government teacher wanted to be a pilot but thought that the small planes were 1 million dollars! He also thought that he had to learn in a 737 and then buy a small one.

My mom thought (when I told her I wanted to fly) that all pilots started off in jets (like my teacher did). She finally got why there were so many small planes in the air and was shocked when I told her (she wanted to be an F-16 pilot) that she would have been evaluated in a "small" plane.

Everyone knows the "small" plane issue. It is the issue of safety. To the public we are idiots for pushing our luck in dangerous, soda can, VW engined airplanes. My family didn't support me (still not 100% behind me) when I first started learning. One side still asks me why I am suicidal and if my family life is OK... I try to explain how vital safety is and how safe the airplanes are but they have been brainwashed by constant media bombardment of negative propaganda. One side even forbade me from flying (not the side that has legal custody lol) because they said I'd die when the airplane crashes because we can't see (sun visors in airplanes that cool the inside didn't help my argument! Thank you Mr. Cirrus,Piper, and Decathlon owners!), our airplane will fall apart, or that the engine would stall.

The general idea is that we need to educate in order to clear up misconception as fear truly is just a misunderstanding or ignorance. If you're afraid of airplanes that's OK as long as you realize the inherent risks and are afraid because of the new found knowledge of the subject-matter.
Some people will still trust the media more than a person who knows what they're talking about but it is worth putting forth effort on our part if it helps to keep GA alive and well. Explain what GA is and ask about their fears or questions. Easier said than done as usual though. I am puzzled as to why people trust a mechanic's knowledge and judgement when their car is broken but won't even hear what some grey haired airline captains have to say.

What is you story?



P.S. I'm not saying anything about mechanics, I come from a long line of them myself. I meant that they are a professional (some aren't though) and that they're respected, why can't pilots be? Airline pilots especially are being relegated to a bus driver with wings...AirBUS
 
are you new to aviation? i think this stuff has only been going on for, oh, about 100 years
 
You think being a pilot is bad? Get a ham radio license, and take up target shooting.

All you can do is try to reduce the level of general ignorance, one person at a time. Most people don't know, don't care, and don't even want to know... it's the last one that is tough to understand, but you will have to accept that there is only so much you can do about it.
 
General public mostly knows nothing about airplanes.



You have to be a Top Gun fighter pilot or math wiz to be a pilot
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This is partially true. An average person can't be a pilot. To be a pilot you need to have the skill (for example you never see a good pilot not be able to drive a car, yet you see plenty of people who can't drive good), you have to be interested in flying, and you need to have the motivation to learn.
 
MachFly said:
An average person can't be a pilot.
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Although I like to think that pilots are a cut above the general public in many ways, I don't think that there is too much involved in learning to fly that the average person on the street couldn't learn.

It's a question of motivation and capability, not of aptitude or ability.
 
You think the public view of GA is bad, try computer systems. I'm auditing a college course in aviation security (taught by one of the leading experts...) Each week he posts a discussion topic. Last week:
"Appearing to you in a dream, was the late great Steve Jobs - he has told you that you should apply his way of doing things to redesign the aviation security system in the U.S. What would that look like?"

Some of the responses...

1. We are living in the technology age and I think that everyone should embrace it and that we should take advantage of it whenever we can....If there could be a way to convince people to volunteer their fingerprints, retinas, whatever else into a system so when they walk in they can be easily identified then we'd really have something going.

(Call me when that happens - I'll be on the next boat to New Zealand.)

2. He would definitely require biometrics for entrance into secured areas in airports.
(Already in place, and has been for years)

And lastly, he would have invented (if not already in use) and implemented automated behavior detection systems, that can discern and alert personnel of suspicious behavior.

3. I like the idea of creating a date base with all employees and Travelers faces. The employees would go through the scanning process when they are hired and the travelers would do so when they get there tickets. By doing this we can put a face to the traveler and their travel plans. This data base would make it easier to identify people of suspicion and the phones could be used to tell the workers to pay attention to that specific passenger’s behavior. This data base would help keep track of the baggage that the people usually bring looking for inconsistences or suspicious bags.

4. as the pilots accomplish their preflight walk-around they carry a device that electronically inspects the aircraft from the exterior with a laser, or x-ray, or some other technology identifying any irregularities.

(And this from students in the aviation department? Whoops, I forgot - there's no requirement to learn anything in the Physics for Dummies class they're required to take)

And my favorite

5. Create a centralize database that screened passengers at the moment they brought a ticket. Records from the FBI, CIA, Immigration, TSA, local and state law enforcement, etc. would all be in this database. I would focus a large amount of funding towards this database because screening passengers once they buy airline tickets is really the second line of defense. The first of course would be the intelligence gathering. The system would initially be bog down because of the amount of information, but it would have some type of intelligence that would weave out frequent travels over time.
------------
I've given up trying to educate the students (and the instructor, to some extent) about technology issues & limitations, Federal laws regarding cross-pollination of data, not to mention privacy issues, and, of course, low-bid contracts. More than 10 years ago the FBI planned to create an organization-wide data warehouse. It's now a decade later, and it's only marginally useful.

I've spent far too many years & projects architecting legacy database systems (many from vendors that no longer exist) into a useable system. Ain't cheap. Ain't easy. Ain't gonna happen in the way the US Govt. procures systems.

And if it does, the briefs submitted to the SCOTUS will make for fascinating reading.

Because you can watch movies on the iPad, the unwashed masses believe technology can do everything, and is the solution to all things.
 
murphey said:
Because you can watch movies on the iPad, the unwashed masses believe technology can do everything, and is the solution to all things.
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That's called "marketing", and it gets people to believe all sorts of incredible things.

Thanks to marketing:

1. People flock to restaurants like "McDonald's" and "Applebee's", because they see them on TV 4,000 times a year.

2. People think "Holiday Inns" are great because smart people stay at them -- or so they have heard.

3. People buy Progressive Insurance, because they like "Flo", and she's in their living room night after night.

4. Guys think it's manly to drink light beer.

The list goes on and on. It's absolutely amazing what marketing can do.

If people think technology can, should, and will do everything to make their lives better, blame the marketers, for they are the master manipulators of the unwashed masses.

Bottom line: Any group that can convince millions of Americans that "Miller Lite" is really "beer" deserves all the financial rewards they have received. They are freaking magicians.
 
I have a picture of my plane hanging in my office and the first question after they find out it's mine is how I can afford an airplane. I love the look on their face when I tell them I paid less for my plane then the Ford Excursion (F150, Siverado, Lexus, etc...) that they drove to work in. Makes for a great way to debunk the expensive theory.

Getting their license, well that's a different story. I paid $3.3K for 56 hours of training and solo work back in 1991 (Tomahawk was $55/hr wet and $15/hr instructor fee). Today, that would be closer to $8-9K at the going rates I see at FBO's.

Can anyone recall television, radio, or print ads for flight schools outside of the normal industry magazines?

Brian
 
bigblockz8 said:
My brilliant friend who is just an all around genius argued with me about contrails. She insists that its fuel! I told her that yes, they do dump fuel but that if she watches, the thin lines become thick, wide clouds in an hour or two. Its condensation and fuel is dumped primarily over the Midwest while en-route with a better picture and because it isn't as populated. She finally got it when I showed her a video I took of a 737 landing when the wing vortexes were visible and when a Blue Angels jet went above the speed of sound creating that familiar condensation cloud.
Click to expand...

Contrails are condensed water from the combustion process. Con(densation) trails = Contrails. Contrails don't contain fuel, although airliners do (very rarely) dump fuel. Fuel is expensive and unless something odd happens, like an aircraft fueled for an intercontintal trip having to land immediately after takeoff, the airline's fuel planning process is set up to avoid dumping it.
 
Think about what you know, or maybe I should say don't know, about other people's hobbies and activities. Is it reasonable for them to be annoyed because you don't?
 
Jay Honeck said:
Although I like to think that pilots are a cut above the general public in many ways, I don't think that there is too much involved in learning to fly that the average person on the street couldn't learn.

It's a question of motivation and capability, not of aptitude or ability.
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Not so certain about that Jay. So many people go out and do the utterly stupid in moving vehicles. You can get away with that on the ground, but in the air it kills. I think there are a lot of people who lack the sound judgement and maturity to be a successful pilot (successful being synonymous with still breathing).
 
bigblockz8 said:
  • "Small" airplanes are dangerous and if you live near an airport with them they will crash into your house for sure
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As Steven Wright said, if most accidents occur within five miles of your home, should you move ten miles away?

:idea:
 
Everskyward said:
Think about what you know, or maybe I should say don't know, about other people's hobbies and activities. Is it reasonable for them to be annoyed because you don't?
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This. Are we all knowledgeable about other peoples' activities? I think most of us are just as ignorant to many things as the targets of this thread are of general aviation.
 
There's a great article on General Aviation News website about 2 weeks ago (or so) titled "Don't be embarassed about General Aviation" . Go read it.
 
My mama never knew that I was involved in aviation. She always thought that I had a respectable career playing piano in a whore house.

Everskyward said:
Think about what you know, or maybe I should say don't know, about other people's hobbies and activities. Is it reasonable for them to be annoyed because you don't?
Click to expand...
 
Anyone who flies an airplane is supposed to be appropriately trained and licensed. Why, then, should a journalist, who can easily misinform the populace (intentionally or otherwise) be able to publish articles in the papers or magazines, or appear on TV, reporting on something he/she knows nothing about? (The "stall" being a classic issue.) As far as I can see, anyone reporting on aviation should be trained and licensed to do so simply because they can otherwise spread all sorts of dangerous ideas and create needless fear or hostility.

I'm sure aviation isn't alone here. Journalists learn how to write (well, some of them), but they sure don't learn much about technology, geography, anthropology, foreign cultures or anything else.

Dan
 
Dan Thomas said:
Anyone who flies an airplane is supposed to be appropriately trained and licensed. Why, then, should a journalist, who can easily misinform the populace (intentionally or otherwise) be able to publish articles in the papers or magazines, or appear on TV, reporting on something he/she knows nothing about? (The "stall" being a classic issue.) As far as I can see, anyone reporting on aviation should be trained and licensed to do so simply because they can otherwise spread all sorts of dangerous ideas and create needless fear or hostility.

I'm sure aviation isn't alone here. Journalists learn how to write (well, some of them), but they sure don't learn much about technology, geography, anthropology, foreign cultures or anything else.

Dan
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It is because these "intelligent" people know a little about something and then think they can intelligently discuss it. Everyone knows what the word "stall" means, but it takes someone with appropriate knowledge in aviaiton be able to apply that vocabulary in this environment.

Be wary of those that only read the glossary at the back of textbooks.
 
flight2000 said:
Can anyone recall television, radio, or print ads for flight schools outside of the normal industry magazines?

Brian
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I think you hit the nail on the head. If GAMA had some sense, or a marketing dude worth his salt, it would divert some of the funds it uses for lobby efforts and run a TV campaign aimed at 16-30 year old people who are prime candidates for flight instruction.
Re-runs of Iron Eagle just aren't cutting it.
With more exposure comes greater comfort and understanding, but there is no push to get new people to take up flight.
 
Has such advertising ever yielded a positive return?

Telemakhos said:
I think you hit the nail on the head. If GAMA had some sense, or a marketing dude worth his salt, it would divert some of the funds it uses for lobby efforts and run a TV campaign aimed at 16-30 year old people who are prime candidates for flight instruction.
Re-runs of Iron Eagle just aren't cutting it.
With more exposure comes greater comfort and understanding, but there is no push to get new people to take up flight.
Click to expand...
 
A journalism license? That will go over as well as gun permits:rolleyes:
Dan Thomas said:
Anyone who flies an airplane is supposed to be appropriately trained and licensed. Why, then, should a journalist, who can easily misinform the populace (intentionally or otherwise) be able to publish articles in the papers or magazines, or appear on TV, reporting on something he/she knows nothing about? (The "stall" being a classic issue.) As far as I can see, anyone reporting on aviation should be trained and licensed to do so simply because they can otherwise spread all sorts of dangerous ideas and create needless fear or hostility.

I'm sure aviation isn't alone here. Journalists learn how to write (well, some of them), but they sure don't learn much about technology, geography, anthropology, foreign cultures or anything else.

Dan
Click to expand...
 
There is a certain 10% in every crowd. That 10% will cause the most damage to an industry than the other 90% that have no problems. Once you figure out how to get over that 10%, life is golden.
 
motospeed9058 said:
There is a certain 10% in every crowd. That 10% will cause the most damage to an industry than the other 90% that have no problems. Once you figure out how to get over that 10%, life is golden.
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And that's a good reason to do nothing (sarcastic)
 
jasc15 said:
This. Are we all knowledgeable about other peoples' activities? I think most of us are just as ignorant to many things as the targets of this thread are of general aviation.
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But there's a difference the way negative events are played out in the media. Auto/motorcycle/SUV accidents are ignored unless there's unusual circumstances. Same for rifle/handgun events. Yet every time there's any type of GA or even commercial aircraft event, the media is all over it, usually with negative reporting.
 
There was actually a headline recently that read "81 year old pilot crashes into mall" As it turns out he made an emergency landing in a vacant parking lot NEAR a strip mall...That headline was used by some people on another forum bashing GA. They said that airplanes are dangerous and that there is a danger when they fly above cities. There was also a proposal to petition the FAA to make airplanes fly over rural areas only or over a trailer park to the south of the accident. I find it a bit funny that "we don't want these airplanes over our house" yet its OK for them to crash into a trailer park...Most trailer parks are home to middle class people.
 
murphey said:
But there's a difference the way negative events are played out in the media. Auto/motorcycle/SUV accidents are ignored unless there's unusual circumstances. Same for rifle/handgun events. Yet every time there's any type of GA or even commercial aircraft event, the media is all over it, usually with negative reporting.
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Anything that sells more rags/garners more eyeballs. :(
 
I was in your shoes Bigblockz, and it's a losing battle. I had one of my friends ask if I had a deathwish flying little airplanes. I don't talk much about aviation to non-pilots or people without any interest, because their ignorance astounds me.
 
  • "Small" airplanes are dangerous and if you live near an airport with them they will crash into your house for sure


  • General aviation ("small airplanes") is useless and dangerous
Click to expand...
I hear this far too often, working line at my home airport. We get calls from a group of grumpy people living near the airport and under the traffic pattern (they call themselves the "anti-airport committee" :rofl:), complaining about the traffic pattern being too tight, too wide, too many airplanes, flying too close to schools, etc. They've gone so far as to send us maps of the area with a drawing of where THEY think the traffic pattern should be! The airport has been here since 1917, decades longer than any residential areas. Your guess is as good as mine as to why people who despise GA this much and view it as being so dangerous would buy a house near a GA airport with a large flight training school... I live directly under long final for rwy 19 and don't mind it one bit.
My favorite complaint was from a woman living in one of the nearby practice areas, complaining that the planes overhead were disturbing her goats and chickens. :lol:
 
Kel445 said:
I hear this far too often, working line at my home airport. We get calls from a group of grumpy people living near the airport and under the traffic pattern (they call themselves the "anti-airport committee" :rofl:), complaining about the traffic pattern being too tight, too wide, too many airplanes, flying too close to schools, etc. They've gone so far as to send us maps of the area with a drawing of where THEY think the traffic pattern should be! The airport has been here since 1917, decades longer than any residential areas. Your guess is as good as mine as to why people who despise GA this much and view it as being so dangerous would buy a house near a GA airport with a large flight training school... I live directly under long final for rwy 19 and don't mind it one bit.
My favorite complaint was from a woman living in one of the nearby practice areas, complaining that the planes overhead were disturbing her goats and chickens. :lol:
Click to expand...

HAHA Yeah I don't get that at all! Where I fly out of, there are new homes being built. We fly about 300ft AGL and have to dogleg final and I can see the Stanley brand measuring tape in the workers' hands! The houses are built in the wrong place and soon they'll complain about the airport. I wish that we could just stop GA for a week and just show what happens when it's "gone." Imagine the services that GA provides being gone. Imagine that GA airport's use! It's the same as if all truckers stopped for a week. Even more time and watch the amount of ATP's shrink to the point that you can't visit family or travel anywhere by air.

Airports aren't really needed, grass fields will do but in the end we need an airport like field with navaids,a pattern,etc. People really shouldn't buy near airports if it's a problem. People avoid power lines or highways, why not airports? I live about 10 miles from a highway yet still hear the noise at night. I live 6 from the airport and still have low planes, even USAF from Andrews AFB at 500ft agl to 2000ft agl. C-5's, Gulfstreams, King airs,etc.


Old airplanes are old for a reason! Airports are safe too! Humans are the scary things, I'm more worried about a car coming through my wall or an accident on the road than I am of the low (500ft for the cessna's) planes above my house. Soon people will be complaining about cars while they walk on a sidewalk!
 
I have written a book to dispel some of these myths for people that have an interest in flying. Proceeds help sport aviation and young eagles.

I am working on another book now for the general public.

Medium%20Cover%20Jpeg.jpg
 
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