This issue has always been there. The famous saying is that it is just as well the CAAs are not run by pilots 
To start with, we have the “pilot personality”. You need to be relatively dedicated, not to say obscessive, to hang in this game where you have to keep overcoming one obstacle after another, like on some assault course. This results in a lot of GA pilots being in the strongly judgemental personality profile.
Next we have the medium through which this is expressed: the internet. Nearly all of the people who are nasty behind a keyboard are actually OK in person. Not all – I can think of 1 and possibly 2 GA pilots who are truly nasty in person too But it is on the internet where we see people being so judgemental.
It is worst on the “one line tossing” sites like facebook, reddit, etc, because tossing in one nasty line takes a lot less work than typing up a long argument.
There is certainly a general reduction in risk acceptance in society. This moves in sync with the “PC” stuff – because you get a nice one-way ratchet which nobody can argue with, because if they try they get instantly labelled as “unkind/inconsiderate”. It’s a disease which has some way to run before society reaches the edge of the cliff and is forced to step back a bit. However, the structure of GA has not changed in many decades so I don’t think this is a big factor in this topic.
“As far as the Western world goes, the value of individual life has certainly increased a lot in the last couple of decades,”
Except for drug and alcohol related death.
Peter wrote:
There is certainly a general reduction in risk acceptance in society. This moves in sync with the “PC” stuff – because you get a nice one-way ratchet which nobody can argue with, because if they try they get instantly labelled as “unkind/inconsiderate”. It’s a disease which has some way to run before society reaches the edge of the cliff and is forced to step back a bit.
I grew out of childhood in the 70s and have been watching this phenomenon ever since then. It’s hard to express how much I dislike it, having spent the entire period riding motorcycles, flying planes, making successful investments and generally living life… while watching many other people completely lose their lives to fear, while attempting to forcibly limit my life to match what little remains of their own.
But trying to project airlines safety structure/standards on to private flying doesn’t make a lot of sense. It’s like comparing train travel with private car driving. Single pilot GA is already confined to small aircraft (relatively speaking) and are used for convenience and adventure, not safety as primary objective. That doesn’t mean people don’t care about safety, but it’s just not achievable to the same level and I think everybody involved in GA and single pilot flying accepts this.
There are some dilemmas in this of course because certain groups, especially children flying with family in SEPs are not in position to judge the risk and say no. And it’s unfortunate every time children are caught up in GA accidents. But at the same time we move in everyday traffic and life in general with a certain amount risk. And GA flying at the same time brings great experiences too.
A move from a SEP to a modern SET fx would increase safety for vast majority of instrument rated GA pilots (who would also be the target group for this switch) since most of the improvements in safety comes from the better and more reliable equipment. A SET over a piston usually means better climb, FIKI, pressurization, more reliable avionics, weather radar, better autopilot, more reliable engine ect. Cirrus vision jet being a great example of the large safety increase this can bring to GA pilots in a modernized package. Unfortunately the current large price tag on this type of aircraft means that most GA pilots will never get close to this level of safety in A-B type of flying.
I am not sure moving up to say a PT6 makes flying safer due to the PT6 – because engine failures are rare. Instead, what I see is that people who went from an SEP to a SET completely change where they fly to. No longer do any fly-ins / meet-ups or local flying. They mostly just fly to their second house or business location abroad. One guy who went C182 → TBM does nearly all his flying to his business in Egypt, at FL300. This is a much safer mission profile.
The equipment/avionics on low end SETs isn’t of much better quality that on decent SEPs.
RikB wrote:
Isn’t this the same that is happening in society?
If you are talking of general risk intolerance, absolutely.
What I tried to address here however is people who are trying to capitalize on that. Here we are talking of PILOTS who slagg off other pilots and openly damage GA by calling everyone involved in it dangerous hooligans. And this often enough by people who are on the same “level”. What they are doing imho is increasing the intolerance of the general population by portraying GA pilots as reckless risk junkies.
RikB wrote:
they want to show on social media how much better they are.
I think this hits the nail on the head.
Recently a Swiss PPL has started a channel describing accidents most of us are aware of “for the public” using flight simulation and a semi professional appearance to make the videos look serious. Big flaw though: He massively slags of all the pilots in those accidents as incompetent idiots and uses titles which could be straight out of tabloids. I’ve stopped watching his “documentaries” after the fist two in order not to harm my otherwise perfect blood pressure, but I can see the echo he gets. Horrible for GA.
the same goes for the guys slagging off the pilots of the two accidents I mentioned. They feel so superior to us lowlife PPL’s that their attitude is clear, even if they claim not to aim for regulation but their arguments are going straight into that direction. If it’s perceived dangerous in any form, ban it.
Maoraigh wrote:
Insurance companies do the regulation when third party is required by law.
This is a problem which I have heard a lot of in recent times, particularly in the US, where lots of pilots can’t find insurance anymore, sometimes after decades of safe and claim-free flying just based on age or on perceived risks of certain types. I think this is one of the very much underestimated dangers for GA. If there is no insurance company left who will insure airplanes, flying will become impossible.
There is quite a gossip circuit in GA.
Some of it is reasonable e.g. somebody crashes, and you find out that this guy has been a real cowboy, who nobody wanted to fly with, etc, and nobody who knew him was surprised when he finally bit the dust. The accident investigators are very unlikely to print any of that, specially once lawyers for the family are involved, but it is good info for learning from.
Other stuff is not reasonable. It is usually general attitudes, like the idea that nobody with less than 4 engines should ever leave the circuit – allegedly attributed to retired 747 pilots
THY wrote:
Single pilot GA is already confined to small aircraft (relatively speaking) and are used for convenience and adventure, not safety as primary objective. That doesn’t mean people don’t care about safety, but it’s just not achievable to the same level and I think everybody involved in GA and single pilot flying accepts this.
It is certainly a worthy goal for each pilot to put safety first an so it should be. Taking unnecessary risks, particularly if you are with passengers, is not desirable nor does it make much sense. So applying “airline standards” in the sense that you fly within limitations and use the best diligence you can is certainly not wrong. MOST people do that anyway, as not that many I’ve ever met have either got a death wish or are simply reckless fools.
But that is exactly what those critics imply and are trying to communicate to the general public.
If the same went for cars they would be mostly ignored, as almost everyone drives and therefore knows for themselves what driving is all about. With flying it is different however. In the general population, flying is still exotic and most people from outside aviation have a born anxiety to it. Therefore, people like this damage us.
Peter wrote:
Next we have the medium through which this is expressed: the internet. Nearly all of the people who are nasty behind a keyboard are actually OK in person. Not all – I can think of 1 and possibly 2 GA pilots who are truly nasty in person too But it is on the internet where we see people being so judgemental.
Absolutely. And clearly: I am talking about aviation fora. Social media is a lot worse, but there most sane people take things with a bucket of salt anyhow. But if they see pilots slagging each other off in aviation fora (and quite a few of these are read and used by the media), it is a totally different dimension.
Peter wrote:
Instead, what I see is that people who went from an SEP to a SET completely change where they fly to.
I guess these people just discover how much easier it is to do long distance travelling in high performance aircraft with all the right equipment for the job and IFR. Just planning a trip VFR for any significant distance can be a headache. A TBM isn’t made for low level VFR traveling, and it doesn’t exactly excel in short grass fields either. On top they are often owned by a company that must be able to explain each trip. It’s some of the reasons I keep my RV8 on the side of any travel aircraft.
THY wrote:
I guess these people just discover how much easier it is to do long distance travelling in high performance aircraft with all the right equipment for the job and IFR
I don’t think that solve the hassle on the ground? you get more constraints in terms of getting permission, PPR/Slots, parking space, fuel trucks, full ATC…sure going for handling makes life easier, especially when it comes to arranging parking, fuel, customs and police
You still need to get PPR/ACK from the handling and it’s not a walk in the park? how do people who operate TBM/CJ4 themselves do this? do they hire someone else to take care of dealing with handlers?
Let’s take the easy one LeBourget: no PPR and no Slots, still getting ACK from handler to make 2h quick stop is full time job (e.g. handling request, gendec manifest spreadsheet, know your customer forms, health/vax declarations and others…), I would not list what I got from SERCO once: 12 bullet points checklist that finishes with “YOU HAVE TO LEAVE AT 6PM”, the user experience is way more painful than say US FBO in “XXXX Executive Airport”
I don’t think bolting 1×PT6 or 2×PW with FIKI boots will sort GA ground hassle or runway limitations? it’s an infrastructure issue combined with low client service
