Dan wrote:
Well, the only fly in the ointment is that 75% (or more?) of the EuroGA pilots worshiping not only every rule and their instrument needles, but more so enjoy their genitals being squeezed by battling with Eurocontrol and slots, having to file ATC FPLs for every flight, being imprisoned whilst flying in SIDs, 10NM airways, STARs, and need for concrete, will have either to stop flying… or convert to freedom
Actually, I enjoy both!
Actually, I enjoy both!
I don’t see the issue why one can’t have both?
I used to lunch from grass strip in/out to airway or international flights in Archer & Mooney
I loved doing it with OVC006 days where you get to go and enjoy somewhere sunny (wife loves it), plus no one else was flying around = less Cubs, Tigers and Pipestrels in taxiways and circuits
I also had no issues mixing with tailwheels, sports and fabric in “their territory” (I preferred windy days but sometimes they too strong for others to taxi), I am heading this Sunday for AeroDej in one strip nearby
that 75% (or more?) of the EuroGA pilots worshiping not only every rule and their instrument needles, but more so enjoy their genitals being squeezed by battling with Eurocontrol and slots, having to file ATC FPLs for every flight, being imprisoned whilst flying in SIDs, 10NM airways, STARs, and need for concrete, will have either to stop flying
I know almost nobody who enjoys that.
Anyway, you need an IR for it, which maybe 1-2% of European GA has.
you need an IR for it, which maybe 1-2% of European GA has
EuroGA is meant as the most active posters on the famous EuroGA website, and not the European GA as a whole 
Ibra wrote:
I don’t see the issue why one can’t have both?
Exactly. Every time I read single engine planes being described as “IFR tourers” or “farm strip permit planes” it strikes me as desperately silly. They are all just little planes, lots of fun and some utility, flown by people who pay the bills and have a common interest in preventing any segment of the activity from being subjugated.
They are all just little planes, lots of fun and some utility, flown by people who pay the bills and have a common interest in preventing any segment of the activity from being subjugated.
Taking @LeSving #3 scenario of „predictions“, no. Same as in the colonies, we have different categories of users in Europe.
Having say only grass strips with 400m maximum length at reasonable disposal, and lo and behold no published IFR approach published, would/will decimate European EuroGA flying, more than anyone could anticipate.
What we are looking at now is only slow erosion.
PS
@Peter, any way to set up polls within this forum? Sure would give us a better picture on many subjects where people are either reluctant, or maybe lazy, not interested enough, to voice out an opinion.
any way to set up polls within this forum?
Unfortunately not.
There used to be such a feature for voting for fly-in destinations but it was quite customised and not a general thing.
Telegram groups can have polls.
One doesn’t necessarily get a meaningful participation in polls. For example for fly-in destinations one gets loads of votes for destinations to which the voter has no possibility of travelling to (as we quickly found out ).
Ibra wrote:
I don’t see the issue why one can’t have both?
Clearly we do indeed have both. That’s not the issue. The issue is that while the “heavier” side is simply getting more and more infested with arbitrary cost, random “regulations” and time consuming nonsense, the “lighter” side is getting better and better.
The golden days of (traditional) private GA was the 80’s and 90’s until sometime in the early/mid 2000’s when it turned bad for sure. I remember how fantastic it actually was. At ENVA alone there were 3 flight schools, and at all three you could rent planes. Several smaller air taxi companies. In addition there was this humongous hangar from the Germans where anyone could park their plane for free. It was about 20-30 planes there, but still free spaces. People flew and had a great time, lots of activity. Today, all that is left is the club. And what the club does is to train a handful of PPLs each year, they stick around for 1-3 years, then quit. The same situation and history exists for all major airports (the ones who existed after WWII).
What has happened? A number of things:
The activity that existed in the 80’s until early/mid 2000 is gone. It’s not only at ENVA, it’s the same all over. But other stuff has also happened. ULs started in the 80s and has grown and been developed ever since. Experimentals started ages ago, but the kit industry as we know it today started to get momentum in the late 80s and 90’s. This basically means that those who fly VFR can do this much cheaper, and in a much more fancy plane that in a certified C-172. Those who fly IFR get an RV instead, with the added benefit of the ability to land just about everywhere. The private infrastructure is getting better and better (still some way to go to get Swedish standards ) The fly-in I was at last weekend. We were about a dozen planes. But only one certified. It was an Annex I Piper Cub
This is how I see it. GA as I knew it from the 90s and early 2000 has not only declined. It has literally vanished from the face of the earth. In a wider perspective though, then GA has simply transformed and moved out into “the bush”. There still are lots of private certified aircraft around, and Norway is not a bad place to fly. Avinor airports are still usable, and with great service (when open). It’s the activity that used to be, that has gone/moved/transformed basically due to loss of viable “habitat”
Thanks for the info @Peter.
Ok, I’ll now try to write something serious
668 posts analysing the reasons for GA’s decline. Looking at it on the European level, the trend is here, so common factors are at work, erosion being the word.
One of the reasons we haven’t discussed much is the grasp virtual life has taken on us. Internet, smart phones, computers, et al.
An analogy to GA private flying, is another hobby of mine, RC (remote control flying, models). I belong to a small club, 50 members large, and our field, with a 50m runway, is located 15 minutes drive away from my place.
Ours, and all the clubs I know of, are trying to fight the decline in membership, and the lack of young people starting in the hobby.
As an example, a mother and her 13 year old son came to the field about 3 years ago. Brought a box containing one of those plug & play Carbon Cub model, with the remote. Batteries charged, I performed the 1st flight, trim it out, etc, and land. We check the battery out, still plenty of juice, so I take-off again, and climb to a safe altitude. I then hand over the remote (transmitter) to the boy, standing behind him, ready to take over control. Straight and level fine, with only very small excursions, comes first 90° turn, bank angle perfect, about 3m altitude loss. I tell him to slightly pull on the elevator stick, next turn perfect. New battery and we are already working on landings. Once done, I congratulate him and ask: “ever flown RC beforehand?” reply: “no, not in real life, but some on the simulator”.
Said boy visits the field are few times more, able to fly on his own. And then disappears, not to be seen again… why?
Virtual life has taken a lot of what used to be outdoor activities, and moved them indoor. In the RC flying example, why would a young boy go to the trouble begging his parents to get some expensive equipment, having to spend time finding and going to a field, taking care of the batteries, and fixing his models, when instead he can fly day and night using the fantastic simulation software at disposal. Nice and cosy at home…
Same goes for GA flying. The simulators have reached astounding levels of realism in the last years, and one can fly his heart’s contents at basically no cost. Or watch and dream along those fantastic flight videos, some done by you guys.
Why go thru the hassle and costs of getting a pilot’s licence if not really bitten by the Bacillus Aviaticus?
The decline started long before “virtual life”. There are still plenty of people who want to pursue outdoor hobbies, and population has increased at a rate quicker than people wanting to pursue outdoor hobbies has decreased. It’s easy to blame new technology, but with GA increased cost and disproportionate regulation is likely a far bigger factor.
