Lack of instant satisfaction. This is a generalisation, but there is a trend of wanting it all and wanting it now. Getting a PPL actually requires some serious study and hard work, an investment in time, money and energy, before you get a result.
I think that’s the #1 reason – the “Ipad generation”. Schools face the same problem. Everything has to be dumbed down.
Maybe the decline in private aviation is partly our own fault.
Probably so, which is why mentoring is important. The sooner you drag yourself out of the school environment and see how flying works for real, the better. Flying somewhere nice in somebody’s nice TB20 is a great motivator 
You don’t have to tell me! I made my wife and two close friends do their PPL :-)
But it’s a fact that flying is a hobby that needs a lot of passion, time – and money.
Peter wrote:
Probably so, which is why mentoring is important. The sooner you drag yourself out of the school environment and see how flying works for real, the better.
+ 1
I make a point to “talk up” GA with anyone & everyone that will listen & I offer rides whenever there is interest.
That said, I was/am abit surprised that none of my (3) kids have shown any interest “despite” hundreds of hours of “rides”
Archie wrote:
Archie 03-Dec-15 07:48 #178
C210_Flyer wrote:
I know many 210 pilots with no problems.
I know many(!) 210’s that have made a landing, but not on all three’s. Some due to let’s say… unhelpful pilot contributions (to avoid the term ‘pilot error’), some due…. lack of maintenance?
Well Ive been in the US flying for 35 yrs and have rarely run into someone who had a true gear problem from because of the gear itself. There was a problem with a “plastic” piece in the nose gear which if it broke would cause the nose wheel to collapse. However that should have been changed years ago.
The gear needs to be rigged correctly thats it no rocket science. The hoses need changing after 20 yrs. I belong to CPA and there is a very well informed group on there. Many issues are discussed but having gear ups due to a poor design is not one of them. Even crappy or no maintenance is not an issue. I asked John Frank about “all the gear problems for 210s” and he assured me it was a non issue.
Why dont you ask Michael here on Euro GA about his experiences.
I still say that the majority of the gear ups are due to the pilot.
By the way the maintenance I speaking about is not that costly or expensive. Ive put much more money into the engine and avionics that I have had into the gear.
This leads to the age old shame of being an airplane owner. We get lumped in with the same people that own Lamborghinis – shallow flaunters, or lucksters that need to be cut down to size and have their assets taken away in the form of higher taxes etc. But hang on a minute – maybe the car crowd has it right? The kids love these cars and aspire to them, just watch any YouTube video with a supercar and it always has millions of views. Maybe what we should do is the opposite of what we’ve been doing? Not try to hang our head in shame when someone accuses “Adam has his own plane, you know”, or, “if you didn’t have that stupid plane, you could have had enough money to buy your own house by now”. Today we’re hoping the best you can hope for is that no one will give you a hard time about it. No, what we should do is be aspirational and say “yes, I do own an airplane and it’s great. Here are all the cool things you can do with it”.
This is what I plan on doing from now one. Just own it, be proud of it, and offer as much inclusion as I can. Maybe it will rub off on someone else.
AdamFrisch wrote:
We get lumped in with the same people that own Lamborghinis – shallow flaunters, or lucksters that need to be cut down to size and have their assets taken away in the form of higher taxes etc.
He he… just had this discussion a minute ago literally. Guy saw my plane on my business card (didn’t have another one to give him) and immediately went onto the Lamborghini path, he actually knows someone who owns one… and knows the price. We found that my “Lamborghini” cost me 300k less 
. Also when I hear what the guy pais in maintenance fees…. another example I love is people with Winnebagos or the like vehicles. I got two who own such things in my near environment and they do look at my annual layout rather jelously…
AdamFrisch wrote:
Not try to hang our head in shame when someone accuses “Adam has his own plane, you know”, or, “if you didn’t have that stupid plane, you could have had enough money to buy your own house by now”.
Oh, I never did that in the first place. Fact is the other way around. Yes, I have, yes, I have worked for it and, in my case, I can probably afford it because I bought a very economical house about 15 years ago. When i see what renters pay around here, it was the best decision I ever took. My cost for living are not 25% these days of what a renter family pay around here…
AdamFrisch wrote:
No, what we should do is be aspirational and say “yes, I do own an airplane and it’s great. Here are all the cool things you can do with it”.
Exactly. That is why I put the website up, also to encourage others. You might want to consider the same once your machine is finally airborne again. I do love your write ups btw, keep them coming.
AdamFrisch wrote:
Just own it, be proud of it, and offer as much inclusion as I can. Maybe it will rub off on someone else.
Great! That is what we all should do.
Mooney_Driver wrote:
I can probably afford it because I bought a very economical house about 15 years ago. When i see what renters pay around here, it was the best decision I ever took. My cost for living are not 25% these days of what a renter family pay around here…
I’m in about the same situation as you, but what you say is true only as long as you don’t have to any substantial renovations or repairs. That’s the joy of being a houseowner rather than a renter.
Airborne_Again wrote:
That’s the joy of being a houseowner rather than a renter.
It’s the joy of any ownership over renting. Actually, we’ve had quite some renovations and repairs in recent years, but that is included in my calc, the rents here are THAT high. Where I live, a normal flat is around 2.5 to 3k CHF per month which translates into 30k-32k € per annum. My own yearly average including mortage, repairs and upgrades since 2001 is roughly 7 k € per year. I flat out could not afford to rent where we live, I would have to move further away and take the commute like most people I know. House prices have risen up to tripple value since 2001, there is no decent flat with 2-3 bedrooms to be had below 1.5-2 million CHF in the whole region.
Here’s a great article about the decline in comparison to demographics and the decline in other high barrier sports like golf etc. Some good and interesting points in there.
AdamFrisch wrote:
Here’s a great article about the decline in comparison to demographics and the decline in other high barrier sports like golf etc. Some good and interesting points in there.
A recent study sums it up well: “Of full-time working parents, 39 percent of mothers and 50 percent of fathers say they feel as if they spend too little time with their children. Fifty-nine percent of full-time working mothers say they don’t have enough leisure time, and more than half of working fathers say the same. Of parents with college degrees, 65 percent said they found it difficult to balance job and family.” Where does flying fit in there?
Precisely this was half the reason why I was away from flying for 17 years…
