Mooney_Driver wrote:
Merz is a politician and a red flag for any left wing politician because he is self made rich and very successful. They hate that.
That’s very generalized. There are also billionaires that belong to the left spectrum ideologically and of course do not hate anybody being rich. It’s not about everyone being equal but everyone having equal chances.
Anyway, I do not follow the Merz debate closely but the „outcry“ was less because of his airplanes (which I find perfectly fine to have, note) and more about him answering a quesion about social hierachy, to which he replied he is middle class. That was a little too much in the face for some.
I end this by saying that working together instead of against each other would do general aviation good, regardless of politics.
loco wrote:
excessive fuel usage down low
I recently had cause to do a 25 minute flight at 3000 ft in a CJ4
Now THAT is what you call excessive fuel burn. Luckily I wasn’t paying for it.
and a red flag for any left wing politician
A minor historical footnote is Ernesto Che Guevara was a glider pilot as a teenager, and in Cuba had personal use of a Cessna 182A, el lobito, which he flew with a safety pilot. He also puddle jumped in a L 200 Morava MEP.
I believe komsomol members in Warsaw Pact countries with aptitude (probably more party loyalty than psychometric tests) got heavily subsidised/ free training.
It was hopeful thinking that the arrival of LSA sport aircraft would debunk any silly type prejudice. I don’t believe France with a thriving aero club community would use GA for political attack.
MedEwok wrote:
it is a case in point of the (negative) social consequences of owning two planes
You don’t need two to suffer social consequences if there are malicious people around you. Merz is a politician and a red flag for any left wing politician because he is self made rich and very successful. They hate that. They use the planes as it’s known to be an easy target, if he didn’t have those they would simply bemoan the fact that he makes one million a year (self declared). Rich=evil.
But airplane allergics are found even if you have a 60 year old SEP as I know darn well myself. I’ve been accused of all sorts of things when I first bought my current plane from being a rich chauvinist to one vocally and openly expressing the wish that I’d buy the farm in it as soon as possible. Do you wonder why most celebrities who fly in Europe keep it under strict wraps? There are no Harrison Fords or John Travoltas over here who would support AOPA and engage their well known personalities for that cause.
It would be fun to have a chancellor who knows GA in Germany. I imagine this could make some stomache trouble in quite some places…. But whether he’d do something for GA once in office remains to be seen. Thinking of it, in his position I’d probably never consider going that path. Too much to give up for a life of stress and open hostility. That is why somehow I also wonder why Trump did it. Yea, power, I know but freedom is also something I’d value.
“If I could afford it, I’d own a PC12 and a Piper Cub.”
From watching them on a grass airfield, the PC12 would be for short runways, and the Cub would be for longer runways which are too soft 
If I could afford it, I’d own a PC12 and a Piper Cub. Sadly, short of winning the lottery, the prospect for this scenario to materialize is zero….
It would be great to have an aircraft that can drop into the fly-ins and the free time to justify owning it. An early straight tail 182 keeps coming up as the best all rounder for this mission – converting it to tailwheel would get me a pristine 180 at a reasonable price.
This is a nice example which is gently dropping in price in classic reverse auction, better get real about selling it, mode.
www.planecheck.com?ent=da&id=38609 local copy
It also has original long range tank option in the back.
EuroFlyer wrote:
We have the discussion in Germany at full blast right now, because Friedrich Merz, a candidate for leader of the conservative party is a successful businessman and lawyer and owns a TBM 850 and a DA62, and the liberals and the left go ballistic trying to smear him for that. In fact he owns the TBM in an SPV and rents it to his company. Normal procedure. But Germans like to point the finger at others instead of themselves when it comes to who is more successful and why, so it was to be expected.
I wanted to tell the story of Herr Merz as well, as it is a case in point of the (negative) social consequences of owning two planes. I didn’t know what kind of planes he owned, despite googling it. He also has a PPL though I don’t know if he’s qualified for both of his planes.
Non-German readers not interested in the peculiarities of German politics might take note because Merz has a chance to succeed Merkel as CDU party leader and thus eventually German chancellor, although the leftist press are trying their best to discredit him, also explicitly using the argument “He owns two private planes so he is too rich to be trusted”. Note that The Guardian in the UK mistranslated this as “two private jets” despite the German press never mentioning the kind of planes as far as I read.
Bathman wrote:
Actually as someone who owns a rotax powered permit aircraft and a certified aircraft I find it very frustrating. The permit aeroplane is so much more reliable and cheaper to run.
Sooooo true.
