Safety? Really?

[TestesInSac]

Anyone else feel a sense of irony here??

[Zane5100]

Not as much as I did Friday watching Kathy get hauled off to the morgue (eventually)...

[PJ]

As you might expect, the B.M. aviators' E-mail list has been exceptionally active post-event this year. Following years of good safety we had some accidents, of the worst sort. So most of us are in the mindset of, "We ourselves gotta get serious about B.Man flight safety or somebody's gonna shut us down."

Aviation isn't like fire play or Thunderdome--nobody needs to get hurt. NOBODY HAS INVENTED A NEW WAY TO KILL THEMSELVES IN AN AIRPLANE SINCE 1914. Every aircraft accident represents a lesson that was learned long ago, so repeating it is a very stupid thing to do. If pilots simply fly as they were taught and don't do stupid stuff, no metal need get bent and no passengers should get scratched.

And unlike fire play or a consensual battle in Thunderdome, there's nothing fun about getting hurt in an airplane.

[Jane Eric]

PJ ~ I would fly with you within a nanosecond of decision making.

[PJ]

PJ ~ I would fly with you within a nanosecond of decision making.

You're on for next year. And I can promise that no wings will fall off.

[Jane Eric]

Wish I could make the same promise!

[Halo Joe]

There's a flight training center just north of Tampa. I've wanted to get a pilot's license for years, and now it's looking as if I might be able to. Granted, pilots might be a bit biased, but is it really worth the training and money? (I figger it is, but I'd just like some feedback.)

Oh, and Tom? Irony out the arse, baby.

[RebA!]

Safety Third!

[PJ]

...I've wanted to get a pilot's license for years... is it really worth the training and money?

The training is fun and rewarding and almost everybody finds at least one of the many aspects of the undertaking to be mind-bogglingly difficult for awhile. You're gonna be re-mapping your brain into a three-dimensional tool. You're going to be solving problems in real-time that CANNOT be paused because the aircraft can't stay in one place while you get your mental ducks in a row. You'll be travelling two to four times faster than people in cars despite some of those cars costing far more than the training airplane. You'll be learning to do things competently and all by yourself that less than one percent of the population can do.

Aviation is a mistress that cost me all of my disposable income and time and relationships throughout all my ages when most young people are having frivolous fun and little else. It was a bargain. I can imagine doing without many things (and for years I did) but as far as I'm concerned a life without aviation is not a life worth having. I plan to be still doing it when I'm 100 years old.

[Halo Joe]

So, PJ, you're in the "I (heart) flying" column ...

[PJ]

So, PJ, you're in the "I (heart) flying" column ...

It's not for everybody. Some people try it, get the license even, and having accomplished a personal goal don't do it anymore. I don't have a problem with that. Everybody doesn't need to be a fanatic. (Although by its nature the activity is no place for total dilettantes--too many inherent hazards.)

I sometimes surprise people with my argument that most aviators shouldn't own their own personal aircraft. Few will fly it enough to justify the investment. (And like all machines they work best when used a lot.) Renting, joining a club, or having partners are some of the other options. One cool thing about ownership, though: unlike cars, boats, and motorbikes, airplanes increase in value over time. Thanks to that my lifetime of flying has effectively cost nothing, should I sell the current airplane outright.

There's always affordable ways to fly if you're financially-creative. I was a teenager when I started.

[Halo Joe]

[quote="PJThere's always affordable ways to fly if you're financially-creative. I was a teenager when I started.[/quote]

Wish I'd thought of it then. Thanks for the words of wisdom.

[PJ]

I was a teenager when I started.

Wish I'd thought of it then.

Note that I did give up doing all the things that most teenagers enjoy. But I thought those things were silly and uninteresting anyway. Of course, I was a nerd. (Not that I'm cool now.)

[Halo Joe]

I was a teenager when I started.

Wish I'd thought of it then.

Note that I did give up doing all the things that most teenagers enjoy. But I thought those things were silly and uninteresting anyway. Of course, I was a nerd. (Not that I'm cool now.)

Bite thy tongue, sir! Your avatar reeks of cool.

[PJ]

...Your avatar reeks of cool...

No, that's some other smell out there in the pasture.

But if not cool, at least it's tingly.

[Lydia Love]

But if not cool, at least it's tingly.

<Snort!>

[Last Real Burner]

I can safely say you're cool PJ.

thankfully,
mr smith

[rev. lucifer]

I love the smell of cow ass in the morning.