A Modest Proposal

[MEdwards]

I honestly think the same thing is going to happen this time, but if last time the guy said you didn't give me roses, this time you give him roses. I'm sure AOPA and EAA have data. I just wondered what data the poster above seemed to have.

Mike E

[Joe LaMantia]

Great Discussion! Unfortunately, I'm not going to OSH this year or I would by you all a Beer!

The comparison of the driver to the pilot is interesting and the differences are rooted in the history of the 2 vehicles. Auto's replaced the horse and buggy and in the early days farm kids could hook-up a wagon and go anywhere without a license or a medical. That carried over to early cars until Henry Ford put too many people on the road and suddenly a lot of people got hurt or killed in cars. Public outcry drives the political machine and we got the DMV in every state. We lose 50K or so every year in cars, but nobody wants to require any safety training or re-current drivers road tests. Fast forward to the early days of Aviation and you get aircraft with unreliable engines making forced landing all over the county. Lots of early aviation people getting killed in crashes and big stories in NewsPapers...followed by the CAB, then the FAA. Today's aircraft are more reliable as are auto's, in addition, we have a lot more medical tools and knowledge. I wouldn't fly if my medical condition would put me at risk, but I have a hard time believing that the current Classes of Medical Certification really accomplish much. I hope that the EAA/AOPA proposal is successful, better still maybe the FAA will take a long look at the Classes and re-think requirements for all the classes. I really don't want to ride in a airliner with a mentally unstable PIC! The biggest change for the FAA and aviation in general would be to change the focus or mission of the FAA from "Safety" and "Promoting Aviation" to one or the other but not both. I think todays airline business is big enough to promote itself, it has no real competition in long distance traveling and it's connection to the FAA can be counter to public safety. I don't expect to hear EAA and certainly not AOPA pick up on this issue, but this in another subject for another forum.

Joe