Why can't we "let go?"

[CarlOrton]

I was going to post this under the thread, "The more things change...", but figured it would be too much of a hijack.

Anyway, when the topic turned to the thought of most county airports being closed in the next 20 years, I got to thinking about all of the aircraft that are still parked, waiting for the time when the owner will "get around to it."

As an example, in 2006, I was looking for a project. Something I could play with in my spare time, and perhaps end up with a viable airplane. If not, I was going to part it out.

I found a 172M at my airport, parked in a carport-style hangar, that hadn't moved in the 5 years I'd been passing it. I checked tne N-number, and contacted the owner. Nice gent, but it was obvious by his speech pattern that he was elderly. When I finally gently asked if he would consider selling it, he told me that, no, he was going to get it back in the air Real Soon Now. That was 2006; it's now 2013, and the airplane still sits there, at $150/month rent.

So, the gent has spent (at least) $12,600 paying rent for something that hasn't even been dusted off, yet he can't quite let go.

I can understand that; it's easy to equate that to someone who's had to give up driving, but keeps their car parked in their garage. At least they're not paying insurance or rent to keep it there.

The power of flight is just too powerful to sever the connection. Even if it costs us substantial money. Giving up that last connection is surrendering to the inevitable, I guess. Just strikes me as sad. I wonder what *I'll* do when that time comes...

[Bill]

Carl:

I'm probably closer to that point than you so I know what I'll do. Since I built the airplane, I want it to keep on flying. Hangar queens are so sad. So I'll sell the airplane to someone who'll fly it, and keep my pilot logbooks, photos and memories of all the good and bad times.

[Floatsflyer]

Same reason why it's difficult to disconnect from your long ago first real love relationship: The memory is too sweet, the connection is too deep and the realistic possibility(especially with the internet) that the hope of meeting could occur once again.

[Frank Giger]

Imagine a string of swear words woven together so they make a beautiful tapestry of profanity as only a senior non-commissioned officer can weave, and one will get a large portion of my opinion on the matter.

At least the guy in the first post was somewhat honest about not wanting to let go with the idea of flying. I can't stand the whole "I can't get what I want for it" line of crap - when it's true that it's costing the ex-pilot thousands of dollars not to sell it....in one case, I figured out that one guy had spent twice his inflated asking price in hangar fees and taxes while griping that everyone was trying to rip him off!

I've had to put more than one pursuit aside due to age and injury...just let it go, already! When it comes my time to stop being PIC, I'll hang out at the airport and bum rides for whomever is just goofing off locally. Hell, I wish some of these guys would do just that - I'd love to have the insight of someone with long hours and the wisdom gained by close shaves. But most are just too proud for that.

But part of it is the whole Baby Boomer inability to grasp the reality of getting older. And in the interst of not offending those of that generation, I'll stop right there.

[Floatsflyer]

But part of it is the whole Baby Boomer inability to grasp the reality of getting older. And in the interst of not offending those of that generation, I'll stop right there.

We aren't getting older, we're getting better!

[pointwithinacircle]

Ideas are always more powerful than reality. Failure to realize this fact causes more misunderstandings than almost anything else.

[Kevin O'Halloran]

The man doesn't just own the airplane---he is in love with it !! The memories it brings back to him are priceless--he just doesn't want to let go.
I just sold my first car . My dad bought it off the showroom floor on my 16th birthday---1966 GTO, 389, tripower, 4 speed ( still don't know WTF he was thinking)
People have been trying to buy it from me for years--was going to give it to my daughter and her husband--but they told me they would just sell it. Then this year a young man wanted to look at it--he showed me pictures of his gradfather holding his father as a child next to his 1966 GTO--sold it to him for 1/2 of what other people had offered . But I knew he would love and care for it.
Yea--I understand that old man not selling his 172
Kevin

[martymayes]

Once ya make that emotional bond......stonger than any amount of money.

[Joe LaMantia]

Nice topic!,

I think holding on to the past is part of the aging process, and certainly aviation people have a real special relationship with what they fly or have flown. As previously mentioned, our emotional attachments grow stronger with age. I am looking at 70 for a next birthday cake bonfire, and I get a lot of e-mail from friends and family with photo's from the 1950's and 60's. While technically, I'm not a baby boomer a lot of my contemporaries are getting all nostalgic over that time period. We tend to remember all the good stuff and make-up some fantasies that reinforce our feelings for the past. This process tends to make people a bit negative regarding the future, in part because we won't be here to take part.

Joe

[CarlOrton]

Originally, I just tossed out the idea of not being able to let go. Some interesting comments were generated as a result. As I've read them and thought about each of them, it's been somewhat cathartic.

The last line of my original post was "dunno what I'll do when the time comes." I still don't know. The gent to whom I referred was very polite. He wasn't wanting top dollar. We never even *discussed* a price. I only asked him if he *would* sell.

I was merely trying to convey that certain things just are too strong of an emotional bond. I gave up flying for a number of years simply because I was raising a family. We preferred that my wife stay home with the boys, so we made it on a single income. No time or money to fly until 11 years ago. But - during my hiatus, I never stopped thinking about "some day."

I didn't just buy my current airplane. I made it. OK, well assembled. At this point in my life, I don't think I could sell, either. Fortunately, one of my son's is a pilot, so I have *someone* in line to continue flying it. Hopefully with me in the right seat if I am no longer able.

Folks, if you're reading or posting, you're infected as well. It *is* a love affair that nothing else approaches. It's not about not wanting to grow old (not that any of us *want* to...), but about what aviation has done to our souls, our inner beings. The original post wasn't a complaint - it was a quest for understanding.